Articles | Volume 15, issue 22
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6563-2022
© Author(s) 2022. 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-15-6563-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
17 Nov 2022
Research article |
| 17 Nov 2022
| 17 Nov 2022
The measurement of mean wind, variances, and covariances from an instrumented mobile car in a rural environment
Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering, York
University, Toronto ON, M3J 1P3, Canada
Mark Gordon
Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering, York
University, Toronto ON, M3J 1P3, Canada
Related authors
Stefan J. Miller, Paul A. Makar, and Colin J. Lee
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2197–2219, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2197-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2197-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This work outlines a new solver written in Fortran to calculate the partitioning of metastable aerosols at thermodynamic equilibrium based on the forward algorithms of ISORROPIA II. The new code includes numerical improvements that decrease the computational speed (compared to ISORROPIA II) while improving the accuracy of the partitioning solution.
Sepehr Fathi, Paul Makar, Wanmin Gong, Junhua Zhang, Katherine Hayden, and Mark Gordon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2385–2405, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2385-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2385-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Our study explores the influence of water phase changes in plumes from industrial sources on atmospheric dispersion of emitted pollutants and air quality. Employing PRISM (Plume-Rise-Iterative-Stratified-Moist), a new method, we found that considering these effects significantly improves predictions of pollutant dispersion. This insight enhances our understanding of environmental impacts, enabling more accurate air quality modelling and fostering more effective pollution management strategies.
Dane Blanchard, Mark Gordon, Duc Huy Dang, Paul Andrew Makar, and Julian Aherne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2423–2442, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2423-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2423-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study offers the first known evaluation of water-soluble brown carbon aerosols in the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR), Canada. Fluorescence spectroscopy analysis of aerosol samples from five regional sites (collected during the summer of 2021) identified oil sands operations as a measurable brown carbon source. Industrial aerosol emissions were unlikely to impact regional radiative forcing. These findings show that fluorescence spectroscopy can be used to monitor brown carbon in the AOSR.
Stefan J. Miller, Paul A. Makar, and Colin J. Lee
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2197–2219, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2197-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2197-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This work outlines a new solver written in Fortran to calculate the partitioning of metastable aerosols at thermodynamic equilibrium based on the forward algorithms of ISORROPIA II. The new code includes numerical improvements that decrease the computational speed (compared to ISORROPIA II) while improving the accuracy of the partitioning solution.
Xuanyi Zhang, Mark Gordon, Paul A. Makar, Timothy Jiang, Jonathan Davies, and David Tarasick
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13647–13664, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13647-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13647-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Measurements of ozone in the atmosphere were made in a forest downwind of oil sands mining and production facilities in northern Alberta. These measurements show that the emissions of other pollutants from oil sands production and processing reduce the amount of ozone in the forest. By using an atmospheric model combined with measurements, we find that the rate at which ozone is absorbed by the forest is lower than typical rates from similar measurements in other forests.
Sepehr Fathi, Mark Gordon, and Yongsheng Chen
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 5069–5091, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-5069-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-5069-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We have combined various capabilities within a WRF model to generate simulations of atmospheric pollutant dispersion at 50 m resolution. The study objective was to resolve transport processes at the scale of measurements to assess and optimize aircraft-based emission rate retrievals. Model performance evaluation resulted in agreement within 5 % of observed meteorological and within 1–2 standard deviations of observed wind fields. Mass was conserved in the model within 5 % of input emissions.
Mark Gordon, Dane Blanchard, Timothy Jiang, Paul A. Makar, Ralf M. Staebler, Julian Aherne, Cris Mihele, and Xuanyi Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7241–7255, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7241-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7241-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Measurements of the gas sulfur dioxide (SO2) were made in a forest downwind of oil sands mining and production facilities in northern Alberta. These measurements tell us the rate at which SO2 is absorbed by the forest. The measured rate is much higher than what is currently used by air quality models, which is supported by a previous study in this region. This suggests that SO2 may have a much shorter lifetime in the atmosphere at this location than currently predicted by models.
Timothy Jiang, Mark Gordon, Paul A. Makar, Ralf M. Staebler, and Michael Wheeler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4361–4372, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4361-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4361-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Measurements of submicron aerosols (particles smaller than 1 / 1000 of a millimeter) were made in a forest downwind of oil sands mining and production facilities in northern Alberta. These measurements tell us how quickly aerosols are absorbed by the forest (known as deposition rate) and how the deposition rate depends on the size of the aerosol. The measurements show good agreement with a parameterization developed from a recent study for deposition of aerosols to a similar pine forest.
Sepehr Fathi, Mark Gordon, Paul A. Makar, Ayodeji Akingunola, Andrea Darlington, John Liggio, Katherine Hayden, and Shao-Meng Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15461–15491, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15461-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15461-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We have investigated the accuracy of aircraft-based mass balance methodologies through computer model simulations of the atmosphere and air quality at a regional high-resolution scale. We have defined new quantitative metrics to reduce emission retrieval uncertainty by evaluating top-down mass balance estimates against the known simulated meteorology and input emissions. We also recommend methodologies and flight strategies for improved retrievals in future aircraft-based studies.
