1. Introduction/Goals and expected outcomes

Transcription

1 Request for use of the NSF Facilities for Education at the University of Colorado Boulder CABL: Characterizing the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Julie K. Lundquist Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences University of Colorado Boulder (CU) January Introduction/Goals and expected outcomes This Characterizing the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (CABL) educational deployment request would leverage multiple outreach opportunities to provide scientific opportunities to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students in Colorado s Front Range. This proposal is requesting the deployment of NCAR s sonic anemometers on the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (BAO), the use of NCAR s GPS Advanced Upper- air Sounding (GAUS), and the deployment of two Integrated Surface Flux stations at or near Erie High School and the BAO. The University of Colorado Boulder (CU) and the Earth Systems Research Laboratory at NOAA will be conducting an experiment at the BAO in Erie, Colorado, during March/April 2015 with a significant educational outreach component. The primary scientific goal of this experiment is to characterize the capabilities of remote sensing instrumentation, such as scanning lidar and radar, in a range of air quality conditions during the range of weather conditions experienced on the Front Range in spring (including shallow stable layers, possible windstorms, snowstorms, etc.) throughout the diurnal cycle and resulting range of stability conditions. A partial list of the instruments scheduled for deployment appears in Table 1. As part of this experiment, we are working closely with environmental science and meteorology teachers at Erie High School (EHS): some of NOAA s instruments (lidar) will be located at the school, and EHS students will be examining the data in their environmental science and meteorology classes, taught by Holly Marcus and Julie Mitchell respectively. Equipment planned for Institution Purpose deployment beyond CABL request 2 WindCUBE 200S scanning lidar NOAA/ESRL Wind and turbulence profiles up to 2 km and horizontal scans at 2 km range with 1 sec time resolution 3 WindCUBEv1 profiling lidar CU (2), NCAR/RAL (1) Wind and turbulence profiles from 40 m to 200 m elevation 1 Radiometrics MP3000A radiometer CU Temperature and water vapor profiles from 50 m to 10 km 915 MHz radar wind profiler with RASS NOAA/ESRL Wind profiles from 100 m to 5 km at ~ 100 m resolution at 6 min time resolution Table 1: Selected instruments planned for deployment at BAO Feb- Apr 2015 outside of CABL Page 1 of 5

2 Although the deployment of these remote- sensing instruments at and near their school could present an exciting learning opportunity for EHS environmental science and meteorology students, remote sensing data is not intuitive to understand. We have also noticed this challenge in introductory undergraduate atmospheric sciences classes at CU. To help foster an understanding of the meaning of the remote sensing data, we would like to enable students to make comparisons between the remote sensing data and in situ data, collected by more traditional instruments such as weather balloons and meteorological towers. The data collected with NCAR s instruments and assistance will provide important learning opportunities for ~ 50 Erie High School students, ~ 500 CU undergraduates taking courses in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC), and ~ 10 CU graduate students enrolled in ATOC courses (including engineering students). Further, the data collected here will be incorporated into the regular curriculum for ATOC s Weather Laboratory, scheduled to be revised in summer 2015; this hands- on lab serves ~ 230 students/semester. Hands- on learning experiences will be provided to ten graduate students at CU (five members of the Lundquist research group and the seven graduate students enrolled in ATOC 5770 Wind Energy Meteorology, taught by Prof. Lundquist) and 18 undergraduate students enrolled in ATOC 4770 Wind Energy Meteorology. CU students will be trained on launching of radiosondes, set- up and installation of surface flux stations, and analysis of the data from these stations. 2. Requested NCAR/EOL Field Deployments A summary of the CABL deployments requested appears in Table 2. Dates of desired deployment Types of instruments deployed 9 18 March 2015 GAUS with ~ 50 sondes (as budget permits) 23 Feb 15 Apr sonic anemometers and data acquisition system 23 Feb 15 Apr ISFS stations with sensible/latent heat fluxes, radiation, & soil moisture Purpose Collect in situ profiles for comparison to remote sensing instruments (temperature, moisture to compare to radiometer; winds to compare to lidars) Collect in situ profiles of winds and turbulence to compare to lidar measurements of winds and turbulence Quantify atmospheric stability for evaluation of performance of remote sensing instruments Table 2: Summary of facilities requested Page 2 of 5

