FARE Workshop Posters
(Alphabetical by Poster Title)
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Abstract
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Presenter: Markus Petters
University of California, Riverside
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This work presents a community ice nucleation cold stage instrument for research and teaching purposes. The instrument is suitable for studying ambient ice nucleating particle concentrations and laboratory-based process-level studies of ice nucleation. The instrument is part of a suite of U.S. NSF sponsored laboratory instruments that can be requested by principal investigators through the Facilities for Atmospheric Research and Education (FARE) Program. In addition to introducing the requesting process, we present the validation data and the design plans of the instrument. The plans allow individuals to self-manufacture a cold-stage using 3D printing, off-the-shelf parts, and a handful of standard tools. Software to operate the instrument and analyze the data is also provided. The underlying principles include that the design and software is open, adaptable, and free of most license restrictions. The design is intended to be simple enough that a graduate student can build it as part of a course or thesis project. Costs are kept to a minimum to facilitate use in classroom demonstrations and laboratory classes. |
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Presenters: Jothiram Vivekanandan, Eric Loew, and Adam Karboski
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
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Airborne radar is a powerful tool to observe weather systems, particularly storms over complex terrain, the ocean, polar regions, and forest regions not readily observable by ground-based radars. A scanning Doppler radar on an airborne platform is used for estimating dual-Doppler winds with the help of rapid scanning as the aircraft flies past a storm. Scanning Doppler radar with dual-polarization capability on an airborne platform can measure dual-Doppler winds and retrieve hydrometeor types (ice or water). The National Center for Atmospheric Research is developing and testing the Airborne Phased Array Radar (APAR) system.
Full-size phased array radar (PAR) is constructed using scalable architecture in a modular approach. Modularity and scalability offer flexibility in realizing full-size PAR of desired technical specifications at a reduced cost and servicing PAR consisting of thousands of elements. Typically, a single array panel consisting of a grid of transmit and receive module modules is arranged in a tiled fashion in an active electronic scanning array (AESA). Tiles are identical, and the components are etched on a printed circuit board (PCB). The layout of full-sized AESA determines the gain and beamwidth of PAR. The front-end of the PAR consists of (i) the radio frequency (RF) array antenna front-end, (ii) transmit/receive (T/R) modules, (iii) beamformer, (iv) digital converters (DREX), and (v) power distribution system. The radar back end consists of (i) receive signal processor (RSP), (ii) radar processor and display, and (iii) radar scheduler.
The performance of the APAR depends on the optimal configuration of the front and back ends of the system. The radar system takes advantage of analog and digital beamforming architecture. Since PAR’s transmitters are solid-state power amplifiers, pulse compression is used for improved sensitivity. Traditional analog beamforming will be performed along azimuth, while digital beamforming will be conducted across elevation. This paper describes the expected performance of the APAR system from the perspective of scalable and modular architecture.
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Presenters: Jothiram Vivekanandan, Eric Loew, and Adam Karboski
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
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The Airborne Phased Array Radar (APAR) with dual-polarimetric and dual-Doppler capability enables concurrent estimates of microphysical properties (e.g., precipitation types and sizes, quantitative precipitation estimation) and 3-D winds in precipitation (Vivekanandan et. al. 2014). At present, no other airborne instrument has the potential to estimate 3-D winds and microphysics concurrently. The APAR will capitalize on Active Electronic Scanning Array (AESA) technology to incorporate beam multiplexing (BMX) mode of operation which is capable of collecting the desired number of samples, allowing more accurate radar measurements, in less time than a continuous sampling mode (Vivekanandan et al., 2018).
In the case of AESA with dual-polarimetric configuration, cross-coupling between horizontally and vertically polarized signals biases polarimetric radar estimates. This effect is widely known and is mitigated in APAR by limiting the scan range close to the principal planes when acquiring dual-polarized data. Additional flexibility can be obtained by independently weighting the phase and amplitude of AESA elements on transmit and receive to realizing an adaptive beam. The adaptive beam feature could be used for suppressing unwanted interference and minimizing surface clutter on weak weather echo. One of the undesired features of the AESA is that the gain and beamwidth of the antenna changes as the beam is steered away from broadside. Radar calibration procedures must take into account these variations. Beamforming architectures can have a significant effect on the accuracy and stability of the calibration when applied under actual operating conditions. This is especially true of an airborne radar where vibration and pressure and temperature variation can be extreme.
