Articles | Volume 9, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-929-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-929-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
07 Mar 2016
Research article |
| 07 Mar 2016
Controlled weather balloon ascents and descents for atmospheric research and climate monitoring
Andreas Kräuchi
Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Rolf Philipona
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, Aerological Station, 1530 Payerne, Switzerland
Gonzague Romanens
Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, Aerological Station, 1530 Payerne, Switzerland
Dale F. Hurst
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Global Monitoring Division, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
Emrys G. Hall
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Global Monitoring Division, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
Allen F. Jordan
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Global Monitoring Division, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
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Mélanie Ghysels, Georges Durry, Nadir Amarouche, Dale Hurst, Emrys Hall, Kensy Xiong, Jean-Charles Dupont, Jean-Christophe Samake, Fabien Frérot, Raghed Bejjani, and Emmanuel D. Riviere
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3495–3513, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3495-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3495-2024, 2024
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A tunable diode laser hygrometer, “Pico-Light H2O”, is presented and its performances are evaluated during the AsA 2022 balloon-borne intercomparison campaign from Aire-sur-l'Adour (France) in September 2022. A total of 15 balloons were launched within the framework of the EU-funded HEMERA project. Pico-Light H2O has been compared in situ with the NOAA Frost Point Hygrometer in the upper troposphere and stratosphere, as well as with meteorological sondes (iMet-4 and M20) in the troposphere.
Michael Kiefer, Dale F. Hurst, Gabriele P. Stiller, Stefan Lossow, Holger Vömel, John Anderson, Faiza Azam, Jean-Loup Bertaux, Laurent Blanot, Klaus Bramstedt, John P. Burrows, Robert Damadeo, Bianca Maria Dinelli, Patrick Eriksson, Maya García-Comas, John C. Gille, Mark Hervig, Yasuko Kasai, Farahnaz Khosrawi, Donal Murtagh, Gerald E. Nedoluha, Stefan Noël, Piera Raspollini, William G. Read, Karen H. Rosenlof, Alexei Rozanov, Christopher E. Sioris, Takafumi Sugita, Thomas von Clarmann, Kaley A. Walker, and Katja Weigel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4589–4642, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4589-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4589-2023, 2023
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We quantify biases and drifts (and their uncertainties) between the stratospheric water vapor measurement records of 15 satellite-based instruments (SATs, with 31 different retrievals) and balloon-borne frost point hygrometers (FPs) launched at 27 globally distributed stations. These comparisons of measurements during the period 2000–2016 are made using robust, consistent statistical methods. With some exceptions, the biases and drifts determined for most SAT–FP pairs are < 10 % and < 1 % yr−1.
William G. Read, Gabriele Stiller, Stefan Lossow, Michael Kiefer, Farahnaz Khosrawi, Dale Hurst, Holger Vömel, Karen Rosenlof, Bianca M. Dinelli, Piera Raspollini, Gerald E. Nedoluha, John C. Gille, Yasuko Kasai, Patrick Eriksson, Christopher E. Sioris, Kaley A. Walker, Katja Weigel, John P. Burrows, and Alexei Rozanov
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3377–3400, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3377-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3377-2022, 2022
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This paper attempts to provide an assessment of the accuracy of 21 satellite-based instruments that remotely measure atmospheric humidity in the upper troposphere of the Earth's atmosphere. The instruments made their measurements from 1984 to the present time; however, most of these instruments began operations after 2000, and only a few are still operational. The objective of this study is to quantify the accuracy of each satellite humidity data set.
Eric J. Hintsa, Fred L. Moore, Dale F. Hurst, Geoff S. Dutton, Bradley D. Hall, J. David Nance, Ben R. Miller, Stephen A. Montzka, Laura P. Wolton, Audra McClure-Begley, James W. Elkins, Emrys G. Hall, Allen F. Jordan, Andrew W. Rollins, Troy D. Thornberry, Laurel A. Watts, Chelsea R. Thompson, Jeff Peischl, Ilann Bourgeois, Thomas B. Ryerson, Bruce C. Daube, Yenny Gonzalez Ramos, Roisin Commane, Gregory W. Santoni, Jasna V. Pittman, Steven C. Wofsy, Eric Kort, Glenn S. Diskin, and T. Paul Bui
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6795–6819, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6795-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6795-2021, 2021
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We built UCATS to study atmospheric chemistry and transport. It has measured trace gases including CFCs, N2O, SF6, CH4, CO, and H2 with gas chromatography, as well as ozone and water vapor. UCATS has been part of missions to study the tropical tropopause; transport of air into the stratosphere; greenhouse gases, transport, and chemistry in the troposphere; and ozone chemistry, on both piloted and unmanned aircraft. Its design, capabilities, and some results are shown and described here.
