Articles | Volume 13, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2833-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2833-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
29 May 2020
Research article |
| 29 May 2020
| 29 May 2020
The CopterSonde: an insight into the development of a smart unmanned aircraft system for atmospheric boundary layer research
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Advanced Radar Research Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Center for Autonomous Sensing and Sampling, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Brian R. Greene
Advanced Radar Research Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Center for Autonomous Sensing and Sampling, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Tyler M. Bell
Center for Autonomous Sensing and Sampling, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
William Doyle
Center for Autonomous Sensing and Sampling, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Joshua J. Martin
Center for Autonomous Sensing and Sampling, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Elizabeth A. Pillar-Little
Center for Autonomous Sensing and Sampling, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Phillip B. Chilson
Advanced Radar Research Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Center for Autonomous Sensing and Sampling, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
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Francesca Lappin, Gijs de Boer, Petra Klein, Jonathan Hamilton, Michelle Spencer, Radiance Calmer, Antonio R. Segales, Michael Rhodes, Tyler M. Bell, Justin Buchli, Kelsey Britt, Elizabeth Asher, Isaac Medina, Brian Butterworth, Leia Otterstatter, Madison Ritsch, Bryony Puxley, Angelina Miller, Arianna Jordan, Ceu Gomez-Faulk, Elizabeth Smith, Steve Borenstein, Troy Thornberry, Brian Argrow, and Elizabeth Pillar-Little
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2023-371, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2023-371, 2023
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
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This article provides an overview of the lower atmospheric dataset collected by two uncrewed aerial systems near the Gulf of Mexico coastline south of Houston, TX, USA, as a part of the TRACER campaign. The data were collected through boundary layer transitions, sea breeze circulations, and in the pre- and near-storm environment to understand how these processes influence the coastal environment.
Antonio R. Segales, Phillip B. Chilson, and Jorge L. Salazar-Cerreño
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2607–2621, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2607-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2607-2022, 2022
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The mitigation of undesired contamination, sensor characterization, and signal conditioning and restoration is crucial to improve the reliability of the weather unmanned aerial system (UAS) deliverables. This study presents an overview of the general considerations and procedures to compensate for slow sensor response and other sources of error for temperature and humidity measurements collected using a UAS.
Elizabeth A. Pillar-Little, Brian R. Greene, Francesca M. Lappin, Tyler M. Bell, Antonio R. Segales, Gustavo Britto Hupsel de Azevedo, William Doyle, Sai Teja Kanneganti, Daniel D. Tripp, and Phillip B. Chilson
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 269–280, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-269-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-269-2021, 2021
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During July 2018, researchers from OU participated in the LAPSE-RATE field campaign in San Luis Valley, Colorado. The OU team completed 180 flights using three RPASs over the course of 6 d of operation to collect vertical profiles of the thermodynamic and kinematic state of the ABL. This article describes sampling strategies, data collection, platform intercomparibility, data quality, and the dataset's possible applications to convective initiation, drainage flows, and ABL transitions.
Brian R. Greene, Antonio R. Segales, Sean Waugh, Simon Duthoit, and Phillip B. Chilson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 5519–5530, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5519-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5519-2018, 2018
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With the recent commercial availability of rotary-wing unmanned aircraft systems (rwUAS), their ability to collect observations in the lower atmosphere is quickly being realized. However, integrating sensors with an rwUAS can introduce errors if not sited properly. This study discusses an objective method of determining some of these error sources in temperature, including improper airflow and rotary motor heating. Errors can be mitigated by mounting thermistors under propellers near the tips.