Phased array radar beamformers could be distinctly configured in three types of architecture: (i) analog, (ii) hybrid, i.e., a combination of analog and digital, and (iii) digital. In an analog array RF phase shifters and attenuators are used for steering and shaping the beam (Herd and Convey, 2016). The performance of RF components is sensitive to temperature, and their precision is limited by the quantization or number of bits that are used to represent phase and attenuation. Beamforming is achieved by summing signals from individual receive elements by an analog combiner. The front-end analog combiner fixes antenna beamwidth and sidelobes, and they cannot be modified.
Conversely, in a fully digital array, RF phase shifters and attenuators are replaced by complex multiplication using digital electronics. As digital electronics based complex multiplication is relatively immune to quantization effects, precise control of phase and amplitude is realized. This also enables element level digital pre-distortion (DPD) of the transmit waveform to be performed, thereby improving both antenna and range-time sidelobes. From an overall architecture perspective, element level digitization of T/R module versus digital sub-array has to be carefully considered with respect to flexibility in adaptive beamforming, polarimetric performance, calibration, and imaging of rapidly moving weather system. In addition power consumption, cooling and weight of a digital architecture must be considered, especially for an airborne system. The digital aspect of the architecture reinforces scalability and allows the arrays to be developed using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. This paper describes possible beamforming architectures of the APAR taking into consideration data rates at various radar subsystem interfaces.
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Presenter: Andrew Metcalf
Clemson University
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"As the science and technology of air pollution advances, it is becoming increasingly important that studies of air quality include a complete picture of the chemical and physical properties of aerosols. One important aerosol type found in the atmosphere is that of soot, or black carbon, which comes from nearly every combustion process, including vehicle engines, factories, and forest and agricultural fires. Black carbon (BC) is highly absorbing of sunlight, which makes it an important component to understanding local heating, micrometeorology, and long-range, long-term climate. BC aerosol also can affect human and ecosystem health.
The Clemson University Single-Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) is available as an NSF user facility for measurements of black carbon aerosol. The SP2 is a state-of-the-art instrument that combines incandescence and light scattering to simultaneously determine BC mass and optical size, which allows for analysis of the aerosol mixing state. As a user facility, the instrument can be requested for research projects and education and outreach events through the NSF FARE program. The goal of this program is to lower the barrier that scientists face in accessing the highly specialized measurements by the SP2." |
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Presenter: Mariko Oue
Stony Brook University
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Stony Brook University (SBU) Radar Science Group has operated a radar observatory for cloud and precipitation studies in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory (SBU-BNL Radar Observatories, SBRO). The flagship radar is a Ka-band (35-GHz) scanning fully-polarimetric radar (KASPR), complemented by two profiling radar systems operating at W-band (94-GHz, WCR-QPC) and K-band (24-GHz, MRRPro), as well as ancillary instruments including Parsivel disdrometers, a Pluvio precipitation gauge, ceilometer lidars, and a microwave radiometer. The set of instruments is designed for high resolution observations for a wide range of atmospheric phenomena including snow storm, shallow cumulus, boundary layer, mixed-phase clouds, waterspout, thunderstorm, and deep convection. The facility has been supported by NSF as one of the Community Instruments and Facilities (CIF). |
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Presenter: Gijs de Boer and Brian Argrow
University of Colorado at Boulder
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The University of Colorado has decades of experience deploying uncrewed aircraft systems for atmospheric research. This poster provides some information on the types of deployments that have been undertaken by our teams, and provide examples of data collected across a variety of different environmental regimes. Topics covered include clouds from the tropics to the poles, mountain hydrometeorology, renewable energy research, monitoring of weather in coastal and urban environments, and severe storm research. |
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Presenter: Brooks Snyder
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
Data FAIR Poster
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EOL's Field Data Archive (FDA) is unique in that the focus is on observational data derived from field projects that take place all over the world. EOL is committed to long-term data stewardship. The archive is supported by both EOL and CISL-managed storage infrastructure and made public via EOL's archive web interface. Data fixity and protection is ensured via backup, disaster recovery, and checksum protocols. |
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Presenters: Scott Spuler and Matt Hayman
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
