Upper-Air Measurements for the Central California Ozone Study

STI staff deployed, operated, and maintained four measurement stations, each including a radar wind profiler, a radio acoustic sounding system (RASS), and a meteorological tower, for the Central California Ozone Study (CCOS). A program created by STI programmers collected the data on computers in our weather center and displayed the data on the Internet in real time. At the end of the study, a quality-controlled data set was produced for modeling and analysis.

• A Radar Wind Profiler continuously measures wind speed and direction to about 4000 m (13,000 ft). This remote sensor uses short pulses of 915-MHz signals to measure wind. It can measure hourly (or higher time resolution) winds at a vertical resolution as fine as 60 m.
• A Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) uses sound in conjunction with radar wind profiler measurements to measure temperatures to about 1000 m (3200 ft). RASS data can be used to monitor nighttime stability and mixing depth, which both tend to trap pollutants close to the ground.
• A Meteorological Tower holds instruments that measure wind speed, wind direction, temperature, relative humidity, pressure, solar radiation, and precipitation.

Radar Profiler Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA)

LAP-3000 radar wind profiler and RASS located on an oil      platform in the Gulf of Mexico to measure marine      boundary layer characteristics.

STI, Vaisala Meteorological Systems, and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to commercialize NOAA’s 915-MHz radar wind profiler and radio acoustic sounding system (RASS) technology. The radar profiler measures vertical profiles of winds in the lower troposphere. When equipped with a RASS, the profiler can also measure vertical profiles of virtual temperature. These remote sensing systems allow investigators to study meteorological processes such as transport and diffusion conditions affecting air quality, wind shear, mountain-valley wind systems, frontal passages, winds affecting airport operations, and other processes related to boundary layer structure and development. STI’s role in the CRADA includes application software development and consultation on the use, processing, quality control, and interpretation of profiler data.

Paso del Norte Ozone Study

STI conducted a major air quality study in the El Paso-Juarez area in 1996-1997 under sponsorship by the U.S. EPA. The Paso del Norte Ozone Study was designed to support photochemical air quality modeling and to develop a conceptual model of the phenomena that influence high ozone concentrations in the Paso del Norte airshed, which encompasses El Paso, Texas, Sunland Park, New Mexico, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. STI designed and managed the air quality and meteorological field data collection; provided daily air quality forecasts; collected aloft air quality using our instrumented aircraft; collect upper-air meteorological data from a network of three 915-MHz Doppler radar wind profilers with Radio Acoustic Sounding Systems to measure vertical profiles of wind and virtual temperature; conducted comprehensive analyses of the field study data; and compiled and evaluated a gridded emission inventory for the region.

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