Micro Weather Stations for Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crisp, David; Kaiser, William J.; VanZandt, Thomas R.; Hoenk, Michael E.; Tillman, James E.

1995-01-01

A global network of weather stations will be needed to characterize the near-surface environment on Mars. Here, we review the scientific and measurement objectives of this network. We also show how these objectives can be met within the cost-constrained Mars Surveyor Program by augmenting the Mars Pathfinder-derived landers with large numbers of very small (less than 5 liter), low-mass (less than 5 kg), low-power, low-cost Mini-meteorological stations. Each station would include instruments for measuring atmospheric. pressures, temperatures, wind velocities, humidity, and airborne dust abundance. They would also include a data handling, telemetry, power, atmospheric entry, and deployment systems in a rugged package capable of direct entry and a high-impact landing. In this paper, we describe these systems and summarize the data-taking strategies and data volumes needed to achieve the surface meteorology objectives for Mars.

Options to Improve Rain Snow Parameterization in Surface Based Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feiccabrino, J. M.

2017-12-01

Precipitation phase determination is of upmost importance in a number of surface based hydrological, ecological, and safety models. However, precipitation phase at Earth's surface is a result of cloud and atmospheric properties not measured by surface weather stations. Nonetheless, they can be inferred from the available surface datum. This study uses 681,620 weather observations with air temperatures between -3 and 5°C and identified precipitation occurring at the time of the observation to determine simple, yet accurate, thresholds for precipitation phase determination schemes (PPDS). This dataset represents 38% and 42% of precipitation observations over a 16 year period for 85 Swedish, and 84 Norwegian weather stations. The misclassified precipitation (error) from PPDS using AT, dew-point temperature (DT) and wet-bulb temperature (WB) thresholds were compared using a single threshold PPDS. The Norwegian observations between -3 and 5°C resulted in 11.64%, 11.21%, and 8.42% error for DT (-0.2°C), AT (1.2°C), and WB (0.3°C) thresholds respectively. Individual station thresholds had a range of -0.7 to 1.2°C, -1.2 to 0.9°C, and -0.1 to 2.5°C for WB, DP, and AT respectively. To address threshold variance while decreasing error, weather stations were grouped into nine landscape categories; windward (WW) ocean, WW coast, WW fjord, WW hill, WW mountain, leeward (LW) mountain, LW hill, LW rolling hills, and LW coast. Landscape classification was based on location relative to the Scandinavian Mountains, and the % water or range of elevation within 15KM. Within landscapes, stations share similar land atmosphere exchanges which differ from other landscapes. These differences change optimal thresholds for PPDS between landscapes. Also tested were threshold temperature affects based on assumed atmospheric differences for the following observation groups; 1.) occurring before and after an air mass boundary, 2.) with different water temperatures and/or NAO phases, 3.) with snow cover, 4.) coupled with higher elevation stations and 5.) with different cloud heights. For example, in Norway, as the unsaturated layer depth beneath clouds increased, AT thresholds warmed. Cloud height adjusted AT thresholds reduced error by 5% before threshold adjustments for landscapes.

Micro weather stations for in situ measurements in the Martian planetary boundary layer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crisp, D.; Kaiser, W. J.; Kenny, T. W.; Vanzandt, T. R.; Tillman, J. E.

1992-01-01

Viking Lander meteorology measurements show that the Martian planetary boundary layer (PBL) has large diurnal and seasonal variations in pressure, wind velocity, relative humidity, and airborne dust loading. An even larger range of conditions was inferred from remote sensing observations acquired by the Mariner 9 and Viking orbiters. Numerical models indicate that these changes may be accompanied by dramatic vertical and horizontal wind shears (100 m/s/km) and rapid changes in the static stability. In-situ measurements from a relatively small number surface stations could yield global constraints on the Martian climate and atmospheric general circulation by providing ground truth for remote sensing instruments on orbiters. A more complete understanding of the meteorology of the PBL is an essential precursor to manned missions to Mars because this will be their working environment. In-situ measurements are needed for these studies because the spatial and temporal scales that characterize the important meteorological processes near the surface cannot be resolved from orbit. The Mars Environmental Survey (MESUR) Program will provide the first opportunity to deploy a network of surface weather stations for a comprehensive investigation of the Martian PBL. The feasibility and utility of a network of micro-weather stations for making in-situ meteorological measurements in the Martian PBL are assessed.

Assessing reference evapotranspiration at regional scale based on remote sensing, weather forecast and GIS tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramírez-Cuesta, J. M.; Cruz-Blanco, M.; Santos, C.; Lorite, I. J.

2017-03-01

Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is a key component in efficient water management, especially in arid and semi-arid environments. However, accurate ETo assessment at the regional scale is complicated by the limited number of weather stations and the strict requirements in terms of their location and surrounding physical conditions for the collection of valid weather data. In an attempt to overcome this limitation, new approaches based on the use of remote sensing techniques and weather forecast tools have been proposed. Use of the Land Surface Analysis Satellite Application Facility (LSA SAF) tool and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have allowed the design and development of innovative approaches for ETo assessment, which are especially useful for areas lacking available weather data from weather stations. Thus, by identifying the best-performing interpolation approaches (such as the Thin Plate Splines, TPS) and by developing new approaches (such as the use of data from the most similar weather station, TS, or spatially distributed correction factors, CITS), errors as low as 1.1% were achieved for ETo assessment. Spatial and temporal analyses reveal that the generated errors were smaller during spring and summer as well as in homogenous topographic areas. The proposed approaches not only enabled accurate calculations of seasonal and daily ETo values, but also contributed to the development of a useful methodology for evaluating the optimum number of weather stations to be integrated into a weather station network and the appropriateness of their locations. In addition to ETo, other variables included in weather forecast datasets (such as temperature or rainfall) could be evaluated using the same innovative methodology proposed in this study.

UMTS Network Stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez, C.

2010-09-01

The weakness of small island electrical grids implies a handicap for the electrical generation with renewable energy sources. With the intention of maximizing the installation of photovoltaic generators in the Canary Islands, arises the need to develop a solar forecasting system that allows knowing in advance the amount of PV generated electricity that will be going into the grid, from the installed PV power plants installed in the island. The forecasting tools need to get feedback from real weather data in "real time" from remote weather stations. Nevertheless, the transference of this data to the calculation computer servers is very complicated with the old point to point telecommunication systems that, neither allow the transfer of data from several remote weather stations simultaneously nor high frequency of sampling of weather parameters due to slowness of the connection. This one project has developed a telecommunications infrastructure that allows sensorizadas remote stations, to send data of its sensors, once every minute and simultaneously, to the calculation server running the solar forecasting numerical models. For it, the Canary Islands Institute of Technology has added a sophisticated communications network to its 30 weather stations measuring irradiation at strategic sites, areas with high penetration of photovoltaic generation or that have potential to host in the future photovoltaic power plants connected to the grid. In each one of the stations, irradiance and temperature measurement instruments have been installed, over inclined silicon cell, global radiation on horizontal surface and room temperature. Mobile telephone devices have been installed and programmed in each one of the weather stations, which allow the transfer of their data taking advantage of the UMTS service offered by the local telephone operator. Every minute the computer server running the numerical weather forecasting models receives data inputs from 120 instruments distributed over the 30 radiometric stations. As a the result, currently it exist a stable, flexible, safe and economic infrastructure of radiometric stations and telecommunications that allows, on the one hand, to have data in real time from all 30 remote weather stations, and on the other hand allows to communicate with them in order to reprogram them and to carry out maintenance works.

