Observing Lower PBL Water Vapor and Temperature Structures with Airborne Lidars Supporting REDSAW

Abstract

The Radar and Electromagnetic wave Ducting in the Stable Atmosphere over Water (REDSAW) project intends to quantify the refractivity profiles in the stable boundary layer and their impact on electromagnetic wave (EM) propagation over water. The goal of the project is to develop improved representations of the evaporation ducts in the stable surface layers and their resultant impact on EM propagation, including seeking improvement or replacement of the MOST flux-profile relationship in the stable surface layer. To achievethese critical goals, lower PBL water vapor, temperature, and wind vertical structures and their spatial variabilities are needed. However, the 2-D structures of these PBL properties are challenging to collect with traditional approaches. Emerging airborne remote sensing techniques offer potentials to fill the observation gaps. We propose to deploy our Compact Raman lidar (CRL) and nadir-pointing Airborne Doppler Lidar (ADL) to provide the spatial distributions of water vapor, temperature, aerosol, and vertical velocityprofiles on the CIRPAS Twin Otter (TO) during the REDSAW 2024 field campaign. Our specific objectives are:1. Deploy CRL/ADL to support REDSAW field data collection in 2024.2. Develop a data processing approach to provide near surface water vapor and temperature vertical structures at about one-meter vertical resolution and validate CRL measurements with dropsonde measurements. 3. Explore the potential to combine CRL water vapor and ADL vertical velocity measurements to derive latent heat flux. 4. Support the REDSAW team using ADL/CRL measurements for the EM propagation study.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Mar 08, 2024
Source ID
N000142412136

Entities

People

  • Zhien Wang

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • Research Foundation for the State University of New York
  • United States Navy

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers
  • Spectroscopy.