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The GV High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) is a unique instrument as it provides directly calibrated observations of (1) Cloud/Aerosol Backscatter Coefficient, (2) Extinction Coefficient, (3) Particle Depolarization, and (4) Lidar Ratio from the Gulfstream V aircraft |
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Presenters: Chris Roden, Gary Granger, Isabel Suhr, Jacquie Witte, Matt Paulus, Rick Brownrigg, Tony Wiese, and William Nicewonger
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
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Integrated Surface Flux System (ISFS) is part of The National Center for Atmospheric Research Earth Observing Lab (NCAR / EOL). Our mission is to make atmospheric observations to support National Science Foundation-funded research projects. We deploy suites of ground- and tower-mounted instruments in support of university researchers studying a wide variety of topics in locations all around the world. ISFS combines the capabilities of a network of surface weather stations with the ability to support intensive micrometeorological research at a single or multiple sites. Investigators can configure ISFS resources to match the research objectives of each field project. In this poster, we outline our sensors, equipment and capabilities. |
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Presenters: Tammy Weckwerth, Terry Hock, William Brown, and Britt Stephens
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
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This poster is about a potential new integrated suite of instruments in EOL to enable study of processes in the atmospheric surface layer, boundary layer and lower troposphere. EOL is looking to partner with community instrument providers, modelers and data integrators to realize the full potential of LOTOS. |
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Presenters: Kevin Knupp, Joshua Huggins, Melissa Gonzalez-Fuentes, Matthew Starke and Elizabeth Seiler
University of Alabama in Huntsville
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The Mobile Atmospheric Profiling Network (MAPNet) consists of the following four mobile platforms, three of which are profiling systems: Mobile Integrated Profiling System (MIPS), Rapidly Deployable Profiling System (RaDAPS), Mobile Doppler Lidar and Sounding truck (MoDLS), and the Mobile Alabama X-band (MAX) scanning dual polarization radar. The general areas of boundary layer meteorology and precipitation processes define the notable strengths of the MAPNet measurement capabilities. The MAPNet offers the capability to profile (i.e., acquire vertical measurements of) wind, temperature, humidity, aerosol backscatter, and precipitation obtained from radars, sodars, lidars, and multi-frequency radiometers for a broad range of weather conditions. |
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Presenter: Jesse Anderson
Michigan Technological University
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The MTU Π-Chamber is a convection cloud chamber designed to study atmospheric clouds under a wide variety of temperatures and pressures. The internal volume of the Π-Chamber is 3.14m3, which gives the Π-Chamber its name. The temperatures of the top, bottom, and sidewalls of the chamber are independently controlled, allowing us to create a turbulent environment through Rayleigh-Bénard convection. Because the chamber can form a cloud due to turbulent mixing, we are able to create and maintain a cloud for several hours |
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Presenter: Kevin Repasky
Montana State University
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Researchers at Montana State University and the National Center for Atmospheric Research have developed a collaborative research program to develop diode laser based micropulse differential absorption lidar (MPD) instruments for thermodynamic profiling. This collaborative effort has led to the development of a network of five MPD instruments available for the research community. The current state of the MPD network including measurement capabilities as well as continuing research and development is discussed. |
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Presenter: Scott Spuler, Robert Stillwell and Matt Hayman
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
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MPD is a network of 5 ground-based micropulse lidar instruments that use quantitative lidar techniques that do not require ancillary calibration to provide (1) water vapor absolute humidity, (2) aerosol backscatter coefficient, and (3) temperature |
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Presenter: Robert Palmer, Exec Director, Assoc VPR, Professor
University of Oklahoma ARRC
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Recent phased array radar developments at the Advanced Radar Research Center (ARRC) at the University of Oklahoma. Both Horus and PAIR will be presented along with recent data from the fully digital Horus radar. |
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Presenter: Holger Voemel, Terry Hock, Mack Goodstein, Clayton Arendt, Isabel Suhr, Justin Hicks, and Jacquie Witte
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
Data FAIR Poster
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The AVAPS™ (Airborne Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System), also known as the AVAPS™ Dropsonde System, has dramatically extended the envelope of atmospheric profiling capabilities. Since its debut in 1996, it has flown on numerous missions in support of operational weather forecasting and atmospheric research, with impressive results.