Sources of variation in multi-decadal water fluxes inferred from weather station data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rigden, Angela Jean

Terrestrial evapotranspiration (ET) is a significant component of the energy and water balances at the land surface. However, direct, continuous measurements of ET are spatially limited and only available since the 1990s. Due to this lack of observations, detecting and attributing long-term regional trends in ET remains difficult. This dissertation aims to alleviate the data limitation and detect long-term trends by developing a method to infer ET from data collected at common weather stations, which are spatially and temporally abundant. The methodology used to infer ET from historical meteorological data is based on an emergent relation between the land surface and atmospheric boundary layer. We refer to this methodology as the Evapotranspiration from Relative Humidity at Equilibrium method, or the "ETRHEQ method". In the first section of this dissertation, we develop the ETRHEQ method for use at common weather stations and demonstrate the utility of the method at twenty eddy covariance sites spanning a wide range of climate and plant functional types. Next, we apply the ETRHEQ method at historical weather stations across the continental U.S. and show that ET estimates obtained via the ETRHEQ method compare well with watershed scale ET, as well as ET estimates from land surface models. From 1961 to 1997, we find negligible or increasing trends in summertime ET over the central U.S. and the west coast and negative trends in the eastern and western U.S. From 1998 to 2014, we find a sharp decline in summertime ET across the entire U.S. We show that this decline is consistent with decreasing transpiration associated with declines in humidity. Lastly, we assess the sensitivity of ET to perturbations in soil moisture and humidity anticipated with climate change. We demonstrate that the response of ET to changing humidity and soil moisture is strongly dependent on the biological and hydrological state of the surface, particularly the degree of water stress and vegetation fraction. In total, this dissertation demonstrates the utility of the ETRHEQ method as a means to estimate ET from weather station data and highlights the critical role of vegetation in modulating ET variability.

Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO) Monterey FAA, Monterey, California

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-07-24

OF WEATHER CONDITIONS FROM HOUPLY OBSERVATIONS ( RAIN____ I____ _____$NW__FMOEm_%o ls TOA m T"uNDER., o SOWNG I OST JW% OUTS NO. OFMWSTR AND 0 ERAIN...AIR ZXTHED SE VICE/HAC WEATHER CONDITIONS M -ZNT--PY FAA CA 73-7; A STATION STATION NAME MONTH PERCENTAGE FREQUEN4CY OF OCCURRENCE OF iWEATHEP...CONDITIONS FRCM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS . M RO-UTH: I A,-,OB £l1. ., . OW4G ANO’ wi, NSt 0 R SAIN/O FRUZIN SH W %OFf SM OUST I %O OfICS TOTAL _ _LS T. STOMSI,, SNOW

The Pascal Mars Scout Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haberle, R. M.; Fonda, Mark (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Except for Earth, Mars is the planet most amenable to surface-based climate studies. Its surface is accessible, and the kind of observations that are needed, such as meteorological measurements from a long-lived global network, are readily achievable. Weather controls the movement of dust, the exchange of water between the surface and atmosphere, and the cycling of CO2 between the poles. We know there is a weather signal, we know how to measure it, and we know how to interpret it. Pascal seeks to understand the long-term global behavior of near-surface weather systems on Mars, how they interact with its surface, and, therefore, how they control its climate system. To achieve this, Pascal delivers 18 Science Stations to the surface of the planet that operate for three Mars years (5.6 Earth years). The network has stations operating in the tropics, midlatitudes, and polar regions of both hemispheres. During entry, descent, and landing, each Pascal probe acquires deceleration measurements to determine thermal structure, and descent images to characterize local terrain. On the surface, each Science Station takes daily measurements of pressure, opacity, temperature, wind speed, and water vapor concentration and monthly panoramic images of the landing environment. These data will characterize the planet's climate system and how atmosphere-surface interactions control it. The Pascal mission is named after 17th century French Scientist, Blaise Pascal, who pioneered measurements of atmospheric pressure. Pressure is the most critical measurement because it records the "heartbeat" of the planet's general circulation and climate system.

Comparison of measured and modeled radiation, heat and water vapor fluxes: FIFE pilot study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blad, Blaine L.; Hubbard, Kenneth G.; Verma, Shashi B.; Starks, Patrick; Norman, John M.; Walter-Shea, Elizabeth

1987-01-01

The feasibility of using radio frequency receivers to collect data from automated weather stations to model fluxes of latent heat, sensible heat, and radiation using routine weather data collected by automated weather stations was tested and the estimated fluxes were compared with fluxes measured over wheat. The model Cupid was used to model the fluxes. Two or more automated weather stations, interrogated by radio frequency and other means, were utilized to examine some of the climatic variability of the First ISLSCP (International Satellite Land-Surface Climatology Project) Field Experiment (FIFE) site, to measure and model reflected and emitted radiation streams from various locations at the site and to compare modeled latent and sensible heat fluxes with measured values. Some bidirectional reflected and emitted radiation data were collected from 23 locations throughout the FIFE site. Analysis of these data along with analysis of the measured sensible and latent heat fluxes is just beginning.

Simulating air temperature in an urban street canyon in all weather conditions using measured data at a reference meteorological station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erell, E.; Williamson, T.

2006-10-01

A model is proposed that adapts data from a standard meteorological station to provide realistic site-specific air temperature in a city street exposed to the same meso-scale environment. In addition to a rudimentary description of the two sites, the canyon air temperature (CAT) model requires only inputs measured at standard weather stations; yet it is capable of accurately predicting the evolution of air temperature in all weather conditions for extended periods. It simulates the effect of urban geometry on radiant exchange; the effect of moisture availability on latent heat flux; energy stored in the ground and in building surfaces; air flow in the street based on wind above roof height; and the sensible heat flux from individual surfaces and from the street canyon as a whole. The CAT model has been tested on field data measured in a monitoring program carried out in Adelaide, Australia, in 2000-2001. After calibrating the model, predicted air temperature correlated well with measured data in all weather conditions over extended periods. The experimental validation provides additional evidence in support of a number of parameterisation schemes incorporated in the model to account for sensible heat and storage flux.

Demonstrating the Alaska Ocean Observing System in Prince William Sound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schoch, G. Carl; McCammon, Molly

2013-07-01

The Alaska Ocean Observing System and the Oil Spill Recovery Institute developed a demonstration project over a 5 year period in Prince William Sound. The primary goal was to develop a quasi-operational system that delivers weather and ocean information in near real time to diverse user communities. This observing system now consists of atmospheric and oceanic sensors, and a new generation of computer models to numerically simulate and forecast weather, waves, and ocean circulation. A state of the art data management system provides access to these products from one internet portal at http://www.aoos.org. The project culminated in a 2009 field experiment that evaluated the observing system and performance of the model forecasts. Observations from terrestrial weather stations and weather buoys validated atmospheric circulation forecasts. Observations from wave gages on weather buoys validated forecasts of significant wave heights and periods. There was an emphasis on validation of surface currents forecasted by the ocean circulation model for oil spill response and search and rescue applications. During the 18 day field experiment a radar array mapped surface currents and drifting buoys were deployed. Hydrographic profiles at fixed stations, and by autonomous vehicles along transects, were made to acquire measurements through the water column. Terrestrial weather stations were the most reliable and least costly to operate, and in situ ocean sensors were more costly and considerably less reliable. The radar surface current mappers were the least reliable and most costly but provided the assimilation and validation data that most improved ocean circulation forecasts. We describe the setting of Prince William Sound and the various observational platforms and forecast models of the observing system, and discuss recommendations for future development.