3 a. Sonic anemometers and data acquisition systems on the 300- meter Boulder Atmospheric Observatory tower The 300- m BAO tower ( operated by NOAA, provides booms for measurements at several altitudes, including 50 m, 100 m, 150 m, 200 m, 250 m, and 300m. Current instrumentation only includes slow- response measurements of temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed and wind direction at 10 m, 100 m, and 300 m. Much finer vertical and temporal resolution remote sensing data of winds and turbulence will be available from the instruments that will be deployed by NOAA and CU at the BAO and EHS. Therefore, the refined measurements available from the sonics on the tower would enable more appropriate comparisons, as well as providing the means for characterizing the boundary layer through the several types of weather anticipated in March on the Front Range, including shallow stable layers, Chinook wind storm events, heavy snow precipitation, etc. We request for NCAR staff to work with NOAA and CU graduate students at the BAO to instrument the BAO at the each of the six levels with two sonic anemometers (on booms pointing in different directions to avoid tower waking of measurements) for the 23 Feb 15 Apr period. b. Soundings Students are very enthusiastic about launching weather balloons, and we wish to leverage this enthusiasm and intuitive understanding of the measurement capability to develop a similar understanding of remote sensing measurements of winds (from NOAA/CU lidars), temperature, and humidity (from the CU radiometer). Therefore we request GPS Advanced Upper- air Sounding (GAUS) soundings for a portion (9-18 March) of the remote sensing observational period. We would like NCAR staff to teach EHS and CU students to launch the sondes, and then CU students will have primary responsibility for sonde launches throughout the remaining period. We intend to have 5-6 launches a day over a range of stability conditions (including nighttime measurements by grad students). Rather than prioritizing specific meteorological phenomena, we will instead focus on collecting measurements on a regular schedule to enable students to use the soundings to understand the diurnal cycle of the atmospheric boundary layer these data will, in particular, be heavily used in CU s Aviation Meteorology and Wind Energy Meteorology courses on homework sets and exams as well as in CU s introductory weather class and weather lab curricula. c. ISFS stations While the other observational components of CABL emphasize measurements of how winds, turbulence, temperature, and humidity change with height, the inclusion of NCAR s ISFS stations will allow students to explore the horizontal variability of these quantities over the relatively short distances between EHS and the BAO tower (0.6 mile / 1 km). By deploying one ISFS station close to EHS and one close to the BAO, students at the high school will be able to compare measurements between those locations to understand how topography and land cover influence meteorology close to the surface. Additionally, the ISFS measurements can be compared with the profiles collected nearby: at EHS, the sonic on the ISFS can be compared to the wind profiles from the EHS Page 3 of 5

