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Title: Application of tethered balloon and kite measurements using chilled mirror hygrometers during the ARM WVIOP in the fall of 1996 in Oklahoma

Abstract

Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas, and its measurement is currently so imprecise that long term trends are difficult to document. This problem was the focus of a Water Vapor Intensive Operations Period (WVIOP) at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) site near Billings, OK in September 1996. The part of this comparison involved tethered-balloon and kite profiling of meteorological parameters and dew-point measurements using a light-weight chilled-mirror system. The tethered balloon system was used when the winds were less than about 12 m/s. The kite system was used when winds were in the 12--15 m/s range. In this abstract, the authors will focus on comparisons on boundary-layer profiles using the tethered systems and conventional rawinsonde measurements at ARM SGP. The tethered systems were limited to profiles up to 1 km above ground level. Of particular interest, is the representativity of the rapid-ascent measurements associated with rawinsonde launches and the longer-term profiling associated with the tethered system in the boundary layer. Comparisons show that profiles differed significantly in both temperature (1 to 2 C) and water vapor (5 to 10%). Both calibration and representativity contribute to these differences.

Authors:
 [1]; ;  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
  2. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
  3. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)
  4. Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
  5. Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
  6. Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States)
  7. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
564112
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-97-3556; CONF-980124-
ON: DE98001478; TRN: AHC29804%%66
DOE Contract Number:  
W-7405-ENG-36
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Conference: 10. symposium on meteorological observations and instrumentation, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 11-16 Jan 1998; Other Information: PBD: [1997]
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; WATER VAPOR; CLIMATIC CHANGE; MEASURING INSTRUMENTS; EXPERIMENTAL DATA; METEOROLOGY; MONITORING; AMBIENT TEMPERATURE; HYGROMETRY; HUMIDITY

Citation Formats

Porch, W, Balsley, B, Jensen, M, Cole, H, Lesht, B, Liljegren, J, Richardson, S, and Revercomb, H. Application of tethered balloon and kite measurements using chilled mirror hygrometers during the ARM WVIOP in the fall of 1996 in Oklahoma. United States: N. p., 1997. Web. doi:10.2172/564112.
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Porch, W, Balsley, B, Jensen, M, Cole, H, Lesht, B, Liljegren, J, Richardson, S, & Revercomb, H. Application of tethered balloon and kite measurements using chilled mirror hygrometers during the ARM WVIOP in the fall of 1996 in Oklahoma. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/564112
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Porch, W, Balsley, B, Jensen, M, Cole, H, Lesht, B, Liljegren, J, Richardson, S, and Revercomb, H. 1997. "Application of tethered balloon and kite measurements using chilled mirror hygrometers during the ARM WVIOP in the fall of 1996 in Oklahoma". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/564112. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/564112.
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@article{osti_564112,
title = {Application of tethered balloon and kite measurements using chilled mirror hygrometers during the ARM WVIOP in the fall of 1996 in Oklahoma},
author = {Porch, W and Balsley, B and Jensen, M and Cole, H and Lesht, B and Liljegren, J and Richardson, S and Revercomb, H},
abstractNote = {Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas, and its measurement is currently so imprecise that long term trends are difficult to document. This problem was the focus of a Water Vapor Intensive Operations Period (WVIOP) at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) site near Billings, OK in September 1996. The part of this comparison involved tethered-balloon and kite profiling of meteorological parameters and dew-point measurements using a light-weight chilled-mirror system. The tethered balloon system was used when the winds were less than about 12 m/s. The kite system was used when winds were in the 12--15 m/s range. In this abstract, the authors will focus on comparisons on boundary-layer profiles using the tethered systems and conventional rawinsonde measurements at ARM SGP. The tethered systems were limited to profiles up to 1 km above ground level. Of particular interest, is the representativity of the rapid-ascent measurements associated with rawinsonde launches and the longer-term profiling associated with the tethered system in the boundary layer. Comparisons show that profiles differed significantly in both temperature (1 to 2 C) and water vapor (5 to 10%). Both calibration and representativity contribute to these differences.},
doi = {10.2172/564112},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/564112}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {1997},
month = {12}
}
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Technical Report:
View Technical Report (0.41 MB)
https://doi.org/10.2172/564112
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