Development of Innovative Technology to Provide Low-Cost Surface Atmospheric Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kucera, Paul; Steinson, Martin

2016-04-01

Accurate and reliable real-time monitoring and dissemination of observations of surface weather conditions is critical for a variety of societal applications. Applications that provide local and regional information about temperature, precipitation, moisture, and winds, for example, are important for agriculture, water resource monitoring, health, and monitoring of hazard weather conditions. In many regions in Africa (and other global locations), surface weather stations are sparsely located and/or of poor quality. Existing stations have often been sited incorrectly, not well-maintained, and have limited communications established at the site for real-time monitoring. The US National Weather Service (NWS) International Activities Office (IAO) in partnership with University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) has started an initiative to develop and deploy low-cost weather instrumentation in sparsely observed regions of the world. The goal is to provide observations for environmental monitoring, and early warning alert systems that can be deployed at weather services in developing countries. Instrumentation is being designed using innovative new technologies such as 3D printers, Raspberry Pi computing systems, and wireless communications. The initial effort is focused on designing a surface network using GIS-based tools, deploying an initial network in Zambia, and providing training to Zambia Meteorological Department (ZMD) staff. The presentation will provide an overview of the project concepts, design of the low cost instrumentation, and initial experiences deploying a surface network deployment in Zambia.

Altus AFB, Oklahoma Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-09-01

4 _ 2; 4, InI Air Weather Service ( MAC) Aft 1 REVISED UNIFOCM SUMMAARY CW SC IL!8k 2 SURFACE WATHER OBE3RVATION$ 2b1l__ ALTUS m~F3 OK.MC 732 4 40 99...BRANCH PERCENIA6E FRECQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE OF CEILING VERSUS VISIBILIIV USAFTEAC FRON HOURLY OBSERVATIONS AIR WATHER SERVICE/HAC STATION NUMBER: 123520

Selection for the best ETS (error, trend, seasonal) model to forecast weather in the Aceh Besar District

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amora Jofipasi, Chesilia; Miftahuddin; Hizir

2018-05-01

Weather is a phenomenon that occurs in certain areas that indicate a change in natural activity. Weather can be predicted using data in previous periods over a period. The purpose of this study is to get the best ETS model to predict the weather in Aceh Besar. The ETS model is a time series univariate forecasting method; its use focuses on trend and seasonal components. The data used are air temperature, dew point, sea level pressure, station pressure, visibility, wind speed, and sea surface temperature from January 2006 to December 2016. Based on AIC, AICc and BIC the smallest values obtained the conclusion that the ETS (M, N, A) is used to predict air temperature, and sea surface temperature, ETS (A, N, A) is used to predict dew point, sea level pressure and station pressure, ETS (A, A, N) is used to predict visibility, and ETS (A, N, N) is used to predict wind speed.

Richards-Gebaur AFB, Missouri Limited Surface Observations Climatic Summary (LISOCS). Parts A, C-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-07-01

Pressure" summaries for METAR stations. Table of Contents: AWS Form 2 "Station History " Part 1: Weather Conditions Part 2: Surface Winds Part 3...LOCATION AND INSTRUMENTATION HISTORY NUNiER TYPE 4T THIS LOCATION ELEVATION ABOVE NSL 065 or GEVORWICALL LOCATION I AIME Of LATITUDE LO4CI3 U01 PER

Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO) for Wheeler AFB, Wahiawa, Hawaii. Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-01-11

OBSERVATIONS) 225 :1 LIEELER AFB HI 68-70,73-79 JUL STATION STI* k-t 11Ot- ALL wEAT,4ER 1530-1700 CLASS ko ~z7 ILS i.- CONDITION rI 1’E 1.1 . SPEED .MEAN...AND SPEED (FROM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS) 225f_8 ,HEELER AFB HI 67-70,73-76 NOV MSATION STATION vults IZARS lONth ALL WEATHER 1800-2000 chit , mo02s (L 5

Relationships between nocturnal winter road slipperiness, cloud cover and surface temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grimbacher, T.; Schmid, W.

2003-04-01

Ice and Snow are important risks for road traffic. In this study we show several events of slipperiness in Switzerland, mainly caused by rain or snow falling on a frozen surface. Other reasons for slippery conditions are frost or freezing dew in clear nights and nocturnal clearing after precipitation, which goes along with radiative cooling. The main parameters of road weather forecasts are precipitation, cloudiness and surface temperature. Precipitation is well predictable with weather radars and radar nowcasting algorithms. Temperatures are often taken from numerical weather prediction models, but because of changes in cloud cover these model values are inaccurate in terms of predicting the onset of freezing. Cloudiness, especially the advection, formation and dissipation of clouds and their interaction with surface temperatures, is one of the major unsolved problems of road weather forecasts. Cloud cover and the temperature difference between air and surface temperature are important parameters of the radiation balance. In this contribution, we show the relationship between them, proved at several stations all over Switzerland. We found a quadratic correlation coefficient of typically 60% and improved it considering other meteorological parameters like wind speed and surface water. The acquired relationship may vary from one station to another, but we conclude that temperature difference is a signature for nocturnal cloudiness. We investigated nocturnal cloudiness for two cases from winters 2002 and 2003 in the canton of Lucerne in central Switzerland. There, an ultra-dense combination of two networks with together 55 stations within 50x50 km^2 is operated, measuring air and surface temperature, wind and other road weather parameters. With the aid of our equations, temperature differences detected from this network were converted into cloud maps. A comparison between precipitation seen by radar, cloud maps and surface temperatures shows that there are similar structures in all data. Depending on the situation, we also identified additional effects influencing the temperature differences, for instance the advection of could air or the influence of melting heat at or after a snow event. All these findings help to further understand the phenomena, and hence will contribute to a better predictability of winter road slipperiness.

Surface Temperature Data Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hansen, James; Ruedy, Reto

2012-01-01

Small global mean temperature changes may have significant to disastrous consequences for the Earth's climate if they persist for an extended period. Obtaining global means from local weather reports is hampered by the uneven spatial distribution of the reliably reporting weather stations. Methods had to be developed that minimize as far as possible the impact of that situation. This software is a method of combining temperature data of individual stations to obtain a global mean trend, overcoming/estimating the uncertainty introduced by the spatial and temporal gaps in the available data. Useful estimates were obtained by the introduction of a special grid, subdividing the Earth's surface into 8,000 equal-area boxes, using the existing data to create virtual stations at the center of each of these boxes, and combining temperature anomalies (after assessing the radius of high correlation) rather than temperatures.

Asian Dust Weather Categorization with Satellite and Surface Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, Tang-Huang; Hsu, N. Christina; Tsay, Si-Chee; Huang, Shih-Jen

2011-01-01

This study categorizes various dust weather types by means of satellite remote sensing over central Asia. Airborne dust particles can be identified by satellite remote sensing because of the different optical properties exhibited by coarse and fine particles (i.e. varying particle sizes). If a correlation can be established between the retrieved aerosol optical properties and surface visibility, the intensity of dust weather can be more effectively and consistently discerned using satellite rather than surface observations. In this article, datasets consisting of collocated products from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Aqua and surface measurements are analysed. The results indicate an exponential relationship between the surface visibility and the satellite-retrieved aerosol optical depth, which is subsequently used to categorize the dust weather. The satellite-derived spatial frequency distributions in the dust weather types are consistent with China s weather station reports during 2003, indicating that dust weather classification using satellite data is highly feasible. Although the period during the springtime from 2004 to 2007 may be not sufficient for statistical significance, our results reveal an increasing tendency in both intensity and frequency of dust weather over central Asia during this time period.