Mark Gordon, Paul A. Makar, Ralf M. Staebler, Junhua Zhang, Ayodeji Akingunola, Wanmin Gong, and Shao-Meng Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14695–14714, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14695-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14695-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This work uses aircraft-based measurements of smokestack plumes carried out in northern Alberta in 2013. These measurements are used to test equations used to predict how high in the air smokestack plumes rise. It is important to predict plume rise height accurately as it tells us how far downwind pollutants are carried and what air quality can be expected at the surface. We found that the equations that are typically used significantly underestimate the plume rise at this location.
Ayodeji Akingunola, Paul A. Makar, Junhua Zhang, Andrea Darlington, Shao-Meng Li, Mark Gordon, Michael D. Moran, and Qiong Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 8667–8688, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8667-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8667-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We examine the manner in which air-quality models simulate lofting of buoyant plumes of emissions from stacks (plume rise) and the impact of the level of detail in algorithms simulating particles' variation in size (particle size distribution). The most commonly used plume rise algorithm underestimates the height of plumes compared to observations, while a revised algorithm has much better performance. A 12-bin size distribution reduced the forecast 2-bin size distribution bias error by 32 %.
Sabour Baray, Andrea Darlington, Mark Gordon, Katherine L. Hayden, Amy Leithead, Shao-Meng Li, Peter S. K. Liu, Richard L. Mittermeier, Samar G. Moussa, Jason O'Brien, Ralph Staebler, Mengistu Wolde, Doug Worthy, and Robert McLaren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 7361–7378, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7361-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7361-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Methane emissions from major oil sands facilities in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) of Alberta were measured in the summer of 2013 using two related aircraft mass-balance approaches. Tailings ponds and fugitive emissions of methane from open pit mines were found to be the major sources of methane in the region. Total methane emissions in the AOSR were measured to be ~ 20 tonnes of CH4 per hour, which is 48 % higher than the Canadian Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program Emissions Inventory.
M. W. Shephard, C. A. McLinden, K. E. Cady-Pereira, M. Luo, S. G. Moussa, A. Leithead, J. Liggio, R. M. Staebler, A. Akingunola, P. Makar, P. Lehr, J. Zhang, D. K. Henze, D. B. Millet, J. O. Bash, L. Zhu, K. C. Wells, S. L. Capps, S. Chaliyakunnel, M. Gordon, K. Hayden, J. R. Brook, M. Wolde, and S.-M. Li
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 5189–5211, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5189-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5189-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides direct validations of Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) satellite retrieved profiles against coincident aircraft profiles of carbon monoxide, ammonia, methanol, and formic acid, all of which are of interest for air quality. The comparisons are performed over the Canadian oil sands region during an intensive field campaign in support of the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for the Oil Sands Monitoring (JOSM). Initial model evaluations are also provided.
M. Gordon, S.-M. Li, R. Staebler, A. Darlington, K. Hayden, J. O'Brien, and M. Wolde
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3745–3765, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3745-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3745-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Aircraft-based measurements of air pollutants from sources in the Canadian oil sands were made during a summer intensive field campaign in 2013. This paper describes the top-down emission rate retrieval algorithm (TERRA) to determine facility emissions of pollutants, using SO2 and CH4 as examples. Uncertainty of the emission rates estimated with TERRA is estimated as less than 30%, which is primarily due to the unknown SO2 and CH4 mixing ratios near the surface below the lowest flight level.
Related subject area
Subject: Others (Wind, Precipitation, Temperature, etc.) | Technique: In Situ Measurement | Topic: Instruments and Platforms
SAMURAI-S: Sonic Anemometer on a MUlti-Rotor drone for Atmospheric turbulence Investigation in a Sling load configuration
A novel assessment of the vertical velocity correction for non-orthogonal sonic anemometers
Justification for high ascent attainment for balloon radiosonde soundings at GRUAN and other sites
Method development and application for the analysis of chiral organic marker species in ice cores
The ratio of transverse to longitudinal turbulent velocity statistics for aircraft measurements
A New Versatile Dropsonde for Atmospheric Soundings with HALO – The KITsonde
High-resolution wind speed measurements with quadcopter uncrewed aerial systems: calibration and verification in a wind tunnel with an active grid
High-altitude balloon-launched uncrewed aircraft system measurements of atmospheric turbulence and qualitative comparison with infrasound microphone response
An introduction of Three-Dimensional Precipitation Particles Imager (3D-PPI)
Evaluation of the hyperspectral radiometer (HSR1) at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) site
Cost-effective off-grid automatic precipitation samplers for pollutant and biogeochemical atmospheric deposition
Modelling of cup anemometry and dynamic overspeeding in average wind speed measurements
Introducing the Video In Situ Snowfall Sensor (VISSS)
Quality evaluation for measurements of wind field and turbulent fluxes from a UAV-based eddy covariance system
A new reference-quality precipitation gauge wind shield
Long-term airborne measurements of pollutants over the United Kingdom to support air quality model development and evaluation