Nathaniel J. Livesey, William G. Read, Lucien Froidevaux, Alyn Lambert, Michelle L. Santee, Michael J. Schwartz, Luis F. Millán, Robert F. Jarnot, Paul A. Wagner, Dale F. Hurst, Kaley A. Walker, Patrick E. Sheese, and Gerald E. Nedoluha
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15409–15430, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15409-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15409-2021, 2021
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The Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), an instrument on NASA's Aura mission launched in 2004, measures vertical profiles of the temperature and composition of Earth's "middle atmosphere" (the region from ~12 to ~100 km altitude). We describe how, among the 16 trace gases measured by MLS, the measurements of water vapor (H2O) and nitrous oxide (N2O) have started to drift since ~2010. The paper also discusses the origins of this drift and work to ameliorate it in a new version of the MLS dataset.
Giovanni Martucci, Francisco Navas-Guzmán, Ludovic Renaud, Gonzague Romanens, S. Mahagammulla Gamage, Maxime Hervo, Pierre Jeannet, and Alexander Haefele
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1333–1353, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1333-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1333-2021, 2021
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This article presents a validation of 1.5 years of pure rotational temperature data measured by the Raman lidar RALMO installed at the MeteoSwiss station of Payerne. The statistical results are in terms of bias and standard deviation with respect to two well-established radiosounding systems. The statistics are divided into daytime (bias = 0.28 K, SD = 0.62±0.03 K) and nighttime (bias = 0.29 K, SD = 0.66±0.06 K). The lidar temperature profiles are applied to cloud supersaturation studies.
Simone Brunamonti, Giovanni Martucci, Gonzague Romanens, Yann Poltera, Frank G. Wienhold, Maxime Hervo, Alexander Haefele, and Francisco Navas-Guzmán
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 2267–2285, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2267-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2267-2021, 2021
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Lidar (light detection and ranging) is a class of remote-sensing instruments that are widely used for the monitoring of aerosol properties in the lower levels of the atmosphere, yet their measurements are affected by several sources of uncertainty. Here we present the first comparison of two lidar systems against a fully independent instrument carried by meteorological balloons. We show that both lidars achieve a good agreement with the high-precision balloon measurements up to 6 km altitude.
Martine Collaud Coen, Elisabeth Andrews, Alessandro Bigi, Giovanni Martucci, Gonzague Romanens, Frédéric P. A. Vogt, and Laurent Vuilleumier
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6945–6964, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6945-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6945-2020, 2020
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The Mann–Kendall trend test requires prewhitening in the presence of serially correlated data. The effects of five prewhitening methods and time granularity, autocorrelation, temporal segmentation and length of the time series on the statistical significance and the slope are studies for seven atmospheric datasets. Finally, a new algorithm using three prewhitening methods is proposed in order to optimize the power of the test, the amount of erroneous false positive trends and the slope estimate.
Ruud J. Dirksen, Greg E. Bodeker, Peter W. Thorne, Andrea Merlone, Tony Reale, Junhong Wang, Dale F. Hurst, Belay B. Demoz, Tom D. Gardiner, Bruce Ingleby, Michael Sommer, Christoph von Rohden, and Thierry Leblanc
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 9, 337–355, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-337-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-337-2020, 2020
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This paper describes GRUAN's strategy for a network-wide change of the operational radiosonde from Vaisala RS92 to RS41. GRUAN's main goal is to provide long-term data records that are free of inhomogeneities due to instrumental effects, which requires proper change management. The approach is to fully characterize differences between the two radiosonde types using laboratory tests, twin soundings, and ancillary data, as well as by drawing from the various fields of expertise available in GRUAN.
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.