Comparison of kinetic and air temperatures in Budapest aiming applications in weather forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mika, Janos; Nemeth, Akos; Bela Olah, Andras; Dezso, Zsuzsanna

2010-05-01

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) based kinetic temperature data are compared with the surface air temperature data at the four weather stations in Budapest, Hun-gary. Dependence of these temperature characteristics on weather conditions, characterised by macrosynoptic types and by objective weather types, is in the focus of the study. Day- and night-time kinetic temperature series are used from the period 2001-2008. Four automatic stations are also used as the surface-based control variables. The four MODIS-pixels, covering one station, each, are the sites of our comparison. One of the four stations has strictly urban situation at the roof level in a strongly built-in region of Budapest. Another one, used as background rural station is at the east-west edge of the town with gar-dened environment. Two other stations are positioned near the river Danube at the northern and southern edges of Budapest, still under mezo-scale effect of the city. The number of elaborated hourly values is 4300-4400 above each pixel, depending on the cloudiness. At the four station automatic observations on air temperature, cloudiness (=0), relative humidity and wind-speed are observed in the hours of the MODIS observations. From these elements air temperature is used for comparison with the satellite-based kinetic temperature, and also as the main components of the Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET), de-rived to characterise usefulness of the kinetic temperature. Our first aim is to specify detailed relationship between the two temperatures consider-ing the seasonal and diurnal cycles and synoptic situation. This comparison is also performed by using the PET to establish which kind of temperature reminds this human bioclimatic in-dex better. If we could establish effective relationships with the synoptic situations (or weather types) we could use them in two further applications. The first one is the everyday forecasting of dangerous situations within the city on the days when the rural weather forecast claims about extreme temperature even at the rural sites. On summer hot days the weather-dependent UHI increases but on cold winter days decreases the risks on human health and technical equipments. The other scientific problem is whether the long-term season-dependent changes of the atmospheric circulation can modify the behaviour of the UHI even without fur-ther changes in the building in of the city. To answer this question the established relation-ships are combined with regional climate change projections of the circulation conditions.

Suitability Measurement and Analysis for El Centro Naval Air Facility OLS. Opportune Landing Site Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-10-01

western corner and at a few other sample locations. For most of the RAS the surface layer CBR values are in the teens , with a few less than 10 and...from vandalism . Carl offered that we can tie in with weather station near the Range Control, Building 5000, and weather station in Target Area 103. We...to some degree. We noted that if we were to select this OLS, the instrumenta- tion may be destroyed or vandalized . This was a potential site and

Weather impacts on space operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madura, J.; Boyd, B.; Bauman, W.; Wyse, N.; Adams, M.

The efforts of the 45th Weather Squadron of the USAF to provide weather support to Patrick Air Force Base, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Eastern Range, and the Kennedy Space Center are discussed. Its weather support to space vehicles, particularly the Space Shuttle, includes resource protection, ground processing, launch, and Ferry Flight, as well as consultations to the Spaceflight Meteorology Group for landing forecasts. Attention is given to prelaunch processing weather, launch support weather, Shuttle launch commit criteria, and range safety weather restrictions. Upper level wind requirements are examined. The frequency of hourly surface observations with thunderstorms at the Shuttle landing facility, and lightning downtime at the Titan launch complexes are illustrated.

Amplification Factors for Spectral Acceleration Using Borehole Seismic Array in Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, T. S.; Yih-Min, W.; Chao, W. A.; Chang, C. H.

2017-12-01

In order to reduce the noise from surface to get the high-quality seismic recordings, there are 54 borehole seismic arrays have been installed in Taiwan deployed by Central Weather Bureau (CWB) until the end of 2016. Each array includes two force balance accelerometers, one at the surface and other inside the borehole, as well as one broadband seismometer inside the borehole. The downhole instruments are placed at a depth between 120 and 400 m. The background noise level are lower at the borehole stations, but the amplitudes recorded by borehole stations are smaller than surface stations for the same earthquake due to the different geology conditions. Therefore, the earthquake magnitude estimated by borehole station is smaller than surface station. So far, CWB only use the surface stations in the magnitude determination due to this situation. In this study, we investigate the site effects between surface and downhole for borehole seismic arrays. Using the spectral ratio derived by the two-station spectral method as the transfer function, simulated the waveform recorded by borehole stations to the surface stations. In the future, through the transfer function, the borehole stations will be included in the estimation of earthquake magnitude and the results of amplification factors can provide the information of near-surface site effects for the ground motion simulation applications.

Surface Observation Climatic Summaries for Little Rock AFB, Arkansas

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-02-01

STATE-OF-THE-ART COM- PUTER TECHNOLOGY TO SUMMARIZE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS COLLECTED FROM SELECTED MIL - ITARY, CIVILIAN, AND FOREIGN REPORTING STATIONS...PERCENT OCCURRENCE FREQUENCY ....................... E-6-1 PART F - PRESSURE (FROM HOURLY OBS) ................................... F -i-i SEA LEVEL...PRESSURE ................................................ F -2-1 ALTIMETER SETT ING ................................................. F -3-1 STATION

Aviation Weather Observations for Supplementary Aviation Weather Reporting Stations (SAWRS) and Limited Aviation Weather Reporting Stations (LAWRS). Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 9.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of Transportation, Washington, DC.

This handbook provides instructions for observing, identifying, and recording aviation weather at Limited Aviation Weather Reporting Stations (LAWRS) and Supplementary Aviation Weather Reporting Stations (SAWRS). Official technical definitions, meteorological and administrative procedures are outlined. Although this publication is intended for use…

Friendship IAP, Maryland. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-05-04

USAFETAC PSYCHROMETRIC SUMMARY’k A1 dEATHER SERVXCE/MAC STATIO STATION 041A vt LS MONT. PAGE I1 - i(Fl WI~III~i~i1IIi ET SUL& TESIPEXATUnE DEPRESION (F...WEATHER SERVICE/MAC L2AD0. FRIENDOSHIP IAP MD 74-S1orf STATION STATION *464 VtAAS M. PAGE 2 -nn-nn Th.~.WIT SUL$ TEMPERATURE DEPRESION (F) ITOTAL TOTAL () 0...Alte WEAT.4ER SERVICE/IAC 776ff F7hnSHTP Ti A mn-t ER STAION NWA YA PAGE 1 WE? BULB TEMPERATURE DEPRESION (F) TOTAL 1 TOTAL (I 0 1.2 j3-43. 7. 9. . 1o 1

AIRS Observations of DomeC in Antarctica and Comparison with Automated Weather Stations (AWS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aumann, Hartmut H.; Gregorich, Dave; Broberg, Steve

2006-01-01

We compare the surface temperatures at Dome Concordia (DomeC) deduced from AIRS data and two Automatic Weather Stations at Concordia Station: AWS8989 , which has been in operation since December 1996, and AWS.it, for which data are available between January and November 2005. The AWS8989 readings are on average 3 K warmer than the AWS.it readings, with a warmer bias in the Antarctic summer than in the winter season. Although AIRS measures the skin brightness temperature, while the AWS reports the temperature of the air at 3 meter above the surface, the AIRS measurements agree well with the AWS.it readings for all data and separately for the summer and winter seasons, if data taken in the presence of strong surface inversions are filtered out. This can be done by deducing the vertical temperature gradient above the surface directly from the AIRS temperature sounding channels or indirectly by noting that extreme vertical gradients near the surface are unlikely if the wind speed is more than a few meters per second. Since the AIRS measurements are very well calibrated, the agreement with AWS.it is very encouraging. The warmer readings of AWS8989 are likely due to thermal contamination of the AWS8989 site by the increasing activity at Concordia Station. Data from an AWS.it quality station could be used for the evaluation of radiometric accuracy and stability of polar orbiting sounders at low temperatures. Unfortunately, data from AWS.it was available only for a limited time. The thermal contamination of the AWS8989 data makes long-term trends deduced from AWS8989 and possibly results about the rapid Antarctic warming deduced from other research stations on Antarctica suspect. AIRS is the first hyperspectral infrared sounder designed in support of weather forecasting and climate research. It was launched in May 2002 on the EOS Aqua spacecraft into a 704 km altitude polar sun-synchronous orbit. The lifetime of AIRS, estimated before launch to be at least 5 years is, based on the latest evaluation, limited by the amount of attitude control gas on the EOS Aqua spacecraft, which is expected to last through 2015.