Acquiring high-resolution wind measurements by modifying radiosonde sounding procedures
A new accurate low-cost instrument for fast synchronized spatial measurements of light spectra
Drone-based meteorological observations up to the tropopause – a concept study
A new airborne broadband radiometer system and an efficient method to correct dynamic thermal offsets
Toward quantifying turbulent vertical airflow and sensible heat flux in tall forest canopies using fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing
A fiber-optic distributed temperature sensor for continuous in situ profiling up to 2 km beneath constant-altitude scientific balloons
New Absolute Cavity Pyrgeometer equation by application of Kirchhoff's law and adding a convection term
The DataHawk2 uncrewed aircraft system for atmospheric research
ICE-CAMERA: a flatbed scanner to study inland Antarctic polar precipitation
3D trajectories and velocities of rainfall drops in a multifractal turbulent wind field
Towards vertical wind and turbulent flux estimation with multicopter uncrewed aircraft systems
Instabilities, Dynamics, and Energetics accompanying Atmospheric Layering (IDEAL): high-resolution in situ observations and modeling in and above the nocturnal boundary layer
Infrasound measurement system for real-time in situ tornado measurements
Quantifying the coastal urban surface layer structure using distributed temperature sensing in Helsinki, Finland
On the quality of RS41 radiosonde descent data
Idealized simulation study of the relationship of disdrometer sampling statistics with the precision of precipitation rate measurement
Use of thermal signal for the investigation of near-surface turbulence
Drone measurements of surface-based winter temperature inversions in the High Arctic at Eureka
Ground mobile observation system for measuring multisurface microwave emissivity
A differential emissivity imaging technique for measuring hydrometeor mass and type
Effect of snow-covered ground albedo on the accuracy of air temperature measurements
Distributed wind measurements with multiple quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles in the atmospheric boundary layer
The INFRA-EAR: a low-cost mobile multidisciplinary measurement platform for monitoring geophysical parameters
A dedicated robust instrument for water vapor generation at low humidity for use with a laser water isotope analyzer in cold and dry polar regions
Arctic observations and numerical simulations of surface wind effects on Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera measurements
The development of the “Storm Tracker” and its applications for atmospheric high-resolution upper-air observations
Use of automatic radiosonde launchers to measure temperature and humidity profiles from the GRUAN perspective
Using global reanalysis data to quantify and correct airflow distortion bias in shipborne wind speed measurements
The CopterSonde: an insight into the development of a smart unmanned aircraft system for atmospheric boundary layer research
Microphysical properties and fall speed measurements of snow ice crystals using the Dual Ice Crystal Imager (D-ICI)
The Disdrometer Verification Network (DiVeN): a UK network of laser precipitation instruments
The new BELUGA setup for collocated turbulence and radiation measurements using a tethered balloon: first applications in the cloudy Arctic boundary layer
Identification of platform exhaust on the RV Investigator
Evaluation of Windsond S1H2 performance in Kumasi during the 2016 DACCIWA field campaign
Mauro Ghirardelli, Stephan T. Kral, Etienne Cheynet, and Joachim Reuder
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2103–2124, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2103-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2103-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The SAMURAI-S system is an innovative measurement tool combining a high accuracy wind sensor with a multi-rotor drone to improve atmospheric turbulence observations. While traditional methods lack flexibility and accuracy in dynamic environments, SAMURAI-S provides high maneuverability and precise 3D wind measurements. The research demonstrated the system's ability to match the data quality of conventional methods, with a slight overestimation in vertical turbulence under higher wind conditions.
Kyaw Tha Paw U, Mary Rose Mangan, Jilmarie Stephens, Kosana Suvočarev, Jenae' Clay, Olmo Guerrero Medina, Emma Ware, Amanda Kerr-Munslow, James McGregor, John Kochendorfer, Megan McAuliffe, and Megan Metz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1485–1497, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1485-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1485-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Sonic anemometers measure wind velocity in three dimensions. They are used worldwide to help assess the trace gas exchange, critical to understanding climate change. However, their physical framework interferes with the flow they measure. We present a new way of correcting measurements from sonic anemometers of several types. The method uses measurements of vertical wind velocity and other turbulent velocities, compares their ratios, and from this yields correction factors for sonic anemometers.
Masatomo Fujiwara, Bomin Sun, Anthony Reale, Domenico Cimini, Salvatore Larosa, Lori Borg, Christoph von Rohden, Michael Sommer, Ruud Dirksen, Marion Maturilli, Holger Vömel, Rigel Kivi, Bruce Ingleby, Ryan J. Kramer, Belay Demoz, Fabio Madonna, Fabien Carminati, Owen Lewis, Brett Candy, Christopher Thomas, David Edwards, Noersomadi, Kensaku Shimizu, and Peter Thorne
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3906, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3906, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We assess and illustrate the benefits of high-altitude attainment of balloon-borne radiosonde soundings up to and beyond 10 hPa level from various aspects. We show that the extra costs and technical challenges involved in consistent attainment of high ascents are more than outweighed by the benefits for a broad variety of real time and delayed mode applications. Consistent attainment of high ascents should therefore be pursued across the balloon observational network.
