scholarly journals Validation and deployment of the first Lidar based weather observation network in New York State: The NYS MesoNet Project

2018 ◽  
Vol 176 ◽  
pp. 09010
Author(s):  
L. Thobois ◽  
J. Freedman ◽  
P. Royer ◽  
J. Brotzge ◽  
E. Joseph

The number and quality of atmospheric observations used by meteorologists and operational forecasters are increasing year after year, and yet, consistent improvements in forecast skill remains a challenge. While contributing factors involving these challenges have been identified, including the difficulty in accurately establishing initial conditions, improving the observations at regional and local scales is necessary for accurate depiction of the atmospheric boundary layer (below 2km), particularly the wind profile, in high resolution numerical models. Above the uncertainty of weather forecasts, the goal is also to improve the detection of severe and extreme weather events (severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and other mesoscale phenomena) that can adversely affect life, property and commerce, primarily in densely populated urban centers. This paper will describe the New York State Mesonet that is being deployed in the state of New York, USA. It is composed of 126 stations including 17 profiler sites. These sites will acquire continuous upper air observations through the combination of WINDCUBE Lidars and microwave radiometers. These stations will provide temperature, relative humidity & “3D” wind profile measurements through and above the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and will retrieve derived atmospheric quantities such as the PBL height, cloud base, momentum fluxes, and aerosol & cloud optical properties. The different modes and configurations that will be used for the Lidars are discussed. The performances in terms of data availability and wind accuracy and precision are evaluated. Several profiles with specific wind and aerosol features are presented to illustrate the benefits of the use of Coherent Doppler Lidars to monitor accurately the PBL.

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (10) ◽  
pp. 1827-1845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerald A. Brotzge ◽  
J. Wang ◽  
C. D. Thorncroft ◽  
E. Joseph ◽  
N. Bain ◽  
...  

AbstractThe New York State Mesonet (NYSM) is a network of 126 standard environmental monitoring stations deployed statewide with an average spacing of 27 km. The primary goal of the NYSM is to provide high-quality weather data at high spatial and temporal scales to improve atmospheric monitoring and prediction, especially for extreme weather events. As compared with other statewide networks, the NYSM faced considerable deployment obstacles with New York’s complex terrain, forests, and very rural and urban areas; its wide range of weather extremes; and its harsh winter conditions. To overcome these challenges, the NYSM adopted a number of innovations unique among statewide monitoring systems, including 1) strict adherence to international siting standards and metadata documentation; 2) a hardened system design to facilitate continued operations during extreme, high-impact weather; 3) a station design optimized to monitor winter weather conditions; and 4) a camera installed at every site to aid situational awareness. The network was completed in spring of 2018 and provides data and products to a variety of sectors including weather monitoring and forecasting, emergency management, agriculture, transportation, utilities, and education. This paper focuses on the standard network of the NYSM and reviews the network siting, site configuration, sensors, site communications and power, network operations and maintenance, data quality control, and dissemination. A few example analyses are shown that highlight the benefits of the NYSM.


2002 ◽  
Vol 107 (D21) ◽  
pp. ACH 13-1-ACH 13-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianliang Zhou ◽  
Kevin Civerolo ◽  
Hongping Dai ◽  
Gu Huang ◽  
James Schwab ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Marvin S. Swartz ◽  
Jeffrey W. Swanson ◽  
Henry J. Steadman ◽  
Pamela Clark Robbins ◽  
John Monahan

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