Novel Methods to Explore Building Energy Sensitivity to Climate and Heat Waves Using PNNL's BEND Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burleyson, C. D.; Voisin, N.; Taylor, T.; Xie, Y.; Kraucunas, I.

2017-12-01

The DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has been developing the Building ENergy Demand (BEND) model to simulate energy usage in residential and commercial buildings responding to changes in weather, climate, population, and building technologies. At its core, BEND is a mechanism to aggregate EnergyPlus simulations of a large number of individual buildings with a diversity of characteristics over large spatial scales. We have completed a series of experiments to explore methods to calibrate the BEND model, measure its ability to capture interannual variability in energy demand due to weather using simulations of two distinct weather years, and understand the sensitivity to the number and location of weather stations used to force the model. The use of weather from "representative cities" reduces computational costs, but often fails to capture spatial heterogeneity that may be important for simulations aimed at understanding how building stocks respond to a changing climate (Fig. 1). We quantify the potential reduction in temperature and load biases from using an increasing number of weather stations across the western U.S., ranging from 8 to roughly 150. Using 8 stations results in an average absolute summertime temperature bias of 4.0°C. The mean absolute bias drops to 1.5°C using all available stations. Temperature biases of this magnitude translate to absolute summertime mean simulated load biases as high as 13.8%. Additionally, using only 8 representative weather stations can lead to a 20-40% bias of peak building loads under heat wave or cold snap conditions, a significant error for capacity expansion planners who may rely on these types of simulations. This analysis suggests that using 4 stations per climate zone may be sufficient for most purposes. Our novel approach, which requires no new EnergyPlus simulations, could be useful to other researchers designing or calibrating aggregate building model simulations - particularly those looking at the impact of future climate scenarios. Fig. 1. An example of temperature bias that results from using 8 representative weather stations: (a) surface temperature from NLDAS on 5-July 2008 at 2000 UTC; (b) temperature from 8 representative stations at the same time mapped to all counties within a given IECC climate zone; (c) the difference between (a) and (b).

Surface Observation Climatic Summaries (SOCS) for K. I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-03-01

OPERATING LOCATION A, USkFfTAC 6C. -ADDRESS: FEDERAL BUJILDING, ASHEVILLE, NC 28801-2723 11. TITLE: SURFACE OBSERVAT ION CLIMAAT -ICSUM-MARIEfS (SMCS...MENT, 09 REASON FfR CHANGE TRANSMITTER RECORDER GROUND ---- ------------------------------------------------------ AN/GMO-I ML-204A 83 FT 4 TAT~4Y A...WEATHER STATION. NhTE : R1FPORTING PRACTICESHAVE CHANGED WITH TIME. METAR AND SYNOPTIC REPORTING STATIONS RECORD (ON AWS FORMS 10/IDA) AND TRANSMIT

Linking the Weather Generator with Regional Climate Model: Effect of Higher Resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubrovsky, Martin; Huth, Radan; Farda, Ales; Skalak, Petr

2014-05-01

This contribution builds on our last year EGU contribution, which followed two aims: (i) validation of the simulations of the present climate made by the ALADIN-Climate Regional Climate Model (RCM) at 25 km resolution, and (ii) presenting a methodology for linking the parametric weather generator (WG) with RCM output (aiming to calibrate a gridded WG capable of producing realistic synthetic multivariate weather series for weather-ungauged locations). Now we have available new higher-resolution (6.25 km) simulations with the same RCM. The main topic of this contribution is an anser to a following question: What is an effect of using a higher spatial resolution on a quality of simulating the surface weather characteristics? In the first part, the high resolution RCM simulation of the present climate will be validated in terms of selected WG parameters, which are derived from the RCM-simulated surface weather series and compared to those derived from weather series observed in 125 Czech meteorological stations. The set of WG parameters will include statistics of the surface temperature and precipitation series. When comparing the WG parameters from the two sources (RCM vs observations), we interpolate the RCM-based parameters into the station locations while accounting for the effect of altitude. In the second part, we will discuss an effect of using the higher resolution: the results of the validation tests will be compared with those obtained with the lower-resolution RCM. Acknowledgements: The present experiment is made within the frame of projects ALARO-Climate (project P209/11/2405 sponsored by the Czech Science Foundation), WG4VALUE (project LD12029 sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of CR) and VALUE (COST ES 1102 action).

Meteorological effects of the solar eclipse of 20 March 2015: analysis of UK Met Office automatic weather station data and comparison with automatic weather station data from the Faroes and Iceland

PubMed Central

Penman, John; Jónsson, Trausti; Bigg, Grant R.; Björnsson, Halldór; Sjúrðarson, Sølvi; Hansen, Mads A.; Cappelen, John; Bryant, Robert G.

2016-01-01

Here, we analyse high-frequency (1 min) surface air temperature, mean sea-level pressure (MSLP), wind speed and direction and cloud-cover data acquired during the solar eclipse of 20 March 2015 from 76 UK Met Office weather stations, and compare the results with those from 30 weather stations in the Faroe Islands and 148 stations in Iceland. There was a statistically significant mean UK temperature drop of 0.83±0.63°C, which occurred over 39 min on average, and the minimum temperature lagged the peak of the eclipse by about 10 min. For a subset of 14 (16) relatively clear (cloudy) stations, the mean temperature drop was 0.91±0.78 (0.31±0.40)°C but the mean temperature drops for relatively calm and windy stations were almost identical. Mean wind speed dropped significantly by 9% on average during the first half of the eclipse. There was no discernible effect of the eclipse on the wind-direction or MSLP time series, and therefore we can discount any localized eclipse cyclone effect over Britain during this event. Similar changes in air temperature and wind speed are observed for Iceland, where conditions were generally clearer, but here too there was no evidence of an eclipse cyclone; in the Faroes, there was a much more muted meteorological signature. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Atmospheric effects of solar eclipses stimulated by the 2015 UK eclipse’. PMID:27550769

Keesler AFB, Biloxi, Mississippi. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-02-08

30 25 W 088 55 36 BIX STATION LOCATION AND INSTRUMENTATION HISTORY OUEI, TYPE AT THIS LOCATION ELEVATION ABOVE NSIL 003 O GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION INANE...hours used by each service for each period are as follows: Air Force Stations: U. S. Navy and National Weather Service (USWB) Beginning thru 1945 at... VAIRBL C 22.0 30.9 15.5 1.6 .1 _ 100.0 3.5 TOTAL NUMBER OF OBSERVATIONS 808 USAFETAC ’otm 0-8-5 (OL-A) PMEVOUS EDITIOrO f THIS FOOM ARE OBSOLTE ,IAL 64 6

Local climate on and around a glacier - a case study of Storglaciären

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konya, K.; Hock, R.