Johanna Schäfer, Anja Beschnitt, François Burgay, Thomas Singer, Margit Schwikowski, and Thorsten Hoffmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 421–430, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-421-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-421-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Glaciers preserve organic compounds from atmospheric aerosols, which can serve as markers for emission sources. Most studies overlook the enantiomers of chiral compounds. We developed a two-dimensional liquid chromatography method to determine the chiral ratios of the monoterpene oxidation products cis-pinic acid and cis-pinonic acid in ice-core samples. Applied to samples from the Belukha Glacier (1870–1970 CE), the method revealed fluctuating chiral ratios for the analytes.
Jakub L. Nowak, Marie Lothon, Donald H. Lenschow, and Szymon P. Malinowski
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 93–114, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-93-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-93-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
According to classical theory, the ratio of turbulence statistics corresponding to transverse and longitudinal wind velocity components equals 4/3 in the inertial range of scales. We analyse a large number of measurements obtained with three research aircraft during four field experiments in different locations and show that the observed ratios are almost always significantly smaller. We discuss potential reasons for this disagreement, but the actual explanation remains to be determined.
Christoph Kottmeier, Andreas Wieser, Ulrich Corsmeier, Norbert Kalthoff, Philipp Gasch, Bastian Kirsch, Dörthe Ebert, Zbigniew Ulanowski, Dieter Schell, Harald Franke, Florian Schmidmer, Johannes Frielingsdorf, Thomas Feuerle, and Rudolf Hankers
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2817, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2817, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A new aerological dropsonde system for research aircraft has been developed. The system allows to drop up to 4 sondes with one release container and data from up to 30 sondes can be transmitted simultaneously. The sondes enable high-resolution profiling of temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind. Additional sensors for radioactivity and particles have integrated and tested. Operations in different campaigns have confirmed the reliability of the system and the quality of data.
Johannes Kistner, Lars Neuhaus, and Norman Wildmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4941–4955, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4941-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4941-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We use a fleet of multicopter drones to measure wind. To improve the accuracy of this wind measurement and to evaluate this improvement, we conducted experiments with the drones in a wind tunnel under various conditions. This wind tunnel can generate different kinds and intensities of wind. Here we measured with the drones and with other sensors as a reference and compared the results. We were able to improve our wind measurement and show how accurately it works in different situations.
Anisa N. Haghighi, Ryan D. Nolin, Gary D. Pundsack, Nick Craine, Aliaksei Stratsilatau, and Sean C. C. Bailey
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4863–4889, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4863-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4863-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This work summarizes measurements conducted in June 2021 using a small, uncrewed, stratospheric glider that was launched from a weather balloon to altitudes up to 30 km above sea level. The aircraft conducted measurements of wind speed and direction, pressure, temperature, and humidity during its descent as well as measurements of infrasonic sound levels. These data were used to evaluate the atmospheric turbulence observed during the descent phase of the flight.
Jiayi Shi, Xichuan Liu, Lei Liu, Liying Liu, and Peng Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-106, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-106, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
Short summary
Short summary
A Three-Dimensional Precipitation Particles Imager (3D-PPI) is introduced as a novel instrument for measuring the three-dimensional shape, size, and fall velocity of the precipitation particles. The field experiment of the 3D-PPI was conducted at Tulihe, China, more than 880,000 snowflakes were recorded during a typical snowfall case lasting for 13 hours. It shows a potential application in atmospheric science, polar research, and other fields.
Kelly A. Balmes, Laura D. Riihimaki, John Wood, Connor Flynn, Adam Theisen, Michael Ritsche, Lynn Ma, Gary B. Hodges, and Christian Herrera
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3783–3807, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3783-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3783-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A new hyperspectral radiometer (HSR1) was deployed and evaluated in the central United States (northern Oklahoma). The HSR1 total spectral irradiance agreed well with nearby existing instruments, but the diffuse spectral irradiance was slightly smaller. The HSR1-retrieved aerosol optical depth (AOD) also agreed well with other retrieved AODs. The HSR1 performance is encouraging: new hyperspectral knowledge is possible that could inform atmospheric process understanding and weather forecasting.
Alessia A. Colussi, Daniel Persaud, Melodie Lao, Bryan K. Place, Rachel F. Hems, Susan E. Ziegler, Kate A. Edwards, Cora J. Young, and Trevor C. VandenBoer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3697–3718, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3697-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3697-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A new modular and affordable instrument was developed to automatically collect wet deposition continuously with an off-grid solar top-up power package. Monthly collections were performed across the Newfoundland and Labrador Boreal Ecosystem Latitudinal Transect of experimental forest sites from 2015 to 2016. The proof-of-concept systems were validated with baseline measurements of pH and conductivity and then applied to dissolved organic carbon as an analyte of emerging biogeochemical interest.