Francesca Lappin, Gijs de Boer, Petra Klein, Jonathan Hamilton, Michelle Spencer, Radiance Calmer, Antonio R. Segales, Michael Rhodes, Tyler M. Bell, Justin Buchli, Kelsey Britt, Elizabeth Asher, Isaac Medina, Brian Butterworth, Leia Otterstatter, Madison Ritsch, Bryony Puxley, Angelina Miller, Arianna Jordan, Ceu Gomez-Faulk, Elizabeth Smith, Steve Borenstein, Troy Thornberry, Brian Argrow, and Elizabeth Pillar-Little
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2023-371, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2023-371, 2023
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
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This article provides an overview of the lower atmospheric dataset collected by two uncrewed aerial systems near the Gulf of Mexico coastline south of Houston, TX, USA, as a part of the TRACER campaign. The data were collected through boundary layer transitions, sea breeze circulations, and in the pre- and near-storm environment to understand how these processes influence the coastal environment.
Antonio R. Segales, Phillip B. Chilson, and Jorge L. Salazar-Cerreño
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2607–2621, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2607-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2607-2022, 2022
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The mitigation of undesired contamination, sensor characterization, and signal conditioning and restoration is crucial to improve the reliability of the weather unmanned aerial system (UAS) deliverables. This study presents an overview of the general considerations and procedures to compensate for slow sensor response and other sources of error for temperature and humidity measurements collected using a UAS.
James B. Duncan Jr., Laura Bianco, Bianca Adler, Tyler Bell, Irina V. Djalalova, Laura Riihimaki, Joseph Sedlar, Elizabeth N. Smith, David D. Turner, Timothy J. Wagner, and James M. Wilczak
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2479–2502, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2479-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2479-2022, 2022
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In this study, several ground-based remote sensing instruments are used to estimate the height of the convective planetary boundary layer, and their performance is compared against independent boundary layer depth estimates obtained from radiosondes launched as part of the CHEESEHEAD19 field campaign. The impact of clouds (particularly boundary layer clouds) on the estimation of the boundary layer depth is also investigated.
Francesca M. Lappin, Tyler M. Bell, Elizabeth A. Pillar-Little, and Phillip B. Chilson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1185–1200, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1185-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1185-2022, 2022
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This study evaluates how a classically defined variable, air parcel buoyancy, can be used to interpret transitions in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). To capture the high-resolution variations, remotely piloted aircraft systems are used to collect data in two field campaigns. This paper finds that buoyancy has distinct evolutions prior to low-level jet and convective initiation cases. Additionally, buoyancy mixes well to act as an ABL height indicator comparable to other methods.
Miguel Sanchez Gomez, Julie K. Lundquist, Petra M. Klein, and Tyler M. Bell
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3539–3549, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3539-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3539-2021, 2021
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In July 2018, the International Society for Atmospheric Research using Remotely-piloted Aircraft (ISARRA) hosted a flight week to demonstrate unmanned aircraft systems' capabilities in sampling the atmospheric boundary layer. Three Doppler lidars were deployed during this week-long experiment. We use data from these lidars to estimate turbulence dissipation rate. We observe large temporal variability and significant differences in dissipation for lidars with different sampling techniques.
Tyler M. Bell, Petra M. Klein, Julie K. Lundquist, and Sean Waugh
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 1041–1051, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1041-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1041-2021, 2021
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In July 2018, numerous weather sensing remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPASs) were flown in a flight week called Lower Atmospheric Process Studies at Elevation – a Remotely-piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE). As part of LAPSE-RATE, ground-based remote and in situ systems were also deployed to supplement and enhance observations from the RPASs. These instruments include multiple Doppler lidars, thermodynamic profilers, and radiosondes. This paper describes data from these systems.
Elizabeth A. Pillar-Little, Brian R. Greene, Francesca M. Lappin, Tyler M. Bell, Antonio R. Segales, Gustavo Britto Hupsel de Azevedo, William Doyle, Sai Teja Kanneganti, Daniel D. Tripp, and Phillip B. Chilson
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 269–280, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-269-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-269-2021, 2021
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During July 2018, researchers from OU participated in the LAPSE-RATE field campaign in San Luis Valley, Colorado. The OU team completed 180 flights using three RPASs over the course of 6 d of operation to collect vertical profiles of the thermodynamic and kinematic state of the ABL. This article describes sampling strategies, data collection, platform intercomparibility, data quality, and the dataset's possible applications to convective initiation, drainage flows, and ABL transitions.