Stefan Lossow, Farahnaz Khosrawi, Michael Kiefer, Kaley A. Walker, Jean-Loup Bertaux, Laurent Blanot, James M. Russell, Ellis E. Remsberg, John C. Gille, Takafumi Sugita, Christopher E. Sioris, Bianca M. Dinelli, Enzo Papandrea, Piera Raspollini, Maya García-Comas, Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Anu Dudhia, William G. Read, Gerald E. Nedoluha, Robert P. Damadeo, Joseph M. Zawodny, Katja Weigel, Alexei Rozanov, Faiza Azam, Klaus Bramstedt, Stefan Noël, John P. Burrows, Hideo Sagawa, Yasuko Kasai, Joachim Urban, Patrick Eriksson, Donal P. Murtagh, Mark E. Hervig, Charlotta Högberg, Dale F. Hurst, and Karen H. Rosenlof
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2693–2732, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2693-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2693-2019, 2019
Ivan Ortega, Rebecca R. Buchholz, Emrys G. Hall, Dale F. Hurst, Allen F. Jordan, and James W. Hannigan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 873–890, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-873-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-873-2019, 2019
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In this work we evaluate the accuracy of water vapor ground-based FTIR retrievals in the lower and upper troposphere using coincident high-quality vertically resolved balloon-borne NOAA FPH measurements. Our results suggest that highly structured water vapor vertical gradients are captured with the FTIR and found a negligible bias in the immediate layer above the instrument altitude accounting for a water vapor time variability of less than 2 %.
Jessie M. Creamean, Katherine M. Primm, Margaret A. Tolbert, Emrys G. Hall, Jim Wendell, Allen Jordan, Patrick J. Sheridan, Jedediah Smith, and Russell C. Schnell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 3969–3985, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-3969-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-3969-2018, 2018
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A new balloon-borne system has been developed to measure the properties of aerosol particles that form cloud ice in the lower troposphere, called HOVERCAT (Honing On VERtical Cloud and Aerosol properTies). Test flights in Colorado demonstrated the utility of HOVERCAT for profiling these ice nucleating particles (INPs), where we found higher numbers of INPs from agricultural sources. Measurements by HOVERCAT can help improve understanding of how aerosols impact clouds in the atmosphere.
Chance W. Sterling, Bryan J. Johnson, Samuel J. Oltmans, Herman G. J. Smit, Allen F. Jordan, Patrick D. Cullis, Emrys G. Hall, Anne M. Thompson, and Jacquelyn C. Witte
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 3661–3687, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-3661-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-3661-2018, 2018
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The electrochemical concentration cell ozonesonde is a balloon-borne instrument that measures ozone to an altitude of ~30 km. This work summarizes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 50+ year, eight-site ozonesonde network history, the processing techniques utilized to account for instrumental changes, and the uncertainty of the measurement. The ozonesonde measurements were compared to satellite measurements and agreed well. This important data set is more useful and robust.
Stefan Lossow, Dale F. Hurst, Karen H. Rosenlof, Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Sabine Brinkop, Martin Dameris, Patrick Jöckel, Doug E. Kinnison, Johannes Plieninger, David A. Plummer, Felix Ploeger, William G. Read, Ellis E. Remsberg, James M. Russell, and Mengchu Tao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 8331–8351, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8331-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8331-2018, 2018
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Trend estimates of lower stratospheric H2O derived from the FPH observations at Boulder and a merged zonal mean satellite data set clearly differ for the time period from the late 1980s to 2010. We investigate if a sampling bias between Boulder and the zonal mean around the Boulder latitude can explain these trend discrepancies. Typically they are small and not sufficient to explain the trend discrepancies in the observational database.
Ralf Becker, Marion Maturilli, Rolf Philipona, and Klaus Behrens
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2018-173, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2018-173, 2018
Revised manuscript not accepted
Sean M. Davis, Karen H. Rosenlof, Birgit Hassler, Dale F. Hurst, William G. Read, Holger Vömel, Henry Selkirk, Masatomo Fujiwara, and Robert Damadeo
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 8, 461–490, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-8-461-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-8-461-2016, 2016
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This paper describes the construction of the Stratospheric Water and Ozone Satellite Homogenized (SWOOSH) database, whose main feature is a combined data product created by homogenizing multiple satellite records. This motivation for SWOOSH is that in order to study multiyear to decadal variability in ozone and water vapor concentrations, it is necessary to have a continuous and smooth record without artificial jumps in the data.