Troels Friis Pedersen and Jan-Åke Dahlberg
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1441–1461, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1441-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1441-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Accuracy is important in wind speed measurements with cup anemometers. Dynamic overspeeding is historically considered an inherent and significant error, supported by a two-cup drag model. But lower (and even zero) overspeeding might be present for low-to-medium turbulence intensities for conical cups with short arms. A parabolic torque model reveals various dynamic overspeeding characteristics of cup anemometers, but modelling of actual cup anemometers is best made with tabulated data.
Maximilian Maahn, Dmitri Moisseev, Isabelle Steinke, Nina Maherndl, and Matthew D. Shupe
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 899–919, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-899-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-899-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The open-source Video In Situ Snowfall Sensor (VISSS) is a novel instrument for characterizing particle shape, size, and sedimentation velocity in snowfall. It combines a large observation volume with relatively high resolution and a design that limits wind perturbations. The open-source nature of the VISSS hardware and software invites the community to contribute to the development of the instrument, which has many potential applications in atmospheric science and beyond.
Yibo Sun, Bilige Sude, Xingwen Lin, Bing Geng, Bo Liu, Shengnan Ji, Junping Jing, Zhiping Zhu, Ziwei Xu, Shaomin Liu, and Zhanjun Quan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5659–5679, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5659-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5659-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide a versatile platform for eddy covariance (EC) flux measurements at regional scales with low cost, transport, and infrastructural requirements. This study evaluates the measurement performance in the wind field and turbulent flux of a UAV-based EC system based on the data from a set of calibration flights and standard operational flights and concludes that the system can measure the georeferenced wind vector and turbulent flux with sufficient precision.
John Kochendorfer, Tilden P. Meyers, Mark E. Hall, Scott D. Landolt, Justin Lentz, and Howard J. Diamond
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5647–5657, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5647-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5647-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A new wind shield has been designed to reduce the effects of precipitation gauge undercatch. Tested at three separate sites, it compared well to a well-established refence-quality precipitation wind shield. The new wind shield is smaller and more durable than other reference-quality shields, and it was designed for use in operational weather and climate networks.
Angela Mynard, Joss Kent, Eleanor R. Smith, Andy Wilson, Kirsty Wivell, Noel Nelson, Matthew Hort, James Bowles, David Tiddeman, Justin M. Langridge, Benjamin Drummond, and Steven J. Abel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4229–4261, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4229-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4229-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Air quality models are key in understanding complex air pollution processes and assist in developing strategies to mitigate the impacts of air pollution. The ability of regional air quality models to skilfully represent pollutant distributions aloft is important to enabling their skilful prediction at the surface. To assist in model development and evaluation, a long-term, quality-assured dataset of the 3-D distribution of key pollutants was collected over the United Kingdom (2019–2022).
Jens Faber, Michael Gerding, and Torsten Köpnick
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4183–4193, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4183-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4183-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Weather forecasters around the world use uncrewed balloons to measure wind and temperature for their weather models. In these measurements, wind is recorded from the shift of the balloon by the moving air. However, the balloons and the measurement devices also move by themselves in still air. This creates artificial wind measurements that are normally removed from the data. We show new techniques to avoid these movements and increase the altitude resolution of the wind measurement by 6 times.
Bert G. Heusinkveld, Wouter B. Mol, and Chiel C. van Heerwaarden
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3767–3785, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3767-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3767-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a new instrument for fast measurements of solar irradiance in 18 wavebands (400–950 nm): GPS perfectly synchronizes 10 Hz measurement speed to universal time, low-cost (< EUR 200) complete standalone solution for realizing dense measurement grids to study cloud-shading dynamics, 940 nm waveband reveals atmospheric moisture column information, 11 wavebands to study photosynthetic active radiation and light interaction with vegetation, and good reflection spectra performance.
Konrad B. Bärfuss, Holger Schmithüsen, and Astrid Lampert
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3739–3765, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3739-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3739-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The first atmospheric soundings with an electrically powered small uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) up to an altitude of 10 km are presented and assessed for quality, revealing the potential to augment atmospheric observations and fill observation gaps for numerical weather prediction. This is significant because of the need for high-resolution meteorological data, in particular in remote areas with limited in situ measurements, and for reference data for satellite measurement calibration.
André Ehrlich, Martin Zöger, Andreas Giez, Vladyslav Nenakhov, Christian Mallaun, Rolf Maser, Timo Röschenthaler, Anna E. Luebke, Kevin Wolf, Bjorn Stevens, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1563–1581, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1563-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1563-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Measurements of the broadband radiative energy budget from aircraft are needed to study the effect of clouds, aerosol particles, and surface conditions on the Earth's energy budget. However, the moving aircraft introduces challenges to the instrument performance and post-processing of the data. This study introduces a new radiometer package, outlines a greatly simplifying method to correct thermal offsets, and provides exemplary measurements of solar and thermal–infrared irradiance.
Mohammad Abdoli, Karl Lapo, Johann Schneider, Johannes Olesch, and Christoph K. Thomas
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 809–824, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-809-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-809-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we compute the distributed sensible heat flux using a distributed temperature sensing technique, whose magnitude, sign, and temporal dynamics compare reasonably well to estimates from classical eddy covariance measurements from sonic anemometry. Despite the remaining uncertainty in computed fluxes, the results demonstrate the potential of the novel method to compute spatially resolving sensible heat flux measurement and encourage further research.