Gijs de Boer, Adam Houston, Jamey Jacob, Phillip B. Chilson, Suzanne W. Smith, Brian Argrow, Dale Lawrence, Jack Elston, David Brus, Osku Kemppinen, Petra Klein, Julie K. Lundquist, Sean Waugh, Sean C. C. Bailey, Amy Frazier, Michael P. Sama, Christopher Crick, David Schmale III, James Pinto, Elizabeth A. Pillar-Little, Victoria Natalie, and Anders Jensen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 3357–3366, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3357-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3357-2020, 2020
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This paper provides an overview of the Lower Atmospheric Profiling Studies at Elevation – a Remotely-piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE) field campaign, held from 14 to 20 July 2018. This field campaign spanned a 1-week deployment to Colorado's San Luis Valley, involving over 100 students, scientists, engineers, pilots, and outreach coordinators. This overview paper provides insight into the campaign for a special issue focused on the datasets collected during LAPSE-RATE.
Tyler M. Bell, Brian R. Greene, Petra M. Klein, Matthew Carney, and Phillip B. Chilson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 3855–3872, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3855-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3855-2020, 2020
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It is well known that the atmospheric boundary layer is under-sampled in the vertical dimension. Recently, weather-sensing uncrewed aerial systems (WxUAS) have created new opportunities to sample this region of the atmosphere. This study compares a WxUAS developed at the University of Oklahoma to ground-based remote sensing and radiosondes. We find that overall the systems generally agreed well both thermodynamically and kinematically. However, there is still room to improve each system.
Tyler M. Bell, Petra Klein, Norman Wildmann, and Robert Menke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 1357–1371, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1357-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1357-2020, 2020
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This study investigates the utility of using multi-Doppler retrievals during the Perdigão 2017 campaign. By combining scans from the multitude of Doppler lidars, it was possible to derive virtual towers that greatly extend the range of traditional in situ meteorological towers. Uncertainties from the measurements are analyzed and discussed. Despite multiple sources of error, it was found that the virtual towers are useful for analyzing the complex flows observed during the campaign.
Brian R. Greene, Antonio R. Segales, Sean Waugh, Simon Duthoit, and Phillip B. Chilson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 5519–5530, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5519-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5519-2018, 2018
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With the recent commercial availability of rotary-wing unmanned aircraft systems (rwUAS), their ability to collect observations in the lower atmosphere is quickly being realized. However, integrating sensors with an rwUAS can introduce errors if not sited properly. This study discusses an objective method of determining some of these error sources in temperature, including improper airflow and rotary motor heating. Errors can be mitigated by mounting thermistors under propellers near the tips.
Related subject area
Subject: Others (Wind, Precipitation, Temperature, etc.) | Technique: In Situ Measurement | Topic: Instruments and Platforms
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An instrument for in situ continuous 2 km vertical profiles of temperature below high-altitude balloons was developed for high-temporal-resolution measurements within the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere using fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing. The mechanical, electrical, and temperature calibration systems were validated from a short mid-latitude constant-altitude balloon flight within the lower stratosphere. The instrument observed small-scale and inertial gravity waves.
Bruce W. Forgan, Julian Gröbner, and Ibrahim Reda
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This paper investigates the Absolute Cavity Pyrgeometer (ACP) and its use in measuring atmospheric terrestrial irradiances traceable to the standard system of units (SI). This work fits into the objective of the Expert Team on Radiation References, established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), to develop and validate instrumentation that can be used as reference instruments for terrestrial radiation measurements.
Jonathan Hamilton, Gijs de Boer, Abhiram Doddi, and Dale A. Lawrence
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6789–6806, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6789-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6789-2022, 2022
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The DataHawk2 is a small, low-cost, rugged, uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) used to observe the thermodynamic and turbulence structures of the lower atmosphere, supporting an advanced understanding of the physical processes that regulate weather and climate. This paper discusses the development, performance, and sensing capabilities of the DataHawk2 using data collected during several recent field deployments.