4 lidar; at the BAO, the ISFS measurements will be compared with those on the main BAO tower (lowest sonic boom at 50 m). To ensure the broadest possible learning experience for the CU students who will help set up the ISFS stations, we request that the ISFS included sensible and latent heat flux measurement capabilities, as well as radiation and soil moisture probes. We request for NCAR staff to work CU graduate students to install and operate these stations for the 23 Feb 15 Apr period. 3. Student involvement The CABL experiment will provide learning opportunities for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, as summarized in Table 3. a. K- 12 The data collected with NCAR s instruments and assistance will provide important learning opportunities for 50 students enrolled in Environmental Science or Meteorology at EHS. EHS is 11% Hispanic with 8% of the student population below poverty level. We have enthusiastic participation from the EHS Meteorology teacher (Julie Mitchell) and the EHS Environmental Science teacher (Holly Marcus, MS in Atmospheric Science from CU) as well as Michael O Toole, the Science Coordinator for the St Vrain school district. b. Undergraduate The faculty teaching the 500+ undergraduates in spring 2015 Weather and the Atmosphere classes at CU (Prof. Pilewskie, Dr. Nigro) have agreed to incorporate the observations into their courses, as have Prof. Friedrich ( Aviation Meteorology, 30 students) and Prof. Lundquist ( Wind Energy Meteorology 25 students). Finally, Dr. Derek Brown will incorporate the observations into the scheduled revision of the ATOC 1070 Weather Lab for summer 2015 and subsequent semesters (234 students/semester). The students who typically enroll in Weather and the Atmosphere and the Weather Lab are CU Arts and Sciences students fulfilling general science curriculum requirements. As a result, these courses tend to have a high percentage of underrepresented students: for example, in Prof. Lundquist s fall 2014 section of Weather and the Atmosphere, the class was 45% female. c. Graduate Hands- on learning experiences will be provided to ~ ten graduate students at CU (five members of the Lundquist research group (40% female, 40% first- generation college students) and the seven graduate students enrolled in ATOC 5770 Wind Energy Meteorology, taught by Prof. Lundquist) as well as 18 undergraduate students enrolled in ATOC 4770 Wind Energy Meteorology. CU students will be trained on launching of radiosondes, set- up and installation of surface flux stations, and analysis of the data from these stations. Student level Number of students Activities K- 12 (grades 9-12) 12 Environmental Science 36 Meteorology Launch sondes, compare remote sensing measurements to sonde and tower measurements Page 4 of 5

5 Undergraduate 500+ in Spring 2015, 250/semester in future semesters via incorporation into laboratory curriculum Examine and analyse data from sondes, tower and ISFS measurements to develop understanding of atmospheric stability, measurement technologies, the diurnal cycle of the atmospheric boundary layer, and horizontal variability. ~ 20 undergraduates will be involved in launching sondes. Graduate 10 Launch sondes, install and quality- control ISFS data Table 3: Summary of student involvement in the proposed CABL experiment 4. Summary This Characterizing the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (CABL) educational deployment request would provide scientific opportunities to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students in Colorado s Front Range. An existing field experiment at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (BAO) will introduce Erie High School (EHS) students and University of Colorado Boulder (CU) students to remote sensing instrumentation, but the impact of that outreach opportunity will be greatly amplified by the participation of NCAR/EOL through CABL. Instrumentation provided by NCAR (sonic anemometers on the BAO, GAUS sondes, and two Integrated Surface Flux stations) will provide more intuitive data to the students to compare with the remote sensing instrumentation deployed under other support. EHS Environmental Science and Meteorology students will be involved in helping collect data, as well as comparing data to those from the remote sensing instruments that will be deployed at their school under another experiment. Numerous faculty in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at CU have enthusiastically agreed to use CABL data in spring 2015 courses, and the planned revision of our undergraduate laboratory curriculum will also incorporate data collected here and thus will be used for several future semesters. Upper- division undergraduate classes ( Aviation Meteorology and Wind Energy Meteorology ) will also use the data in data- analysis homework problems, and the undergraduates enrolled in Wind Energy Meteorology will participate in collecting the data. CU graduate students will be heavily involved in helping to install instrumentation ISFS and launch sondes. With access to these data, students can explore the range of weather conditions experienced on the Front Range in spring (including shallow stable layers impacting air quality, Chinook windstorms, snowstorms, etc.) throughout the diurnal cycle and resulting range of stability conditions. Page 5 of 5