J. Douglas Goetz, Lars E. Kalnajs, Terry Deshler, Sean M. Davis, Martina Bramberger, and M. Joan Alexander
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 791–807, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-791-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-791-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
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
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 727–743, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-727-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-727-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Antonio R. Segales, Brian R. Greene, Tyler M. Bell, William Doyle, Joshua J. Martin, Elizabeth A. Pillar-Little, and Phillip B. Chilson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2833–2848, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2833-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2833-2020, 2020
Short summary
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.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Cited articles
Achberger, C. and Bärring, L.: Correction of surface air temperature
measurements from a mobile platform, Agr. Forest Meteorol.,
98–99, 227–238, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0168-1923(99)00099-4, 1999.
Anderson, A. R., Chapman, M., Drobot, S. D., Tadesse, A., Lambi, B., Wiener,
G., and Pisano, P.: Quality of mobile air temperature and atmospheric
pressure observations from the 2010 Development Test Environment Experiment,
J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 51, 691–701, https://doi.org/10.1175/jamc-d-11-0126.1, 2012.
Aristodemou, E., Boganegra, L. M., Mottet, L., Pavlidis, D., Constantinou,
A., Pain, C., Robins, A., and ApSimon, H.: How tall buildings affect
turbulent air flows and dispersion of pollution within a neighbourhood,
Environ. Pollut., 233, 782–796,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.10.041, 2018.
Armi, L. and Mayr, G. J.: Continuously stratified flows across an alpine
crest with a pass: Shallow and Deep Föhn, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 133, 459–477, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.22, 2007.
Belušić, D., Lenschow, D. H., and Tapper, N. J.: Performance of a mobile car platform for mean wind and turbulence measurements, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1825–1837, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1825-2014, 2014.
Bogren, J. and Gustavsson, T.: Nocturnal Air and road surface temperature
variations in complex terrain, Int. J. Climatol., 11,
443–455, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.3370110408, 1991.
Bonin, T. A., Newman, J. F., Klein, P. M., Chilson, P. B., and Wharton, S.: Improvement of vertical velocity statistics measured by a Doppler lidar through comparison with sonic anemometer observations, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 5833–5852, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5833-2016, 2016.
Britter, R. E., Hunt, J. C., and Richards, K. J.: Air flow over a
two-dimensional hill: Studies of velocity speed-up, roughness effects and
turbulence, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 107, 91–110, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49710745106, 1981.
Conte, M., Contini, D., and Held, A.: Multiresolution decomposition and
wavelet analysis of urban aerosol fluxes in Italy and Austria, Atmos.
Res., 248, 105267, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2020.105267, 2021.
Curry, M., Hanesiak, J., Kehler, S., Sills, D. M., and Taylor, N. M.:
Ground-based observations of the thermodynamic and kinematic properties of
Lake-Breeze Fronts in southern Manitoba, Canada, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol.,
163, 143–159, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-016-0214-1, 2017.
de Boer, G., Waugh, S., Erwin, A., Borenstein, S., Dixon, C., Shanti, W., Houston, A., and Argrow, B.: Measurements from mobile surface vehicles during the Lower Atmospheric Profiling Studies at Elevation – a Remotely-piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE) , Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 155–169, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-155-2021, 2021.
Finkelstein, P. L. and Sims, P. F.: Sampling error in eddy correlation
flux measurements, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 106,
3503–3509, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000jd900731, 2001.
Göckede, M., Kittler, F., and Schaller, C.: Quantifying the impact of emission outbursts and non-stationary flow on eddy-covariance CH4 flux measurements using wavelet techniques, Biogeosciences, 16, 3113–3131, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3113-2019, 2019.
Gong, W. and Ibbetson, A.: A wind tunnel study of turbulent flow over
Model Hills, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 49, 113–148,
https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00116408, 1989.
Gordon, M.: The measurement of mean wind, variances and covariances from an instrumented mobile car in a rural environment, Borealis, V1 [data set], https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/IBBDTF, 2022.
Gordon, M., Staebler, R. M., Liggio, J., Makar, P., Li, S.-M., Wentzell, J.,
Lu, G., Lee, P., and Brook, J. R.: Measurements of enhanced turbulent
mixing near Highways, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 51,
1618–1632, https://doi.org/10.1175/jamc-d-11-0190.1, 2012.
Gromke, C. and Blocken, B.: Influence of avenue-trees on air quality at
the Urban Neighborhood Scale. part I: Quality assurance studies and
turbulent schmidt number analysis for RANS CFD Simulations, Environ. Pollut., 196, 214–223, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2014.10.016, 2015.
Hanlon, T. and Risk, D.: Using computational fluid dynamics and field experiments to improve vehicle-based wind measurements for environmental monitoring, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 191–203, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-191-2020, 2020.
Hertwig, D., Gough, H. L., Grimmond, S., Barlow, J. F., Kent, C. W., Lin, W.