Stefan J. Miller and Mark Gordon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6563–6584, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6563-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6563-2022, 2022
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This research investigates the measurement of atmospheric turbulence using a low-cost instrumented car that travels at near-highway speeds and is impacted by upwind obstructions and other on-road traffic. We show that our car design can successfully measure the mean flow and atmospheric turbulence near the surface. We outline a technique to isolate and remove the effects of sporadic passing traffic from car-measured velocity variances and discuss potential measurement uncertainties.
Massimo Del Guasta
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6521–6544, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6521-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6521-2022, 2022
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Any instrument on the Antarctic plateau must cope with a harsh environment. Concordia station is a special place for testing new instruments. With low temperatures and weak winds, precipitation can be studied by simply collecting it on horizontal surfaces. This is typically done manually. ICE-CAMERA is intended as an automatic alternative. The combined construction of rugged equipment for taking photographs of particles and the adoption of machine learning techniques have served this purpose.
Auguste Gires, Ioulia Tchiguirinskaia, and Daniel Schertzer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5861–5875, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5861-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5861-2022, 2022
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Weather radars measure rainfall in altitude whereas hydro-meteorologists are mainly interested in rainfall at ground level. During their fall, drops are advected by the wind which affects the location of the measured field. Governing equation linking acceleration, gravity, buoyancy, and drag force is updated to account for oblateness of drops. Then multifractal wind is used as input to explore velocities and trajectories of drops. Finally consequence on radar rainfall estimation is discussed.
Norman Wildmann and Tamino Wetz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5465–5477, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5465-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5465-2022, 2022
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Multicopter uncrewed aerial systems (UAS, also known as drones) are very easy to use systems for collecting data in the lowest part of the atmosphere. Wind and turbulence are parameters that are particularly important for understanding the dynamics in the atmosphere. Only with three-dimensional measurements of the wind can a full understanding can be achieved. In this study, we show how even the vertical wind through the UAS can be measured with good accuracy.
Abhiram Doddi, Dale Lawrence, David Fritts, Ling Wang, Thomas Lund, William Brown, Dragan Zajic, and Lakshmi Kantha
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4023–4045, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4023-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4023-2022, 2022
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Small-scale turbulent structures are ubiquitous in the atmosphere, yet our understanding of their structure and dynamics is vastly incomplete. IDEAL aimed to improve our understanding of small-scale turbulent flow features in the lower atmosphere. A small, unmanned, fixed-wing aircraft was employed to make targeted observations of atmospheric columns. Measured data were used to guide atmospheric model simulations designed to describe the structure and dynamics of small-scale turbulence.
Brandon C. White, Brian R. Elbing, and Imraan A. Faruque
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2923–2938, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2923-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2923-2022, 2022
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Tornadic storms have been hypothesized to emit sound at frequencies below human hearing which animals and certain microphones can detect. This study covers the design, fabrication, and deployment of a specialized microphone that can be carried by first responders and storm chasers. The study also presents real-time processing methods, analyzes several recorded severe weather events including a tornado, and introduces a real-time web interface to allow for live monitoring of the mobile sensor.
Sasu Karttunen, Ewan O'Connor, Olli Peltola, and Leena Järvi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2417–2432, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2417-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2417-2022, 2022
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To study the complex structure of the lowest tens of metres of atmosphere in urban areas, measurement methods with great spatial and temporal coverage are needed. In our study, we analyse measurements with a promising and relatively new method, distributed temperature sensing, capable of providing detailed information on the near-surface atmosphere. We present multiple ways to utilise these kinds of measurements, as well as important considerations for planning new studies using the method.
Bruce Ingleby, Martin Motl, Graeme Marlton, David Edwards, Michael Sommer, Christoph von Rohden, Holger Vömel, and Hannu Jauhiainen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 165–183, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-165-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-165-2022, 2022
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Radiosonde descent data could provide extra profiles of the atmosphere for forecasting and other uses. Descent data from Vaisala RS41 radiosondes have been compared with the ascent profiles and with ECMWF short-range forecasts. The agreement is mostly good. The descent rate is very variable and high descent rates cause temperature biases, especially at upper levels. Ascent winds are affected by pendulum motion; on average, the descent winds are smoother.