The AVAPS Dropsonde System is a critical atmospheric instrument that measures high-resolution vertical profiles of ambient temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction. Measurements are taken by a parachuted GPS dropsonde that is launched from the aircraft and descend to the surface. In-situ data collected from the sonde’s sensors are transmitted back in real-time to an onboard aircraft data system via a radio link.
Atmospheric soundings from dropsondes provide the ability for targeted observations over remote areas such as the oceans, Polar Regions, and land masses; they also provide a means to obtain soundings in and around severe weather systems, such as hurricanes. Atmospheric soundings obtained from dropsondes during hurricane reconnaissance flights dramatically improve the accuracy of hurricane landfall forecasts.
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Presenter: Patrick Veres
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
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The NCAR EOL Research Aviation Facility (RAF) is a national resource for the advancement of airborne research in geosciences, with a focus on safe operation of research aircraft in a wide variety of challenging sampling environments. RAF houses and manages two NSF/NCAR research aircraft: the NSF/NCAR HIAPER GV, a Gulfstream V (GV) business jet that has been highly modified for research, and the NSF/NCAR C130, a versatile and capable research platform that carries a wide variety of scientific payloads. These two aircraft are part of the NSF's Lower Atmosphere Observing Facility (LAOF) deployment pool and are available for request to the research community. Additionally, our facilities provide end to end support for research projects as we provide a wide range of support that includes field logistics, airborne instrumentation, software development, and engineering support among other operations. This presentation provides an overview of our facility and the services we provide to the community. Come by in person to meet some of our members and learn more about our facilities and how we can help facilitate the development and execution of your science. |
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Presenter: Sam Hall and Eric Apel
NSF NCAR Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling
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The ACOM instrumentation and engineering groups collectively form a key community resource that provides:
Requestable instrumentation and associated personnel for NSF-supported campaigns through the Lower Atmosphere Observing Facility
Essential data for air quality, climate, dynamical and satellite validation campaigns (NOx, O3, VOCs, CO, CO2, chemical tracers, actinic flux)
Extensive instrumentation experience in design, fabrication and deployment on research aircraft
Extensive campaign experience including mission design, flight planning, post-campaign data analysis and modeling
Scientific expertise for publications tied to mission goals and discoveries
Investigators may request ACOM instruments for campaigns. We strongly encourage early contact with the ACOM instrument PIs to provide clarity on instrumentation requirements and availability, assistance on campaign design and to build strong scientific relationships.
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Presenter: John Hubbert
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
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The S-band Dual Polarization Doppler Radar (S-Pol) is a research-grade, transportable, ground-based, dual-polarized, Doppler weather radar. As an S-band radar, S-Pol is sensitive to a wide range of echo types and particle sizes from clear air (primarily via insects) and cloud echoes to severe storms containing heavy precipitation and hail. S-Pol observations provide high-resolution information about precipitation rates, microphysics, and storm structures and kinematics. The radar has been used for many types of research, including weather and climate prediction, monsoon rainfall, and convection initiation.
An innovative system design eliminates the need for a radome and allows for S-Pol to be packed into seven standard 20 ft shipping containers that provide a base when the radar is set up. The radar needs only minimal surface site preparation and its relative ease of transport makes S-Pol a valuable tool for studying precipitation and cloud processes at remote sites around the world.
S-Pol advantages are:
1. Scan strategies controlled by the scientists in real time. RHIs routine.
2. Fast alternating H and V transmission that eliminates the cross coupling problems of NEXRAD which broadcast simultaneous H and V polarizations.