2004-12-01

It is sometimes necessary to transform the climate data from a station to another station on a glacier. However, it is generally not so easy to do so since a glacier has its own specific microclimate. At Storglaciären in the summer 2003, air temperature and wind speed were measured at two weather stations set up near the center of the glacier and at the ridge of the bordering valley wall 300 m above the glacier surface. Additional continuous measurements are made at a weather station at Tarfala Research Station, which is located 1 km down glacier (1135 m a.s.l.). The result show a slight temperature difference between ridge and glacier stations because of the cooling effect by the glacier. Thus, temperature lapse rate is different. Wind speed on the ridge was higher than the other two in most cases, and the difference was largest during periods of high wind speed. The correlation between wind speed at the ridge and the other sites is weak.

Weathering phases recorded by gnammas developed since last glaciation at Serra da Estrela, Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domínguez-Villar, David; Razola, Laura; Carrasco, Rosa M.; Jennings, Carrie E.; Pedraza, Javier

2009-09-01

The morphometrical analysis of gnammas (weathering pits) in granite landscapes has been used to establish the relative chronology of recent erosive surfaces and to provide the weathering history in a region. To test the validity of gnammas as relative chronometer indicators, and the reliability of the obtained weathering record, two sites have been studied in Serra da Estrela, Portugal. The first site is within the limits of the glacier that existed in these mountains during the last glaciation, whereas the second site is located in an unglaciated sector of the mountains, which preserves a longer record of weathering in the bedrock surface. The number of gnamma weathering phases recorded in the latter site (8) is larger than those from the former (6). Correlation between both measurement stations based on morphometrical criteria is excellent for the younger six weathering phases (1 to 6). Consequently, the parameter used for relative chronology ( δ-value) has been verified to be age dependent, although absolute values are modulated by microclimate due to altitude variations. The weathering record was essentially duplicated once the surfaces at both sites were exposed, demonstrating the reliability of gnamma evolution as a post-glacial environmental indicator for the region.

Validation of crowdsourced automatic rain gauge measurements in Amsterdam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Vos, Lotte; Leijnse, Hidde; Overeem, Aart; Uijlenhoet, Remko

2016-04-01

The increasing number of privately owned weather stations and the facilitating role the internet to make this data publicly available, has led to several online platforms that collect and visualize crowdsourced weather data. This has resulted in ever increasing freely available datasets of weather measurements generated by amateur weather enthusiasts. Because of the lack of quality control and the frequent absence of metadata, these measurements are often considered as unreliable. Given the often large variability of weather variables in space and time, and the generally low number of official weather stations, this growing quantity of crowdsourced data may become an important additional source of information. Amateur weather observations have become more frequent over the past decade due to weather stations becoming more user-friendly and affordable. The variables measured by these weather stations are temperature, pressure and dew point, and in some cases wind and rainfall. Meteorological data from crowdsourced automatic weather stations in cities have primarily been used to examine the urban heat island effect. Thus far, these studies have focused on the comparison of the crowdsourced station temperature measurements with a nearby WMO-standard weather station, which is often located in a rural area or the outskirts of a city, generally not being representative of the city center. Instead of temperature, the rainfall measurements by the stations are examined. This research focuses on the combined ability of a large number of privately owned weather stations in an urban setting to correctly monitor rainfall. A set of 64 automatic weather stations distributed over Amsterdam (The Netherlands) that have at least 3 months of precipitation measurement during one year are evaluated. Precipitation measurements from stations are compared to a merged radar-gauge precipitation product. Disregarding sudden jumps in station measured precipitation, the accumulative rainfall over time in most stations showed an underestimation of rainfall compared to the accumulative values found in the corresponding radar pixel of the reference. Special consideration is given to the identification of faulty measurements without the need to obtain additional meta-data, such as setup and surroundings. This validation will show the potential of crowdsourced automatic weather stations for future urban rainfall monitoring.

Widespread land surface wind decline in the Northern Hemisphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vautard, R.; Cattiaux, J.; Yiou, P.; Thépaut, J.-N.; Ciais, P.

2010-09-01

The decline of surface wind observed in many regions of the world is a potential source of concern for wind power electricity generation. It is also suggested as the main cause of decreasing pan evaporation. In China, a persistent and significant decrease of monsoon winds was observed in all seasons. Surface wind declines were also evidenced in several regions of the world (U.S., Australia, several European countries). Except over China, no clear explanation was given for the wind decrease in the regions studied. Whether surface winds decrease is due to changes in the global atmospheric circulation or its variability, in surface processes or to observational trends has therefore not been elucidated. The identification of the drivers of such a decline requires a global investigation of available surface and upper-air wind data, which has not been conducted so far. Here we use global datasets of in-situ wind measurements that contain surface weather stations wind data (hourly or three-hourly data acquisition time step) and rawinsonde vertical wind data profiles (monthly time step) prepared by the NCAR. A set of 822 worldwide surface stations with continuous wind records was selected after a careful elimination of stations with obvious breaks and large gaps. This dataset mostly covers the Northern mid latitudes over the period 1979-2008. Using this data set, we found that annual mean wind speeds have declined at 73% of the surface stations over the past 30 years. In the Northern Hemisphere, positive wind trends are found only in a few places. In Europe, Central Asia, Eastern Asia and in North America the annual mean surface wind speed has decreased on average at a rate of -2.9, -5.9, -4.2, and -1.8 %/decade respectively, i.e. a decrease of about 10% in 30 years and up to about 20% in Central Asia. These results are robust to changes in the station selection method and parameters. By contrast, upper-air winds observed from rawinsondes, geostrophic winds deduced from pressure gradients, and modeled winds from weather re-analyses do not exhibit any comparable stilling trends than at surface stations. For instance, large-scale circulation changes captured in the most recent European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast re-analysis (ERA-interim) can only explain only up to 30% of the Eurasian wind stilling. In addition, a significant amount of the slow-down could originate from a generalized increase in surface roughness, due for instance to forest growth and expansion, and urbanization. This hypothesis is supported by theoretical calculations combined with meso-scale model simulations. For future wind power energy resource, the part of wind decline due to land cover changes is easier to cope with than that due to global atmospheric circulation slow down.

Analysis of the ability of large-scale reanalysis data to define Siberian fire danger in preparation for future fire prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soja, Amber; Westberg, David; Stackhouse, Paul, Jr.; McRae, Douglas; Jin, Ji-Zhong; Sukhinin, Anatoly

2010-05-01

Fire is the dominant disturbance that precipitates ecosystem change in boreal regions, and fire is largely under the control of weather and climate. Fire frequency, fire severity, area burned and fire season length are predicted to increase in boreal regions under current climate change scenarios. Therefore, changes in fire regimes have the potential to compel ecological change, moving ecosystems more quickly towards equilibrium with a new climate. The ultimate goal of this research is to assess the viability of large-scale (1°) data to be used to define fire weather danger and fire regimes, so that large-scale data can be confidently used to predict future fire regimes using large-scale fire weather data, like that available from current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate change scenarios. In this talk, we intent to: (1) evaluate Fire Weather Indices (FWI) derived using reanalysis and interpolated station data; (2) discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using these distinct data sources; and (3) highlight established relationships between large-scale fire weather data, area burned, active fires and ecosystems burned. Specifically, the Canadian Forestry Service (CFS) Fire Weather Index (FWI) will be derived using: (1) NASA Goddard Earth Observing System version 4 (GEOS-4) large-scale reanalysis and NASA Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) data; and National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) surface station-interpolated data. Requirements of the FWI are local noon surface-level air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and daily (noon-noon) rainfall. GEOS-4 reanalysis and NCDC station-interpolated fire weather indices are generally consistent spatially, temporally and quantitatively. Additionally, increased fire activity coincides with increased FWI ratings in both data products. Relationships have been established between large-scale FWI to area burned, fire frequency, ecosystem types, and these can be use to estimate historic and future fire regimes.