Karlie N. Rees and Timothy J. Garrett
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7681–7691, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7681-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7681-2021, 2021
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Monte Carlo simulations are used to establish baseline precipitation measurement uncertainties according to World Meteorological Organization standards. Measurement accuracy depends on instrument sampling area, time interval, and precipitation rate. Simulations are compared with field measurements taken by an emerging hotplate precipitation sensor. We find that the current collection area is sufficient for light rain, but a larger collection area is required to detect moderate to heavy rain.
Matthias Zeeman
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7475–7493, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7475-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7475-2021, 2021
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Understanding turbulence near the surface is important for many applications. In this work, methods for observing and analysing temperature structures in a near-surface volume were explored. Experiments were conducted to identify modes of organised motion. These help explain interactions between the vegetation and the atmosphere that are not currently well understood. Techniques used include fibre-optic sensing, thermal infrared imaging, signal decomposition, and machine learning.
Alexey B. Tikhomirov, Glen Lesins, and James R. Drummond
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7123–7145, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7123-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7123-2021, 2021
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Two commercial quadcopters (DJI Matrice 100 and M210 RTK) were equipped with an air temperature measurement system. They were flown at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Eureka, Nunavut, Canada, at 80° N latitude to study surface-based temperature inversion during February–March field campaigns in 2017 and 2020. It was demonstrated that the drones can be effectively used in the High Arctic to measure vertical temperature profiles up to 75 m off the ground.
Wenying He, Hongbin Chen, Yuejian Xuan, Jun Li, Minzheng Duan, and Weidong Nan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7069–7078, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7069-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7069-2021, 2021
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Large microwave surface emissivities (ε) cause difficulties in widely using satellite microwave data over land. Usually, ground-based radiometers are fixed to a scan field to obtain the temporal evolution of ε over a single land-cover area. To obtain the long-term temporal evolution of ε over different land-cover surfaces simultaneously, we developed a ground mobile observation system to enhance in situ ε observations and presented some preliminary results.
Dhiraj K. Singh, Spencer Donovan, Eric R. Pardyjak, and Timothy J. Garrett
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6973–6990, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6973-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6973-2021, 2021
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This paper describes a new instrument for quantifying the physical characteristics of hydrometeors such as snow and rain. The device can measure the mass, size, density and type of individual hydrometeors as well as their bulk properties. The instrument is called the Differential Emissivity Imaging Disdrometer (DEID) and is composed of a thermal camera and hotplate. The DEID measures hydrometeors at sampling frequencies up to 1 Hz with masses and effective diameters greater than 1 µg and 200 µm.
Chiara Musacchio, Graziano Coppa, Gaber Begeš, Christina Hofstätter-Mohler, Laura Massano, Guido Nigrelli, Francesca Sanna, and Andrea Merlone
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6195–6212, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6195-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6195-2021, 2021
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In the context of the overhaul of the WMO/CIMO guide (no. 8) on instruments and methods of observation, we performed an experiment to quantify uncertainties in air temperature measurements due to reflected solar radiation from a snow-covered surface. Coupled sensors with different radiation shields were put under different ground conditions (grass vs. snow) for a whole winter. Results show that different shields may reduce the influence of backward radiation, which can produce errors up to 3 °C.
Tamino Wetz, Norman Wildmann, and Frank Beyrich
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3795–3814, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3795-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3795-2021, 2021
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A fleet of quadrotors is presented as a system to measure the spatial distribution of atmospheric boundary layer flow. The big advantage of this approach is that multiple and flexible measurement points in space can be sampled synchronously. The algorithm to calculate the horizontal wind is based on the principle of aerodynamic drag and the related quadrotor dynamics. The validation reveals that an average accuracy of < 0.3 m s−1 for the wind speed and < 8° for the wind direction was achieved.