E., Robins, A. G., and Hayden, P.: Wake characteristics of tall buildings
in a realistic urban canopy, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 172, 239–270,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-019-00450-7, 2019.
Hunt, J. C. R., Poulton, E. C., and Mumford, J. C.: The effects of wind on
people; new criteria based on wind tunnel experiments, Build.
Environ., 11, 15–28, https://doi.org/10.1016/0360-1323(76)90015-9, 1976.
Kim, Y., Huang, L., Gong, S., and Jia, Q. C.: A new approach to quantifying vehicle induced turbulence for complex traffic scenarios, Chinese J. Chem. Eng., 1, 71–78, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjche.2015.11.025, 2016.
Kljun, N., Calanca, P., Rotach, M. W., and Schmid, H. P.: A simple two-dimensional parameterisation for Flux Footprint Prediction (FFP), Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 3695–3713, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-3695-2015, 2015.
Krayenhoff, E. S., Jiang, T., Christen, A., Martilli, A., Oke, T. R.,
Bailey, B. N., Nazarian, N., Voogt, J. A., Giometto, M. G., Stastny, A.,
and Crawford, B. R.: A multi-layer urban canopy meteorological model with
trees (BEP-tree): Street tree impacts on pedestrian-level climate, Urban
Climate, 32, 100590, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2020.100590, 2020.
Langford, B., Acton, W., Ammann, C., Valach, A., and Nemitz, E.: Eddy-covariance data with low signal-to-noise ratio: time-lag determination, uncertainties and limit of detection, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 4197–4213, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4197-2015, 2015.
Lee, J. P. and Lee, S. J.: PIV analysis on the shelter effect of a bank of
real fir trees, J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerod., 110, 40–49, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2012.07.003, 2012.
Lenschow, D. H., Mann, J., and Kristensen, L.: How long is long enough when
measuring fluxes and other turbulence statistics?, J. Atmos.
Ocean. Tech., 11, 661–673, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(1994)011<0661:HLILEW>2.0.CO;2, 1994.
Lenschow, D. H., Wulfmeyer, V., and Senff, C.: Measuring second- through
fourth-order moments in Noisy Data, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 17, 1330–1347,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(2000)017<1330:MSTFOM>2.0.CO;2, 2000.
Lyu, J., Wang, C. M., and Mason, M. S.: Review of models for predicting
wind characteristics behind windbreaks, J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerod., 199, 104117, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2020.104117, 2020.
Mahrt, L., Richardson, S., Seaman, N., and Stauffer, D.: Turbulence in the
nocturnal boundary layer with light and variable winds, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 138, 1430–1439, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.1884, 2012.
Mann, J. and Lenschow, D. H.: Errors in airborne flux measurements,
J. Geophys. Res., 99, 14519, https://doi.org/10.1029/94jd00737, 1994.
Markowski, P. M., Lis, N. T., Turner, D. D., Lee, T. R., and Buban, M. S.:
Observations of near-surface vertical wind profiles and vertical momentum
fluxes from vortex-SE 2017: Comparisons to Monin-Obukhov similarity theory,
Mon. Weather Rev., 147, 3811–3824, https://doi.org/10.1175/mwr-d-19-0091.1, 2019.
Mauder, M., Cuntz, M., Drüe, C., Graf, A., Rebmann, C., Schmid, H. P., Schmidt, M., and Steinbrecher, R.: A strategy for quality and uncertainty assessment of long-term eddy-covariance measurements, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 169, 122–135, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2012.09.006, 2013.
Mayr, G. J. and Armi, L.: Föhn as a response to changing upstream and
downstream air masses, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 134, 1357–1369, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.295, 2008.
Miller, S. J., Gordon, M., Staebler, R. M., and Taylor, P. A.: A study of
the spatial variation of vehicle-induced turbulence on highways using
measurements from a mobile platform, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 171,
1–29, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-018-0416-9, 2019.
Mochida, A., Tabata, Y., Iwata, T., and Yoshino, H.: Examining tree canopy
models for CFD prediction of wind environment at pedestrian level, J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerod., 96, 1667–1677, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2008.02.055, 2008.
Paterna, E., Crivelli, P., and Lehning, M.: Decoupling of mass flux and
turbulent wind fluctuations in drifting snow, Geophys. Res. Lett.,
43, 4441–4447, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016gl068171, 2016.
Rannik, Ü., Mammarella, I., Aalto, P., Keronen, P., Vesala, T., and
Kulmala, M.: Long-term aerosol particle flux observations part I:
Uncertainties and time-average statistics, Atmos. Environ., 43,
3431–3439, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.02.049, 2009.
Rannik, Ü., Peltola, O., and Mammarella, I.: Random uncertainties of flux measurements by the eddy covariance technique, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 5163–5181, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5163-2016, 2016.
Salmond, J. A.: Wavelet analysis of intermittent turbulence in a very stable
nocturnal boundary layer: Implications for the vertical mixing of ozone,
Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 114, 463–488, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-004-2422-3, 2005.