Evaluation of radar and automatic weather station data assimilation for a heavy rainfall event in southern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Tuanjie; Kong, Fanyou; Chen, Xunlai; Lei, Hengchi; Hu, Zhaoxia

2015-07-01

To improve the accuracy of short-term (0-12 h) forecasts of severe weather in southern China, a real-time storm-scale forecasting system, the Hourly Assimilation and Prediction System (HAPS), has been implemented in Shenzhen, China. The forecasting system is characterized by combining the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF-ARW) model and the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS) three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVAR) package. It is capable of assimilating radar reflectivity and radial velocity data from multiple Doppler radars as well as surface automatic weather station (AWS) data. Experiments are designed to evaluate the impacts of data assimilation on quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF) by studying a heavy rainfall event in southern China. The forecasts from these experiments are verified against radar, surface, and precipitation observations. Comparison of echo structure and accumulated precipitation suggests that radar data assimilation is useful in improving the short-term forecast by capturing the location and orientation of the band of accumulated rainfall. The assimilation of radar data improves the short-term precipitation forecast skill by up to 9 hours by producing more convection. The slight but generally positive impact that surface AWS data has on the forecast of near-surface variables can last up to 6-9 hours. The assimilation of AWS observations alone has some benefit for improving the Fractions Skill Score (FSS) and bias scores; when radar data are assimilated, the additional AWS data may increase the degree of rainfall overprediction.

COMMERCIAL MARITIME COAST STATIONS and WEATHER NETS

Science.gov Websites

Tsunamis 406 EPIRB's National Weather Service Marine Forecasts COMMERCIAL MARITIME COAST STATIONS and PRODUCTS VIA COMMERCIAL MARITIME COAST STATIONS and WEATHER NETS Commercial maritime coast stations, which ;NETS" operating on commercial marine VHF, MF and HF frequencies, where weather information is

ISS-RapidScat

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-01-22

Artist rendering of NASA ISS-RapidScat instrument inset, which will launch to the International Space Station in 2014 to measure ocean surface wind speed and direction and help improve weather forecasts, including hurricane monitoring.

Nellis AFB, Nevada. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-11-01

uL3BAL CLIMATOLOGY BRANCH PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENLE OF cEILING VERSUS VISIBILITY USAFETAC FROM HOUPLY O.SERVATIONS AIR wATHER SERVICE/MAC...FREAUENCY OF 0CCUN9LNJE OF CEILING VERSUS VISIBILI3Y USAFLTAC FROM HOUPLY OoSLRVAOIONS AIR WATHER SER9ICE/MAC STATION NUM8EV: 723865 STATION NAME: NELLIS

Meteorological Observations Available for the State of Utah

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wharton, S.

The National Weather Service’s Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS) contains a large number of station networks of surface and upper air meteorological observations for the state of Utah. In addition to MADIS, observations from individual station networks may also be available. It has been confirmed that LLNL has access to the data sources listed below.

Untangling the contribution of aspect, drainage position and elevation to the spatial variability of fine surface fuels in south east Australian forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheridan, Gary; nyman, petter; Duff, Tom; Baillie, Craig; Bovill, William; Lane, Patrick; Tolhurst, Kevin

2015-04-01

The prediction of fuel moisture content is important for estimating the rate of spread of wildfires, the ignition probability of firebrands, and for the efficient scheduling of prescribed fire. The moisture content of fine surface fuels varies spatially at large scales (10's to 100's km) due to variation in meteorological variables (eg. temperature, relative humidity, precipitation). At smaller scales (100's of metres) in steep topography spatial variability is attributed to topographic influences that include differences in radiation due to aspect and slope, differences in precipitation, temperature and relative humidity due to elevation, and differences in soil moisture due to hillslope drainage position. Variable forest structure and canopy shading adds further to the spatial variability in surface fuel moisture. In this study we aim to combine daily 5km resolution gridded weather data with 20m resolution DEM and vegetation structure data to predict the spatial variability of fine surface fuels in steep topography. Microclimate stations were established in south east Australia to monitor surface fine fuel moisture continuously (every 15 minutes) using newly developed instrumented litter packs, in addition to temperature and relative humidity measurements inside the litter pack, and measurement of precipitation and energy inputs above and below the forest canopy. Microclimate stations were established across a gradient of aspect (5 stations), drainage position (7 stations), elevation (15 stations), and canopy cover conditions (6 stations). The data from this extensive network of microclimate stations across a broad spectrum of topographic conditions is being analysed to enable the downscaling of gridded weather data to spatial scales that are relevant to the connectivity of wildfire fuels and to the scheduling and outcome of prescribed fires. The initial results from the first year of this study are presented here.

Simulated building energy demand biases resulting from the use of representative weather stations

DOE PAGES

Burleyson, Casey D.; Voisin, Nathalie; Taylor, Z. Todd; ...

2017-11-06

Numerical building models are typically forced with weather data from a limited number of “representative cities” or weather stations representing different climate regions. The use of representative weather stations reduces computational costs, but often fails to capture spatial heterogeneity in weather that may be important for simulations aimed at understanding how building stocks respond to a changing climate. Here, we quantify the potential reduction in temperature and load biases from using an increasing number of weather stations over the western U.S. Our novel approach is based on deriving temperature and load time series using incrementally more weather stations, ranging frommore » 8 to roughly 150, to evaluate the ability to capture weather patterns across different seasons. Using 8 stations across the western U.S., one from each IECC climate zone, results in an average absolute summertime temperature bias of ~4.0 °C with respect to a high-resolution gridded dataset. The mean absolute bias drops to ~1.5 °C using all available weather stations. Temperature biases of this magnitude could translate to absolute summertime mean simulated load biases as high as 13.5%. Increasing the size of the domain over which biases are calculated reduces their magnitude as positive and negative biases may cancel out. Using 8 representative weather stations can lead to a 20–40% bias of peak building loads during both summer and winter, a significant error for capacity expansion planners who may use these types of simulations. Using weather stations close to population centers reduces both mean and peak load biases. Our approach could be used by others designing aggregate building simulations to understand the sensitivity to their choice of weather stations used to drive the models.« less

Simulated building energy demand biases resulting from the use of representative weather stations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burleyson, Casey D.; Voisin, Nathalie; Taylor, Z. Todd

Numerical building models are typically forced with weather data from a limited number of “representative cities” or weather stations representing different climate regions. The use of representative weather stations reduces computational costs, but often fails to capture spatial heterogeneity in weather that may be important for simulations aimed at understanding how building stocks respond to a changing climate. Here, we quantify the potential reduction in temperature and load biases from using an increasing number of weather stations over the western U.S. Our novel approach is based on deriving temperature and load time series using incrementally more weather stations, ranging frommore » 8 to roughly 150, to evaluate the ability to capture weather patterns across different seasons. Using 8 stations across the western U.S., one from each IECC climate zone, results in an average absolute summertime temperature bias of ~4.0 °C with respect to a high-resolution gridded dataset. The mean absolute bias drops to ~1.5 °C using all available weather stations. Temperature biases of this magnitude could translate to absolute summertime mean simulated load biases as high as 13.5%. Increasing the size of the domain over which biases are calculated reduces their magnitude as positive and negative biases may cancel out. Using 8 representative weather stations can lead to a 20–40% bias of peak building loads during both summer and winter, a significant error for capacity expansion planners who may use these types of simulations. Using weather stations close to population centers reduces both mean and peak load biases. Our approach could be used by others designing aggregate building simulations to understand the sensitivity to their choice of weather stations used to drive the models.« less