Olivier F. C. den Ouden, Jelle D. Assink, Cornelis D. Oudshoorn, Dominique Filippi, and Läslo G. Evers
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3301–3317, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3301-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3301-2021, 2021
Christophe Leroy-Dos Santos, Mathieu Casado, Frédéric Prié, Olivier Jossoud, Erik Kerstel, Morgane Farradèche, Samir Kassi, Elise Fourré, and Amaëlle Landais
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2907–2918, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2907-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2907-2021, 2021
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We developed an instrument that can generate water vapor at low humidity at a very stable level. This instrument was conceived to calibrate water vapor isotopic records obtained in very dry places such as central Antarctica. Here, we provide details on the instrument as well as results obtained for correcting water isotopic records for diurnal variability during a long field season at the Concordia station in East Antarctica.
Kyle E. Fitch, Chaoxun Hang, Ahmad Talaei, and Timothy J. Garrett
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1127–1142, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1127-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1127-2021, 2021
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Snow measurements are very sensitive to wind. Here, we compare airflow and snowfall simulations to Arctic observations for a Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera to show that measurements of fall speed, orientation, and size are accurate only with a double wind fence and winds below 5 m s−1. In this case, snowflakes tend to fall with a nearly horizontal orientation; the largest flakes are as much as 5 times more likely to be observed. Adjustments are needed for snow falling in naturally turbulent air.
Wei-Chun Hwang, Po-Hsiung Lin, and Hungjui Yu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5395–5406, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5395-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5395-2020, 2020
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We have developed a small, light-weight (radiosonde of 20 g with battery), low-cost, and easy-to-use upper-air radiosonde system: the Storm Tracker. With the ability to receive multiple radiosondes simultaneously, the system enables high temporal and spatial resolution atmospheric observations. In the 2018 field campaign, the accuracy of the Storm tracker was tested using co-launched data with Vaisala RS41-SGP radiosondes, and the measurements show an overall good agreement.
Fabio Madonna, Rigel Kivi, Jean-Charles Dupont, Bruce Ingleby, Masatomo Fujiwara, Gonzague Romanens, Miguel Hernandez, Xavier Calbet, Marco Rosoldi, Aldo Giunta, Tomi Karppinen, Masami Iwabuchi, Shunsuke Hoshino, Christoph von Rohden, and Peter William Thorne
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 3621–3649, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3621-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3621-2020, 2020
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Radiosondes are one of the primary sources of upper-air data for weather and climate monitoring. In the last two decades, technological progress made available automated radiosonde launchers (ARLs), which are able to replace measurements typically performed manually. This work presents a comparative analysis of the technical performance of the ARLs currently available on the market and contribute to define a strategy to achieve the full traceability of the ARL products.
Sebastian Landwehr, Iris Thurnherr, Nicolas Cassar, Martin Gysel-Beer, and Julia Schmale
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 3487–3506, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3487-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-3487-2020, 2020
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Shipborne wind speed measurements are relevant for field studies of air–sea interaction processes. Distortion of the airflow by the ship’s structure can, however, lead to errors. We estimate the flow distortion bias by comparing the observations to ERA-5 reanalysis data. The underlying assumptions are that the bias depends only on the relative orientation of the ship to the wind direction and that the ERA-5 wind speeds are (on average) representative of the true wind speed.
Thomas Kuhn and Sandra Vázquez-Martín
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 1273–1285, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1273-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1273-2020, 2020
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Directly measured shape and fall speed are two important parameters needed for models and remote sensing. This can be done by the new Dual Ice Crystal Imager (D-ICI) instrument, which takes two high-resolution pictures of falling snow crystals from two different angles. Fall speed is measured by doubly exposing the side-view picture. Size and shape are determined from the second picture providing the top view of the snow crystal. D-ICI has been tested on the ground in Kiruna, northern Sweden.
Ben S. Pickering, Ryan R. Neely III, and Dawn Harrison
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5845–5861, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5845-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5845-2019, 2019
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A new network of precipitation instruments has been established for the UK. The instruments are capable of detecting the fall velocity and diameter of each particle that falls through a laser beam. The particle characteristics are derived from the duration and amount of decrease in beam brightness as perceived by a receiving diode. A total of 14 instruments make up the network and all instruments upload 60 s frequency data in near-real time to a publicly available website with plots.