Dale F. Hurst, William G. Read, Holger Vömel, Henry B. Selkirk, Karen H. Rosenlof, Sean M. Davis, Emrys G. Hall, Allen F. Jordan, and Samuel J. Oltmans
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4447–4457, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4447-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4447-2016, 2016
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This study compares stratospheric water vapor measurements by the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and balloon-borne frost point hygrometers (FPs) at five sites that launch two different types of FPs. The results demonstrate that FP and MLS measurements have been diverging at statistically significant rates of 0.6 to 1.5 % per year since approximately 2010. Similarities in the divergences at different sites suggest a positive drift in MLS retrievals since approximately 2010.
Emrys G. Hall, Allen F. Jordan, Dale F. Hurst, Samuel J. Oltmans, Holger Vömel, Benjamin Kühnreich, and Volker Ebert
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4295–4310, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4295-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4295-2016, 2016
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This work focuses on the balloon borne NOAA frost point hygrometer (FPH) instrument flown at three locations around the world: Boulder, Colorado, Lauder, New Zealand, and Hilo, Hawaii. The ongoing 36-year record is the longest continuous water vapor record with profiles reaching 28 km. Significant instrument updates in 2008 decreased the weight, cost, power consumption, and manufacturing time offering greater precision and ease of use.
Thomas Trickl, Hannes Vogelmann, Andreas Fix, Andreas Schäfler, Martin Wirth, Bertrand Calpini, Gilbert Levrat, Gonzague Romanens, Arnoud Apituley, Keith M. Wilson, Robert Begbie, Jens Reichardt, Holger Vömel, and Michael Sprenger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 8791–8815, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8791-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8791-2016, 2016
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A rather homogeneous deep stratospheric intrusion event was mapped by vertical sounding over central Europe and by model calculations along the transport path. The very low minimum H2O mixing ratios demonstrate almost negligible mixing with tropospheric air during the downward transport. The vertical distributions of O3 and aerosol were transferred from the source region to Europe without major change. A rather shallow outflow from the stratosphere was found.
Andreas Kräuchi and Rolf Philipona
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 2535–2544, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2535-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-2535-2016, 2016
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New radiosonde instruments for humidity-, radiation- and gas-profile measurements were introduced in recent years for atmospheric research and climate monitoring. Such instruments are intended to be reused on multiple flights. Here we introduce the return glider radiosonde (RGR), which enables flying and retrieving valuable in situ upper-air instruments. The RGR is lifted with weather balloons to a preset altitude, and a built-in autopilot flies the glider autonomously back to the launch site.
K. Weigel, A. Rozanov, F. Azam, K. Bramstedt, R. Damadeo, K.-U. Eichmann, C. Gebhardt, D. Hurst, M. Kraemer, S. Lossow, W. Read, N. Spelten, G. P. Stiller, K. A. Walker, M. Weber, H. Bovensmann, and J. P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 133–158, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-133-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-133-2016, 2016
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The SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY) aboard the Envisat satellite provided measurements between 2002 and 2012 with different viewing geometries. The limb viewing geometry allows the retrieval of water vapour profiles in the UTLS (upper troposphere and lower stratosphere) from the near-infrared spectral range (1353–1410 nm). Here, we present data version 3.01 and compare it to other water vapour data.
R. J. Dirksen, M. Sommer, F. J. Immler, D. F. Hurst, R. Kivi, and H. Vömel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 4463–4490, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-4463-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-4463-2014, 2014
A. Cirisan, B. P. Luo, I. Engel, F. G. Wienhold, M. Sprenger, U. K. Krieger, U. Weers, G. Romanens, G. Levrat, P. Jeannet, D. Ruffieux, R. Philipona, B. Calpini, P. Spichtinger, and T. Peter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 7341–7365, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7341-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7341-2014, 2014
E. Brocard, R. Philipona, A. Haefele, G. Romanens, A. Mueller, D. Ruffieux, V. Simeonov, and B. Calpini
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 1347–1358, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-1347-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-1347-2013, 2013
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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
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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
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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.
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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
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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.
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
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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
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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.
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Short summary
In situ upper-air measurements are often made with instruments attached to weather balloons launched at the surface and lifted into the stratosphere. It has been demonstrated that ascending weather balloons can perturb the air measured by very sensitive humidity and temperature sensors trailing behind them. The use of controlled balloon descent for such measurements has therefore been investigated and is described here. We present two different methods and show advantages and disadvantages.
In situ upper-air measurements are often made with instruments attached to weather balloons...