Salmond, J. A. and McKendry, I. G.: A review of turbulence in the very
stable nocturnal boundary layer and its implications for Air Quality,
Prog. Phys. Geog., 29, 171–188, https://doi.org/10.1191/0309133305pp442ra, 2005.
Schaller, C., Göckede, M., and Foken, T.: Flux calculation of short turbulent events – comparison of three methods, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 869–880, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-869-2017, 2017.
Schiehlen, W.: White noise excitation of road vehicle structures, Sadhana,
31, 487–503, https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02716788, 2006.
Smith, S. A., Brown, A. R., Vosper, S. B., Murkin, P. A., and Veal, A. T.:
Observations and simulations of cold air pooling in Valleys, Bound.-Lay.
Meteorol., 134, 85–108, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-009-9436-9, 2010.
Starkenburg, D., Metzger, S., Fochesatto, G. J., Alfieri, J. G., Gens, R.,
Prakash, A., and Cristóbal, J.: Assessment of despiking methods for
turbulence data in Micrometeorology, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 33, 2001–2013, https://doi.org/10.1175/jtech-d-15-0154.1, 2016.
Straka, J. M., Rasmussen, E. N., and Fredrickson, S. E.: A mobile mesonet
for Finescale Meteorological Observations, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 13, 921–936, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(1996)013<0921:AMMFFM>2.0.CO;2, 1996.
Strunin, M. A. and Hiyama, T.: Applying wavelet transforms to analyse
aircraft-measured turbulence and turbulent fluxes in the atmospheric
boundary layer over Eastern Siberia, Hydrol. Process., 18,
3081–3098, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.5750, 2004.
Su, J., Wang, L., Gu, Z., Song, M., and Cao, Z.: Effects of real trees and
their structure on pollutant dispersion and flow field in an idealized
Street Canyon, Atmos. Pollut. Res., 10, 1699–1710,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apr.2019.07.001, 2019.
Taylor, N. M., Sills, D. M., Hanesiak, J. M., Milbrandt, J. A., Smith, C.
D., Strong, G. S., Skone, S. H., McCarthy, P. J., and Brimelow, J. C.: The
understanding severe thunderstorms and Alberta Boundary Layers Experiment
(unstable) 2008, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 92, 739–763, https://doi.org/10.1175/2011bams2994.1, 2011.
Taylor, P. A. and Salmon, J. R.: A model for the correction of surface
wind data for sheltering by upwind obstacles, J. Appl. Meteorol., 32, 1683–1694, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1993)032<1683:AMFTCO>2.0.CO;2, 1993.
Torrence, C. and Compo, G. P.: A practical guide to wavelet analysis,
B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 79, 61–78,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1998)079<0061:APGTWA>2.0.CO;2, 1998a.
Torrence, C. and Compo, G. P.: A practical guide to wavelet analysis, GitHub [code], https://github.com/chris-torrence/wavelets (last access: 1 December 2021), 1998b.
Turner, D. B.: Comparison of three methods for calculating the standard
deviation of the wind direction, J. Clim. Appl. Meteorol., 25, 703–707, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1986)025<0703:COTMFC>2.0.CO;2, 1986.
Van de Wiel, B. J., Moene, A. F., Jonker, H. J., Baas, P., Basu, S., Donda,
J. M., Sun, J., and Holtslag, A. A.: The minimum wind speed for sustainable
turbulence in the nocturnal boundary layer, J. Atmos.
Sci., 69, 3116–3127, https://doi.org/10.1175/jas-d-12-0107.1, 2012.
von der Heyden, L., Deventer, M. J., Graus, M., Karl, T., Lamprecht, C.,
and Held, A.: Aerosol particles during the Innsbruck Air Quality Study
(INNAQS): The impact of transient fluxes on total aerosol number exchange,
Atmos. Environ., 190, 389–400, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.07.041, 2018.
White, L. D.: Mobile observations of a quasi-frontal transient moisture
boundary in the Deep South, Weather Forecast., 29, 1356–1373,
https://doi.org/10.1175/waf-d-14-00009.1, 2014.
Wilczak, J. M., Oncley, S. P., and Stage, S. A.: Sonic anemometer tilt
correction algorithms, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 99, 127–150,
https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1018966204465, 2001.
Wulfmeyer, V., Pal, S., Turner, D. D., and Wagner, E.: Can water vapour
raman lidar resolve profiles of turbulent variables in the convective
boundary layer?, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 136, 253–284,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-010-9494-z, 2010.
Wyngaard, J. C.: The effects of probe-induced flow distortion on atmospheric
turbulence measurements: Extension to scalars, J. Atmos. Sci., 45, 3400–3412, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1988)045<3400:TEOPIF>2.0.CO;2, 1988.
Yu, Y., Liu, J., Chauhan, K., de Dear, R., and Niu, J.: Experimental study
on convective heat transfer coefficients for the human body exposed to
turbulent wind conditions, Build. Environ., 169, 106533,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106533, 2020.
Short summary
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.
This research investigates the measurement of atmospheric turbulence using a low-cost...
