Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Data collected using small uncrewed aircraft systems during the TRacking Aerosol Convection interactions ExpeRiment (TRACER)

Journal Article · · Earth System Science Data (Online)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »; ; ; ; ; « less

Abstract. The main goal of the TRacking Aerosol Convection interactions ExpeRiment (TRACER) project was to further understand the role that regional circulations and aerosol loading play in the convective cloud life cycle across the greater Houston, Texas, area. To accomplish this goal, the United States Department of Energy and research partners collaborated to deploy atmospheric observing systems across the region. Cloud and precipitation radars, radiosondes, and air quality sensors captured atmospheric and cloud characteristics. A dense lower-atmospheric dataset was developed using ground-based remote sensors, a tethersonde, and uncrewed aerial systems (UASs). TRACER-UAS is a subproject that deployed two UAS platforms to gather high-resolution observations in the lower atmosphere between 1 June and 30 September 2022. The University of Oklahoma CopterSonde and the University of Colorado Boulder RAAVEN (Robust Autonomous Aerial Vehicle – Endurant Nimble) were flown at two coastal locations between the Gulf of Mexico and Houston. The University of Colorado Boulder RAAVEN gathered measurements of atmospheric thermodynamic state, winds and turbulence, and aerosol size distribution. Meanwhile, the University of Oklahoma CopterSonde system operated on a regular basis to resolve the vertical structure of the thermodynamic and kinematic state. Together, a complementary dataset of over 200 flight hours across 61 d was generated, and data from each platform proved to be in strong agreement. In this paper, the platforms and respective data collection and processing are described. The dataset described herein provides information on boundary layer evolution, the sea breeze circulation, conditions prior to and nearby deep convection, and the vertical structure and evolution of aerosols. The quality-controlled TRACER-UAS observations from the CopterSonde and RAAVEN can be found at https://doi.org/10.5439/1969004 (Lappin, 2023) and https://doi.org/10.5439/1985470 (de Boer, 2023), respectively.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0021381
OSTI ID:
2368978
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2373155
Journal Information:
Earth System Science Data (Online), Journal Name: Earth System Science Data (Online) Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 16; ISSN 1866-3516
Publisher:
Copernicus GmbHCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
Germany
Language:
English

References (45)

Aerosol-cloud-land surface interactions within tropical sea breeze convection journal July 2014
Coyote unmanned aircraft system observations in Hurricane Edouard (2014): Coyote Observations in a Major Hurricane journal September 2016
The tempest unmanned aircraft system for in situ observations of tornadic supercells: Design and VORTEX2 flight results journal June 2011
Gradient-Based Turbulence Estimates from Multicopter Profiles in the Arctic Stable Boundary Layer journal March 2022
Investigation on the fine structure of sea-breeze during ESCOMPTE experiment journal March 2005
Observations of atmospheric boundary layer temperature profiles with a small unmanned aerial vehicle journal July 2013
Sea breeze: Structure, forecasting, and impacts journal January 2003
Aerosol lofting from sea breeze during the Indian Ocean Experiment journal January 2006
Dual‐Doppler lidar observation of horizontal convective rolls and near‐surface streaks journal July 2008
A numerical study of interactions between surface forcing and sea breeze circulations and their effects on stagnation in the greater Houston area journal January 2011
Structures of the Sea‐Breeze Front in Dual‐Doppler Lidar Observation and Coupled Mesoscale‐to‐LES Modeling journal March 2019
Bay Breeze and Sea Breeze Circulation Impacts on the Planetary Boundary Layer and Air Quality From an Observed and Modeled DISCOVER‐AQ Texas Case Study journal July 2019
Environmental Controls on Tropical Sea Breeze Convection and Resulting Aerosol Redistribution journal March 2020
Identification of Sea Breeze Recirculation and Its Effects on Ozone in Houston, TX, During DISCOVER‐AQ 2013 journal November 2020
Clouds, circulation and climate sensitivity journal March 2015
A light-weight, high-sensitivity particle spectrometer for PM2.5 aerosol measurements journal December 2015
The Drought Monitor journal August 2002
Observations of the Sea-Breeze Front during CaPE. Part II: Dual-Doppler and Aircraft Analysis journal April 1995
Measuring the Wind Vector Using the Autonomous Mini Aerial Vehicle M 2 AV journal November 2008
A Bad Air Day in Houston journal May 2005
Development of Community, Capabilities, and Understanding through Unmanned Aircraft-Based Atmospheric Research: The LAPSE-RATE Campaign journal May 2020
Atmospheric Dynamics and Ozone Cycle during Sea Breeze in a Mediterranean Complex Urbanized Coastal Site journal May 2018
Erroneous Attribution of Deep Convective Invigoration to Aerosol Concentration journal April 2018
Uncertainty in Model Climate Sensitivity Traced to Representations of Cumulus Precipitation Microphysics journal January 2016
Development and Testing of Instrumentation for UAV-Based Flux Measurements within Terrestrial and Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layers journal July 2013
Overview of Small Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aircraft for Meteorological Sampling journal January 2015
The Use of Ship-Launched Fixed-Wing UAVs for Measuring the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer and Ocean Surface Processes journal September 2016
Evaluation and Intercomparison of Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Used for Atmospheric Research journal November 2023
Convective Initiation ahead of the Sea-Breeze Front journal January 2005
On the Impact of Unmanned Aerial System Observations on Numerical Weather Prediction in the Coastal Zone journal February 2018
Simulated Changes in Storm Morphology Associated with a Sea-Breeze Air Mass journal February 2021
Aerosol impact on the dynamics and microphysics of deep convective clouds journal October 2005
Atmospheric System Research Treatment of Convection in Next-Generation Climate Models: Challenges and Opportunities Workshop Report report October 2016
Intercomparison of Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) Measurements for Atmospheric Science during the LAPSE-RATE Campaign journal May 2019
Performance Assessment of Portable Optical Particle Spectrometer (POPS) journal November 2020
Urbanization-induced land and aerosol impacts on sea-breeze circulation and convective precipitation journal January 2020
Impacts of cloud microphysics parameterizations on simulated aerosol–cloud interactions for deep convective clouds over Houston journal January 2021
Convective updrafts near sea-breeze fronts journal June 2022
Considerations for temperature sensor placement on rotary-wing unmanned aircraft systems journal January 2018
The CopterSonde: an insight into the development of a smart unmanned aircraft system for atmospheric boundary layer research journal January 2020
Confronting the boundary layer data gap: evaluating new and existing methodologies of probing the lower atmosphere journal January 2020
Low-level buoyancy as a tool to understand boundary layer transitions journal March 2022
Proof of concept for turbulence measurements with the RPAS SUMO during the BLLAST campaign journal October 2016
Measurements from the University of Colorado RAAVEN Uncrewed Aircraft System during ATOMIC journal January 2022
Observations of the lower atmosphere from the 2021 WiscoDISCO campaign journal May 2022

Similar Records

Quantifying the Thermodynamic Impacts on the Atmospheric Boundary Layer due to the Sea Breeze in the Coastal Houston Region
Journal Article · Fri May 30 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology · OSTI ID:2572372
TRACER-ACE: Aerosol Characterization Experiment Field Campaign Report
Technical Report · Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · OSTI ID:2202260

Related Subjects