The BOREAS Information System
Airborne Fluxes and Meteorology (AFM)


AFM-6: Outer-Boundary-Layer Effects on Surface Fluxes of Momentum, Heat, Moisture, and Greenhouse Gases from the Boreal Forest


P.I.(s): Robert Banta -- NOAA/Environmental Technology Laboratory
Co-I(s): W. Eberhard, James Wilczak, Brooks Martner -- NOAA

Objectives: Mean wind and turbulence properties of the outer atmospheric boundary layer (OABL) and lower troposphere above about 100 m were measured using ground-based remote sensing instrumentation, including a UHF profiler equipped with RASS, a Doppler radar, and a Doppler lidar. The measured properties included profiles of wind, turbulence quantities, and temperature as functions of time. The radar also measured the structure of clouds overhead. The radar was located near the NSA-OJP site in 1994.

AFM-6 Pictures


The NOAA Doppler Radar
near NSA-OJP
NOAA Doppler Radar Image
(with comments)

AFM-6 Data Sets

  • Profiler
    Daily Wind Profiles
    Daily Temperature Profiles
    Boundary Layer Heights
    Surface Met Data

  • Radar
    Vertical Doppler Radar (GIF Images)
    Conical Scan Doppler Radar

  • Get some AFM-6 data using FTP (BOREAS Investigators only, password required). [FTP Help]

    AFM-6 BOREAS Operations 1994


    Objectives:
    The field work objective was to use ground-based remote sensors to measure mean winds, boundary layer depth, and turbulence characteristics in the outer boundary layer (> 100 m AGL) as well as the structure and kinematics of tropospheric clouds. The analysis goals are to document diurnal evolution of boundary layer conditions and to examine how motions in the outer boundary are affected by cloudiness and how they, in turn, are related to surface fluxes.


    Instruments:

    1. 35 GHz (Ka-band) cloud- and turbulence-sensing radar
    2. 915 MHz UHF boundary layer wind profiler with Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS).


    Kinds of Data Collected:

    1. Cloud/turbulence radar:
      • Vertical mode -- continuous measurement of vertical velocity and radar reflectivity in the clear air of the convective boundary layer and tropospheric clouds.
      • Conical scan mode -- vertical profiles every 6 minutes of mean wind vector, momentum flux and higher order turbulence terms in the boundary layer and in tropospheric clouds for a large cylindrical volume of sky over the radar site. Range is 12.5 km; resolution is 37.5 m and 3 seconds.
    2. Wind profiler: hourly measurements of vertical profiles of the mean 3-D wind vector (to 4 km AGL, typical) and virtual temperature (to 1 km AGL, typical). Height of the top of the mixed layer is a derived product. Resolution is 100 m, and 6 minutes (raw data).


    Operating Locations and Times:

    1. Cloud/turbulence radar: fixed site in NSA near the OJP flux tower. Near-continuous operation from 16-Jul-94 to 8-Aug-94 (IFC-2+). Total data collected = 315 hours in vertical mode and 173 hours in conical scan mode.
    2. Wind profiler: fixed site in SSA near the OJP flux tower. Continuous, unattended operation from 2-May-94 to 21-Sep-94, including IFC-1,2,3. Data recovery rate 99% .

    Click on a team designation to go to that page.

    AFM Overview || AFM-1 | AFM-2 | AFM-3 | AFM-4 | AFM-5 | AFM-6
    AFM-7 | AFM-8 | AFM-9 | AFM-11 | AFM-12 | AFM-13 | AFM-14 | AFM-15

    Send a data request to the BOREAS Data Manager (BOREAS Investigators only)
    E-Mail a comment on this page to the curator
    Send e-mail to Keith Kaminsky, the BORIS representative for the AFM group

    Return to the AFM Overview
    Return to the BOREAS Science Groups Overview
    Return to the BOREAS Home Page
    Last Updated: October 20, 1997