3. 150 meter range sampling compared to 250 meters for NEXRAD. Finer resolution or increased sensitivity possible.
4. LDR available (Linear Depolarization Ratio).
5. Low-level humidly available via refractivity measurements.
6. Co-to-cross correlation coefficient available (canted ice crystal detection which is related to charge separation).
7. No Radome. Radomes are known to bias data especially when wet.
8. Superior Zdr calibration to a tenth of a dB. (Hubbert, 2017, JTECH).
9. Superior data quality (low measurement error).
10. EOL/LAOF support.
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Presenters: Matthew Burkhard, Bart Geerts, Jeff French
University of Wyoming
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The University of Wyoming King Air Research Facility provides a mission-ready aircraft (the University of Wyoming King Air -- UWKA), the Wyoming Cloud Radar (WCR) and the Wyoming Cloud Lidars (WCLs) to the geoscience research community as part of NSF’s Facilities for Atmospheric Research and Education (FARE) Lower Atmosphere Observing Facilities Program (LAOF). The University of Wyoming King Air fulfills a unique role in the suite of lower atmosphere observing facilities supported by the National Science Foundation. This research aircraft provides a small, lightweight, and relatively inexpensive aircraft as an agile airborne platform for cloud, precipitation, atmospheric chemistry, wildfire, and boundary layer meteorological research. The Wyoming King Air is capable for use in studies ranging from cloud-aerosol interaction, to boundary-layer dynamics, air quality, cloud and precipitation physics, and chemistry of trace gases and aerosol. A variety of cloud physics, air chemistry, aerosol and radiation instruments are available to PIs, allowing them to build an instrument payload specific to their needs. User-supplied instruments can also be deployed aboard the UWKA. Scientists may request the use of the aircraft, WCR and/or WCLs as part of their proposal to the National Science Foundation, following the FIRP solicitation (23-602) for the purpose of educational (FIRP Track 1) and scientific (FIRP Track 3) campaigns. Additionally, WCR, WCL and many of the Facility instruments can be requested to support NSF-funded campaigns on the NSF/NCAR C-130 or other aircraft.
The UW Facility provides scientists not only the aircraft and instrument hardware but also access to a staff of scientists, engineers, technicians, DERs, pilots, and mechanics, who design, maintain, FAA certify and deploy the aircraft and instrumentation for cutting-edge research. PI use of the Facility also includes scientific effort to support field deployments of the facility, data assurance and quality control, delivery and archiving of data products accessible to the entire scientific community; and the engineering effort for instrumentation, including user-supplied, and software upgrades that will enhance the scientific and educational benefit of the PI’s project.
The Wyoming research aircraft along with the mm-wave Doppler WCR the elastic backscatter UV WCL, and associated research instruments enable acquisition of airborne in-situ and remote sensing measurements to address a broad range of geoscience-related topics. The aircraft is also will positioned to educate and train the next generation of observational atmospheric scientists during field campaigns (add-on Track 1) or stand-alone Track 1 proposals. The University of Wyoming King Air is owned and operated by a university which provides a natural setting for educating and training scientists in obtaining and using airborne atmospheric observations and in the development of tools and techniques for maintaining, calibrating, and assessing airborne instrumentation. The skills developed by scientists who use and work with the facility and associated data sets are well-suited to train the next generation of atmospheric scientists to work within laboratories or other airborne research facilities across the country.
The Wyoming King Air Facility is supported through a cooperative agreement with NSF (1917369 Wyoming King Air as A National Facility) and was partially developed through an NSF MSRI-RI-1 (1935930 The Next Generation Wyoming King Air Atmospheric Research Aircraft).