Ulrike Egerer, Matthias Gottschalk, Holger Siebert, André Ehrlich, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 4019–4038, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4019-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-4019-2019, 2019
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In this study, we introduce the new tethered balloon system BELUGA, which includes different modular instrument packages for measuring turbulence and radiation in the atmospheric boundary layer. BELUGA was deployed in an Arctic field campaign in 2017, providing details of boundary layer processes in combination with low-level clouds. Those processes are still not fully understood and in situ measurements in the Arctic improve our understanding of the Arctic response in terms of global warming.
Ruhi S. Humphries, Ian M. McRobert, Will A. Ponsonby, Jason P. Ward, Melita D. Keywood, Zoe M. Loh, Paul B. Krummel, and James Harnwell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 3019–3038, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3019-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3019-2019, 2019
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Undertaking atmospheric observations from ships provides important data in regions where measurements are impossible by other means. However, making measurements so close to a diesel exhaust plume is difficult. In this paper, we describe an algorithm that utilises ongoing measurements of aerosol number concentrations, black carbon mass concentrations, and mixing ratios of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide to accurately distinguish between exhaust and background data periods.
Geoffrey Elie Quentin Bessardon, Kwabena Fosu-Amankwah, Anders Petersson, and Barbara Jane Brooks
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1311–1324, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1311-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1311-2019, 2019
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This paper presents the first performance assessment during a field campaign of a new reusable radiosonde: the Windsond S1H2. The reuse feature of the S1H2 requires evaluation of the data alteration due to sonde reuse in addition to performance and reproducibility assessments. A comparison with the Vaisala RS41-SG, a well-proven system, shows the potential of the S1H2, with no major performance degradation arising from S1H2 sonde reuse but shows the need for improving the S1H2 GPS system.
Xinhua Zhou, Qinghua Yang, Xiaojie Zhen, Yubin Li, Guanghua Hao, Hui Shen, Tian Gao, Yirong Sun, and Ning Zheng
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 5981–6002, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5981-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5981-2018, 2018
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The three-dimensional wind and sonic temperature data from a physically deformed sonic anemometer was successfully recovered by developing equations, algorithms, and related software. Using two sets of geometry data from production calibration and return re-calibration, this algorithm can recover wind with/without transducer shadow correction and sonic temperature with crosswind correction, and then obtain fluxes at quality as expected. This study is applicable as a reference for related topics.
Brian R. Greene, Antonio R. Segales, Sean Waugh, Simon Duthoit, and Phillip B. Chilson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 5519–5530, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5519-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5519-2018, 2018
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With the recent commercial availability of rotary-wing unmanned aircraft systems (rwUAS), their ability to collect observations in the lower atmosphere is quickly being realized. However, integrating sensors with an rwUAS can introduce errors if not sited properly. This study discusses an objective method of determining some of these error sources in temperature, including improper airflow and rotary motor heating. Errors can be mitigated by mounting thermistors under propellers near the tips.
Jörg Hartmann, Martin Gehrmann, Katrin Kohnert, Stefan Metzger, and Torsten Sachs
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 4567–4581, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4567-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-4567-2018, 2018
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We present new in-flight calibration procedures for airborne turbulence measurements that exploit suitable regular flight legs without the need for dedicated calibration patterns. Furthermore we estimate the accuracy of the airborne wind measurement and of the turbulent fluxes of the traces gases methane and carbon dioxide.
Stefanie Kremser, Jordis S. Tradowsky, Henning W. Rust, and Greg E. Bodeker
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 3021–3029, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-3021-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-3021-2018, 2018
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We investigate the feasibility of quantifying the difference in biases of two instrument types (i.e. radiosondes) by flying the old and new instruments on alternating days, so-called interlacing, to statistically derive the systematic biases between the instruments. While it is in principle possible to estimate the difference between two instrument biases from interlaced measurements, the number of required interlaced flights is very large for reasonable autocorrelation coefficient values.
