Instabilities, Dynamics, and Energetics accompanying Atmospheric Layering (IDEAL) Campaign: High-Resolution in situ Observations above the Nocturnal Boundary Layer

Abstract. The Instabilities, Dynamics, and Energetics accompanying Atmospheric Layering (IDEAL) project was conceived to improve our understanding of the dynamics of sheet and layer (S&L) structures in the lower troposphere under strongly stable conditions. The approach employed a synergistic combination of targeted multi-point observations using small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) guiding direct numerical simulation (DNS) modeling to characterize the dynamics driving the S&L structures and associated flow features. The IDEAL research program consisted of two phases. The first was an observational field campaign to systematically probe stable lower atmosphere conditions using multiple DataHawk-2 (DH2) sUAS. Coordinated, simultaneous multi-DH2 flights were guided by concurrent Integrated Sounding System (ISS) wind profiler radar and radiosonde soundings performed by NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) participants. Additional sUAS flight guidance was obtained from real-time sUAS measurements. Following the field campaign, the second phase focused on high-resolution DNS modeling efforts guided by in-situ observations made during the first phase. This overview focuses on the details of the observational phase that took place from 24 October to 15 November 2017 at Dugway Proving Ground (DPG), Utah. A total of 72 DH2 flights coordinated with 93 balloon-borne radiosondes were deployed in support of the IDEAL field campaign. Our discussion addresses the average atmospheric conditions, the observation strategy, and the objectives of the field campaign. Also presented are representative flight sorties and sUAS environmental and turbulence measurements.

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Fine Structure, Instabilities, and Turbulence in the Lower Atmosphere: High-Resolution In Situ Slant-Path Measurements with the DataHawk UAV and Comparisons with Numerical Modeling

Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology ◽

10.1175/jtech-d-16-0037.1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 35 (3) ◽

pp. 619-642 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Ben B. Balsley ◽

Dale A. Lawrence ◽

David C. Fritts ◽

Ling Wang ◽

Kam Wan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Mechanical Energy ◽

Potential Temperature ◽

Lower Troposphere ◽

Lower Atmosphere ◽

Horizontal Wind ◽

Small Scale ◽

Temperature Structure ◽

Temperature Structure Parameter

AbstractA new platform for high-resolution in situ measurements in the lower troposphere is described and its capabilities are demonstrated. The platform is the small GPS-controlled DataHawk unmanned aerial system (UAS), and measurements were performed under stratified atmospheric conditions at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, on 11 October 2012. The measurements included spiraling vertical profiles of temperature and horizontal wind vectors, from which the potential temperature θ, mechanical energy dissipation rate ε, Brunt–Väsälä frequency N, temperature structure parameter CT2, Thorpe and Ozmidov scales LT and LO, and Richardson number Ri were inferred. Profiles of these quantities from ~50 to 400 m reveal apparent gravity wave modulation at larger scales, persistent sheet-and-layer structures at scales of ~30–100 m, and several layers exhibiting significant correlations of large ε, CT2, LT, and small Ri. Smaller-scale flow features suggest local gravity waves and Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities exhibiting strong correlations, yielding significant vertical displacements and inducing turbulence and mixing at smaller scales. Comparisons of these results with a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of similar multiscale dynamics indicate close agreement between measured and modeled layer character and evolution, small-scale dynamics, and turbulence intensities. In particular, a detailed examination of the potential biases in inferred quantities and/or misinterpretation of the underlying dynamics as a result of the specific DataHawk sampling trajectory is carried out using virtual sampling paths through the DNS and comparing these with the DataHawk measurements.

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Simultaneous observations of structure function parameter of refractive index using a high-resolution radar and the DataHawk small airborne measurement system

Annales Geophysicae ◽

10.5194/angeo-34-767-2016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 34 (9) ◽

pp. 767-780 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Danny E. Scipión ◽

Dale A. Lawrence ◽

Marco A. Milla ◽

Ronald F. Woodman ◽

Diego A. Lume ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Refractive Index ◽

High Resolution ◽

Structure Function ◽

Lower Troposphere ◽

Unmanned Aircraft ◽

Function Parameter ◽

High Temporal Resolution ◽

Atmospheric Measurements ◽

Range Resolution

Abstract. The SOUSY (SOUnding SYstem) radar was relocated to the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO) near Lima, Peru, in 2000, where the radar controller and acquisition system were upgraded with state-of-the-art parts to take full advantage of its potential for high-resolution atmospheric sounding. Due to its broad bandwidth (4 MHz), it is able to characterize clear-air backscattering with high range resolution (37.5 m). A campaign conducted at JRO in July 2014 aimed to characterize the lower troposphere with a high temporal resolution (8.1 Hz) using the DataHawk (DH) small unmanned aircraft system, which provides in situ atmospheric measurements at scales as small as 1 m in the lower troposphere and can be GPS-guided to obtain measurements within the beam of the radar. This was a unique opportunity to make coincident observations by both systems and to directly compare their in situ and remotely sensed parameters. Because SOUSY only points vertically, it is only possible to retrieve vertical radar profiles caused by changes in the refractive index within the resolution volume. Turbulent variations due to scattering are described by the structure function parameter of refractive index Cn2. Profiles of Cn2 from the DH are obtained by combining pressure, temperature, and relative humidity measurements along the helical trajectory and integrated at the same scale as the radar range resolution. Excellent agreement is observed between the Cn2 estimates obtained from the DH and SOUSY in the overlapping measurement regime from 1200 m up to 4200 m above sea level, and this correspondence provides the first accurate calibration of the SOUSY radar for measuring Cn2.