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Presenters: Greg Stossmeister and Matt Mayernik
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
Data FAIR Poster
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For open science to thrive, data and associated scientific resources must be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (Wilkinson et al., 2016). By incorporating persistent identifiers for scientific instruments, we can further enhance scientific reproducibility and transparency, facilitating the discoverability of existing instruments, equipment, and data, thus improving research practices in open science. |
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Presenter: Shane Mayor
California State University, Chico
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Unlike commercially available Doppler lidars and micropulse lidars, the REAL transmits very energetic laser pulses (130 mJ/pulse) at a low pulse rate (10 Hz) in order to produce images quickly. No temporal integration of the returns is required. It also transmits very short pulses (6 ns) and samples at a high rate (100M samples/s) in order to produce images with very fine range resolution (1.5 m). Because atmospheric aerosol is present everywhere and a great tracer of atmospheric structure and flow, a high-performance lidar like the REAL can visualize many different aspects of the lower atmosphere. In this poster we present some physical features of this novel fieldable lidar facility and provide 6 examples of its atmospheric observing capabilities: (1) boundary layer height and entrainment zone structure, (2) turbulent coherent structures, (3) vector wind fields, (4) waves and flows over complex terrain, (5) dispersion of aerosol plumes, and (6) polarization sensitivity. Anyone with ideas about how they may wish to employ the REAL in their research should contact Shane Mayor (sdmayor@csuchico.edu). |
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Presenter: Greg Stossmeister and Holger Voemel
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
Data FAIR Poster
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NCAR/EOL regularly submits QC’ed radiosonde and dropsonde data to the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) for real-time data assimilation by global operational models and others. These data come from NCAR operated systems as well as those operated by universities and other government agencies. |
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Presenters: William Brown, Terry Hock, and Sam Raizman
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
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The National Center for Atmospheric Research Earth Observing Lab (NCAR / EOL) deploys suites of instruments known as the Integrated Sounding Systems (ISS) in support of university researchers studying a wide variety of topics in locations all around the world. The ISS consists of profiling sensors such as radar wind profilers, RASS, wind lidar, ceilometers, radiosondes, and other sensors. The presentation will outline various recent developments and improvements to the ISS, as well as future plans such as it’s inclusion in the proposed LOTOS (Lower Troposphere Observing System) facility (see Gebauer et.al, this meeting).
The ISS radar wind profilers include the NCAR developed 449 MHz Modular Profiler which is a scalable radar using spaced antenna techniques to make very rapid wind measurements. Recent developments to this system include new radar processor cards, modular power amplifiers, and improvements to signal processing and data analysis. The ISS has also recently acquired a Vaisala / Leosphere Windcube 200S Doppler lidar and a CL61 ceilometer. The scanning capability of the 200S Wind Lidar opens up new possibilities for wind measurement such as the ability to perform PPI and RHI scans over an extended area. The CL61 includes depolarization capability which potentially enables identification of precipitation or aerosol type. Both lidars will also provide additional capability for boundary layer evolution and depth monitoring. The profiler and wind lidar participated in field tests of a LOTOS node at NCAR’s Marshall field site near Boulder CO and preliminary observations from that campaign will also be presented.
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Presenters: Greg Stossmeister, Scot Loehrer and Carol Ruchti
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
Data FAIR Poster
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NCAR/EOL Data Management and Services (DMS) facility provides support through all phases of field operations including Pre-Field Phase, Field Phase, Post-Field Phase Data Processing, and Post-Field Phase Data Archival. The Pre-Field Phase includes creating project web pages, posting the data policy, and creating areas for data tracking, and storing data in the database. It also includes continuing the archive for operational datasets needed for the field campaign and creating any campaign-specific data requests. The Field Phase includes developing and monitoring near-real time sounding data processing and plots that are added to the field catalog, identifying data sets that are expected, and initiating tracking and monitoring of datasets in the Data Tracking System. The Post-Field Phase Data Processing includes creating sounding composites, which are a value-added dataset comprised of a collection of sounding data from a variety of sources put into a common format with uniform quality assurance/quality control checks. The Post-Field Phase Data Archival includes forming and maintaining the final data archive; tracking data, metadata, and data processing to preserve dataset provenance; assigning and maintaining DOIs; and maintaining the project’s online presence including forming a publications list. This phase also includes direct access to data and plotting tools that can be used to plot data displayed through OPeNDAP. This is what any project principal investigator can expect when working with the DMS facility. |
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Presenter: Scot Loehrer
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
Data FAIR Poster
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A summary of NCAR/EOL sounding composite datasets including their history and development. |
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Presenter: Jonathan Gero
University of Wisconsin - Madison
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The SPARC is a mobile research laboratory designed for observing the atmosphere with ground-based remote sensors and in situ instruments. We present a detailed overview of the SPARC facility, instrumentation and science capabilities. |
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Presenters: Gannet Hallar and Ian McCubbin
University of Utah
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Storm Peak Laboratory, located near Steamboat Springs, CO, is an internationally recognized high-elevation research station that has been used for over 40 years. Storm Peak Laboratory (SPL) is available for usage through request as part of the NSF Facility and Instrumentation Request Process (FIRP). Storm Peak Lab is proud to be among 16 other world class facilities that incorporate the NSF Facilities for Atmospheric Research and Education (FARE).