Radiance Calmer, Gregory C. Roberts, Jana Preissler, Kevin J. Sanchez, Solène Derrien, and Colin O'Dowd
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2583–2599, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2583-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2583-2018, 2018
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Remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), commonly called UAVs, are used in atmospheric science for in situ measurements. The presented work shows wind measurements from a five-hole probe on an RPAS. Comparisons with other instruments (sonic anemometer and cloud radar) show good agreement, validating the RPAS measurements. In situ vertical wind measurements at cloud base are highlighted because they are a major parameter needed for simulating aerosol–cloud interactions, though rarely collected.
Birger Bohn and Insa Lohse
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3151–3174, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3151-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3151-2017, 2017
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CCD spectroradiometers are widely used for measurements of atmospheric photolysis frequencies. Their fast response makes them suitable for airborne applications despite the well-known stray-light problem. In this work we describe simple and reliable procedures to minimize the stray-light influence on calibrations and field measurements. Comparisons with a reference instrument confirm high accuracies and low detection limits of important photolysis frequencies.
Stephan Nyeki, Stefan Wacker, Julian Gröbner, Wolfgang Finsterle, and Martin Wild
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3057–3071, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3057-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3057-2017, 2017
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A large number of radiometers used to measure solar and terrestrial broadband radiation are traceable to World Standard Groups at PMOD/WRC in Davos, Switzerland. A small correction of each group may be required in the future, and this study examines the methods and implications of this on data sets collected at four remote baseline stations since the 1990s. The goal is to develop a better estimate of the solar and terrestrial radiation budget at the Earth's surface.
Bennett A. Maruca, Raffaele Marino, David Sundkvist, Niharika H. Godbole, Stephane Constantin, Vincenzo Carbone, and Herb Zimmerman
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1595–1607, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1595-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1595-2017, 2017
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The Turbulence and Intermittency Long-Duration Atmospheric Experiment (TILDAE) was developed to characterize small-scale fluctuations in the troposphere and stratosphere. The mission's key instrument, a customized sonic anemometer, made high-speed calibrated measurements of the 3-D wind velocity and air temperature. TILDAE was incorporated as an "add-on" experiment to the payload of a NASA long-duration balloon mission that launched in January 2016 from McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
Moon-Soo Park, Sung-Hwa Park, Jung-Hoon Chae, Min-Hyeok Choi, Yunyoung Song, Minsoo Kang, and Joon-Woo Roh
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1575–1594, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1575-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1575-2017, 2017
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The philosophy, background, and details of high-resolution urban observation network to meet the need of reducing damages caused by extreme weather phenomena such as heavy rain/snow fall, strong wind, heat/cold waves, or road ice in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA), Korea (UMS-Seoul), is introduced. Two case studies demonstrate that the observed data have a great potential to help to understand the boundary-layer structures more deepl and provide useful meteorological information in the SMA.
Sandro M. Oswald, Helga Pietsch, Dietmar J. Baumgartner, Philipp Weihs, and Harald E. Rieder
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 1169–1179, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1169-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-1169-2017, 2017
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This study investigates effects of precipitation events on the accuracy of solar radiation measurements. To quantify pyranometer responses to precipitation, a series of controlled laboratory experiments and two field campaigns were performed. The results indicate that precipitation significantly affects the thermal environment of the instruments and thus their stability. A high accuracy of solar radiation measurements is important to improve the prediction of Earth's climate change.
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Short summary
The CopterSonde is an unmanned aircraft system designed with the purpose of sampling thermodynamic and kinematic parameters of the lower Earth's atmosphere, with a focus on vertical profiles in the planetary boundary layer. By incorporating adaptive sampling techniques and optimizing the sensor placement, our study shows that CopterSonde can provide similar information as a radiosonde, but with more control of its sampling location at much higher temporal and spatial resolution.
The CopterSonde is an unmanned aircraft system designed with the purpose of sampling...