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In-Situ Observations of Electrochemical Li Growth and Dissolution on a Lipon Electrolyte By High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy

ECS Meeting Abstracts ◽

10.1149/ma2015-02/22/914 ◽

2015 ◽

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽

High Resolution ◽

In Situ Observations ◽

Scanning Electron

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High resolution transmission electron microscopic in-situ observations of plastic deformation of compressed nanocrystalline gold

Journal of Applied Physics ◽

10.1063/1.4895550 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 116 (10) ◽

pp. 103518 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Guoyong Wang ◽

Jianshe Lian ◽

Qing Jiang ◽

Sheng Sun ◽

Tong-Yi Zhang

Keyword(s):

Plastic Deformation ◽

High Resolution ◽

Electron Microscopic ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Transmission Electron Microscopic ◽

In Situ Observations

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Comparison of Snow Cover from Satellite and Numerical Weather Prediction Models in the Northern Hemisphere and Northern Europe

Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology ◽

10.1175/2008jamc2069.1 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 48 (6) ◽

pp. 1199-1216 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Otto Hyvärinen ◽

Kalle Eerola ◽

Niilo Siljamo ◽

Jarkko Koskinen

Keyword(s):

Snow Cover ◽

Prediction Models ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Ground Truth ◽

In Situ Measurements ◽

Lower Atmosphere ◽

Limited Area ◽

In Situ Observations ◽

Using Data

Abstract Snow cover has a strong effect on the surface and lower atmosphere in NWP models. Because the progress of in situ observations has stalled, satellite-based snow analyses are becoming increasingly important. Currently, there exist several products that operationally map global or continental snow cover. In this study, satellite-based snow cover analyses from NOAA, NASA, and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), and NWP snow analyses from the High-Resolution Limited-Area Model (HIRLAM) and ECMWF, were compared using data from January to June 2006. Because no analyses were independent and since available in situ measurements were already used in the NWP analyses, no independent ground truth was available and only the consistency between analyses could be compared. Snow analyses from NOAA, NASA, and ECMWF were similar, but the analysis from NASA was greatly hampered by clouds. HIRLAM and EUMETSAT deviated most from other analyses. Even though the analysis schemes of HIRLAM and ECMWF were quite similar, the resulting snow analyses were quite dissimilar, because ECMWF used the satellite information of snow cover in the form of NOAA analyses, while HIRLAM used none. The differences are especially prominent in areas around the snow edge where few in situ observations are available. This suggests that NWP snow analyses based only on in situ measurements would greatly benefit from inclusion of satellite-based snow cover information.

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Correction: ISED: Constructing a high-resolution elevation road dataset from massive, low-quality in-situ observations derived from geosocial fitness tracking data

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0225557 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (11) ◽

pp. e0225557

Author(s):

Grant McKenzie ◽

Krzysztof Janowicz

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Tracking Data ◽

In Situ Observations ◽

Fitness Tracking

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Supplementary material to "On the cross-tropopause transport of water by tropical convective overshoots: a mesoscale modelling study constrained by in-situ observations during TRO-Pico field campaign in Brazil"

10.5194/acp-2021-543-supplement ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Abhinna K. Behera ◽

Emmanuel D. Riviere ◽

Sergey M. Khaykin ◽

Virginie Marecal ◽

Melanie Ghysels ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mesoscale Modelling ◽

Field Campaign ◽

Supplementary Material ◽

In Situ Observations ◽

The Cross ◽

Modelling Study

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Global carbon monoxide vertical distributions from spaceborne high-resolution FTIR nadir measurements

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-5-2901-2005 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 5 (11) ◽

pp. 2901-2914 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

B. Barret ◽

S. Turquety ◽

D. Hurtmans ◽

C. Clerbaux ◽

J. Hadji-Lazaro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Estimation Method ◽

Lower Troposphere ◽

Optimal Estimation ◽

Vertical Distributions ◽

Surface Measurements ◽

The Vertical Distribution ◽

Global Carbon ◽

Good Agreement

Abstract. This paper presents the first global distributions of CO vertical profiles retrieved from a thermal infrared FTS working in the nadir geometry. It is based on the exploitation of the high resolution and high quality spectra measured by the Interferometric Monitor of Greenhouse gases (IMG) which flew onboard the Japanese ADEOS platform in 1996-1997. The retrievals are performed with an algorithm based on the Optimal Estimation Method (OEM) and are characterized in terms of vertical sensitivity and error budget. It is found that most of the IMG measurements contain between 1.5 and 2.2 independent pieces of information about the vertical distribution of CO from the lower troposphere to the upper troposphere-lower stratosphere (UTLS). The retrievals are validated against coincident NOAA/CMDL in situ surface measurements and NDSC/FTIR total columns measurements. The retrieved global distributions of CO are also found to be in good agreement with the distributions modeled by the GEOS-CHEM 3D CTM, highlighting the ability of IMG to capture the horizontal as well as the vertical structure of the CO distributions.

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