Most recently, SPL transferred operations to the University of Utah from the Desert Research Institute. To date, research at SPL has produced over 150 peer-reviewed publications. Cloud and aerosol measurements began at the Steamboat Springs Ski Resort in northwestern Colorado in 1979. Today’s permanent mountaintop facility underwent an NSF-funded extensive remodel and expansion in 2012, making it easily accessible for researchers, teachers, and students of all abilities. SPL has a full kitchen and overnight living accommodations for 11 people. SPL operates under a special use permit from the U.S. Forest Service.
SPL provide a unique training, education and networking environment that strengthens scientific skills and inspires leadership. For example, SPL hosts undergraduate atmospheric science field courses organized by numerous institutions, including Colorado College, Colorado State University, Hendrix College, University of Wisconsin, University of Utah, University of Nevada, and Texas A&M University. SPL also integrates hydrology field courses from the University of Colorado with atmospheric science courses. Approximately 100 students annually participate in these courses. In addition to the ~1,000 students trained via field courses in the last decade, we estimate that to date approximately 40 graduate students have used data from SPL as the foundation for either a M.S. or Ph.D. thesis."
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Presenters: Michael Bell, Brenda Dolan and Chelsea Nam
Colorado State University
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The Colorado State University (CSU) Sea-Going and Land-Deployable Polarimetric (SEA-POL) radar has recently been supported as a Community Facility available for deployment requests through the National Science Foundation (NSF). The radar is designed to be portable and rugged from a mechanical and electrical perspective, and constructed to be operable in harsh environments. The radar can be deployed on ships and at remote field sites around the world. It offers platform stabilization for oceanic environments while still having high-quality polarimetric capabilities for all-purpose use. The CSU radar has been deployed in SPURS-2 (2017) and PISTON (2018/2019) shipborne campaigns and on an island for PRECIP 2022. The radar is available for future deployments through the NSF Facilities and Instrumentation Request Process (FIRP). |
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Presenters: Brenda Javornik and Michael Dixon
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
Data FAIR Poster
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The Lidar Radar Open Software Environment (LROSE) was developed to meet the challenges of complex lidar and radar processing problems faced by the research and education communities. Through support from NSF, CSU, and NCAR, LROSE contains core algorithms for processing steps that are well-understood and documented in the peer-reviewed literature. The tools include data conversion, data visualization, quality control, regridding, processing radar echoes, and single- and multi-Doppler wind analysis. In the past, the LROSE community has had challenges with software installation, questions about optimal and appropriate parameter settings, and a need for expert advice on how to use the tools. The LROSE Science Gateway was developed to address those challenges. Tutorials guide users through standard LROSE workflows, with example data, parameter settings, and expected results." |
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Presenter: Ulrike Romatschke
NSF NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory
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The HIAPER Cloud Radar (HCR) is an airborne, polarimetric, millimeter-wavelength radar that serves the atmospheric science community by providing cloud remote sensing capabilities to the NSF/NCAR HIAPER Gulfstream V aircraft. |
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Presenter: Brett Palm
NSF NCAR Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling
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The ACOM lab is currently developing two cutting edge instruments to be community-requestable for future aircraft campaigns, including a wing-pod-mounted chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS) as well as a laser induced fluorescence instrument (LIF) for measuring nitric oxide (NO). I will present the goals and progress of these projects. |