6 Version 4 February 2012 Facility Request Form for Educational Activities Part I: General Information Requestor Name Institution and Address Phone and Faculty Advisor Name (if student requestor) Julie K. Lundquist University of Colorado Boulder Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC) CUB-311, Boulder, CO ; Julie.Lundquist@colorado.edu N/A Part II: Project Description Project Title Project Location Start and End Dates of Field Deployment NSF Facilities requested (type and # of systems) Number of Expendables requested (if applicable) CABL: Characterizing the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Erie, Colorado 9 18 March 2015 for one GAUS; 23 Feb 15 Apr for 12 sonics for NOAA to mount/operate on BAO; 23 Feb 15 Apr for ISFS station with sensible/latent heat fluxes, radiation, & soil moisture one GAUS, 2 ISFS stations, 12 sonic anemometers to be mounted/operated by NOAA Sondes: ~50 Part III: Educational Activities Description Number of students actively involved Graduate: 10 (from Lundquist group and from ATOC 5770 Wind Energy Desired training activities conducted by Facility Staff including time in the field Meteorology Undergraduate: 20 from ATOC 4770 Wind Energy Meteorology Training CU students on launching of radiosondes, setting up the surface meteorological station, and analysis of data (1 day) Desired teaching activities conductedengagement with Erie High School environmental science and meteorology by Facility Staff including time in the students (1-2 days), teaching sonde launches. Additional special requirements that N/A Ancillary/Opportunistic Outreach This activity would leverage a planned outreach activity with NOAA and university wind-profiling lidars and temperature-profiling radiometers that will occur at and Activities near Erie High School during March We hope that by incorporating soundings for a portion of the remote sensing observational period, we can help the students understand a broader spectrum of atmospheric measurements. University Students: Observations will be incorporated into classroom experiences of 500+ students enrolled in two sections of ATOC s Weather and the Atmosphere 1050 course in Spring 2015 (Instructors P. Pilewskie, M. Nigro), 30 students enrolled in K. Friedrich s ATOC 3180 Aviation Meteorology, and will be incorporated into curricula for future sections of these courses as well as future sessions of ATOC 1070, an undergraduate weather lab with 234 students/semester. K-12: Project in collaboration with Erie High School science teachers Holly Marcus and Julie Mitchell (environmental science and meteorology teachers) Public: Part IV: Operational Requirements Please specify data access needs (e.g., real time) Please specify data analysis needs Please specify communications needs Approximately real-time (same-day) access None Data access only

7 Feasibility Analysis: Title: Characterizing the Atmospheric Boundary layer (CABL) Investigator: Julie Lundquist (University of Colorado) Facility: Integrated Surface Flux Facility (ISFF) Dates: Feb. 23 April 15, 2015 Location: Erie, Colorado (BAO tower and Erie High School Project Summary: This Characterizing the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (CABL) educational deployment request would leverage multiple outreach opportunities to provide scientific opportunities to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students in Colorado s Front Range. This proposal is requesting the deployment of NCAR s sonic anemometers on the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (BAO), the use of NCAR s GPS Advanced Upper-air Sounding (GAUS), and the deployment of two Integrated Surface Flux stations at or near Erie High School and the BAO. ISFS Comments: The PI has requested 12 sonic anemometers and 2 FluxPam stations measuring sensible/latent heat fluxes, radiation, and soil parameters. The 12 sonics are to be mounted on the BAO tower at selected heights. The FluxPam stations will be located at the BAO site and the Erie High School. The PI will be responsible for the mounting of the sonics on the BAO tower. Based on conversations with the tower personnel we do not anticipate any problems. The PI will also be responsible for selecting and securing permission for the FluxPam station sites. ISFS scientific staff will provide support on the site selection. ISFS staff will handle the installation and removal of the FluxPam stations. ISFS staff will also be available to help with the BAO tower installation. The equipment and staff are available for the times requested therefore this request is feasible. GAUS Comments: GAUS soundings are requested for CABL at the BAO for the period March 9 18, The soundings would be carried out by students from the PI group, following training from EOL staff. Training will occur on, or about March 9. After training EOL staff involvement will be limited to maintenance and trouble-shooting, plus teardown around March 19. The MGAUS truck will be used for a base station, and will be parked inside the secure visitor compound which is secured by a locked gate and fence. The system will be powered by a standard 110V outlet in the compound, and will not move during the project. 40 soundings can be launched within the budget constraints for this project.