Simulated building energy demand biases resulting from the use of representative weather stations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burleyson, Casey D.; Voisin, Nathalie; Taylor, Z. Todd

Numerical building models are typically forced with weather data from a limited number of “representative cities” or weather stations representing different climate regions. The use of representative weather stations reduces computational costs, but often fails to capture spatial heterogeneity in weather that may be important for simulations aimed at understanding how building stocks respond to a changing climate. We quantify the potential reduction in bias from using an increasing number of weather stations over the western U.S. The approach is based on deriving temperature and load time series using incrementally more weather stations, ranging from 8 to roughly 150, tomore » capture weather across different seasons. Using 8 stations, one from each climate zone, across the western U.S. results in an average absolute summertime temperature bias of 7.2°F with respect to a spatially-resolved gridded dataset. The mean absolute bias drops to 2.8°F using all available weather stations. Temperature biases of this magnitude could translate to absolute summertime mean simulated load biases as high as 13.8%, a significant error for capacity expansion planners who may use these types of simulations. Increasing the size of the domain over which biases are calculated reduces their magnitude as positive and negative biases may cancel out. Using 8 representative weather stations can lead to a 20-40% overestimation of peak building loads during both summer and winter. Using weather stations close to population centers reduces both mean and peak load biases. This approach could be used by others designing aggregate building simulations to understand the sensitivity to their choice of weather stations used to drive the models.« less

An Analysis of Wintertime Winds in Washington, D.C.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berg, Larry K.; Allwine, K Jerry

This report consists of a description of the wintertime climatology of wind speed and wind direction around the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Meteorological data for this study were collected at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (Reagan National), Dulles International Airport (Dulles), and a set of surface meteorological stations that are located on a number of building tops around the National Mall. A five-year wintertime climatology of wind speed and wind direction measured at Reagan National and Dulles are presented. A more detailed analysis was completed for the period December 2003 through February 2004 using data gathered from stations locatedmore » around the National Mall, Reagan National, and Dulles. Key findings of our study include the following: * There are systematic differences between the wind speed and wind direction observed at Reagan National and the wind speed and wind direction measured by building top weather stations located in the National Mall. Although Dulles is located much further from the National Mall than Reagan National, there is better agreement between the wind speed and wind direction measured at Dulles and the weather stations in the National Mall. * When the winds are light (less than 3 ms-1 or 7 mph), there are significant differences in the wind directions reported at the various weather stations within the Mall. * Although the mean characteristics of the wind are similar at the various locations, significant, short-term differences are found when the time series are compared. These differences have important implications for the dispersion of airborne contaminants. In support of wintertime special events in the area of the National Mall, we recommend placing four additional meteorological instruments: three additional surface stations, one on the east bank of the Potomac River, one south of the Reflecting Pool (to better define the flow within the Mall), and a surface station near the Herbert C. Hoover Building; and wind-profiling instrument located along the southern edge of the National Mall to give measurements of the wind speed and direction as a function of height.« less

Optimizing Placement of Weather Stations: Exploring Objective Functions of Meaningful Combinations of Multiple Weather Variables

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snyder, A.; Dietterich, T.; Selker, J. S.

2017-12-01

Many regions of the world lack ground-based weather data due to inadequate or unreliable weather station networks. For example, most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have unreliable, sparse networks of weather stations. The absence of these data can have consequences on weather forecasting, prediction of severe weather events, agricultural planning, and climate change monitoring. The Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (TAHMO.org) project seeks to address these problems by deploying and operating a large network of weather stations throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. To design the TAHMO network, we must determine where to place weather stations within each country. We should consider how we can create accurate spatio-temporal maps of weather data and how to balance the desired accuracy of each weather variable of interest (precipitation, temperature, relative humidity, etc.). We can express this problem as a joint optimization of multiple weather variables, given a fixed number of weather stations. We use reanalysis data as the best representation of the "true" weather patterns that occur in the region of interest. For each possible combination of sites, we interpolate the reanalysis data between selected locations and calculate the mean average error between the reanalysis ("true") data and the interpolated data. In order to formulate our multi-variate optimization problem, we explore different methods of weighting each weather variable in our objective function. These methods include systematic variation of weights to determine which weather variables have the strongest influence on the network design, as well as combinations targeted for specific purposes. For example, we can use computed evapotranspiration as a metric that combines many weather variables in a way that is meaningful for agricultural and hydrological applications. We compare the errors of the weather station networks produced by each optimization problem formulation. We also compare these errors to those of manually designed weather station networks in West Africa, planned by the respective host-country's meteorological agency.

Short Term Weather Forecasting in Real Time in a Base Weather Station Setting

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-10-01

SMSL DWPF Figure 25. Plot of surface airways observations at 18 UTC, I April 1993. Data is plotted in conventional notation. 35 mu eb 23 -:.-j-32 29292 3...34 38 3 ... .. :......:.. . . O0i-02-93 0600 GMT CLCT TMPF WSYM SMSL DWPF Figure 26. As in Figure 25, except for 06 UTC, 2 April 1993. 36 Figure 27

Environmental Assessment of Installation Development at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-05-01

characteristics of the noise source, distance between source and receptor, receptor sensitivity, weather , and time of day. Sound is measured with...bulk fuel storage and transfer, fuel dispensing, service stations , solvent degreasing, surface coating, and chemical usage/fugitive emissions. The...and weathered Permian bedrock. The deeper aquifer is within calcareous shales of the Wellington Formation. Groundwater flow follows the local

Impact of Interactive Energy-Balance Modeling on Student Learning in a Core-Curriculum Earth Science Course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandock, R. L.

2008-12-01

An interactive instructional module has been developed to study energy balance at the earth's surface. The module uses a graphical interface to model each of the major energy components involved in the partitioning of energy at this surface: net radiation, sensible and latent heat fluxes, ground heat flux, heat storage, anthropogenic heat, and advective heat transport. The graphical interface consists of an energy-balance diagram composed of sky elements, a line or box representing the air or sea surface, and arrows which indicate magnitude and direction of each of the energy fluxes. In April 2005 an energy-balance project and laboratory assignment were developed for a core-curriculum earth science course at Clark Atlanta University. The energy-balance project analyzes surface weather data from an assigned station of the Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network (AEMN). The first part of the project requires the student to print two observations of the "Current Conditions" web page for the assigned station: one between the hours of midnight and 5:00 a.m., and the other between the hours of 3:00- 5:00 p.m. A satellite image of the southeastern United States must accompany each of these printouts. The second part of the project can be completed only after the student has modeled the 4 environmental scenarios taught in the energy-balance laboratory assignment. The student uses the energy-balance model to determine the energy-flux components for each of the printed weather conditions at the assigned station. On successful completion of the project, the student has become familiar with: (1) how weather observations can be used to constrain parameters in a microclimate model, (2) one common type of error in measurement made by weather sensors, (3) some of the uses and limitations of environmental models, and (4) fundamentals of the distribution of energy at the earth's surface. The project and laboratory assignment tie together many of the earth science concepts taught in the course: geology (soils), oceanography (surface mixed layer), and atmospheric science (meteorology of the lowest part of the atmosphere). Details of the project and its impact on student assessment tests and surveys will be presented.

Thule AB, Greenland. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-05-12

0 THULE AB GL MSC # 042020 N 76 32 W 068 45 ELEV 251 FT BGTL y PARTS A - F HOURS SUMMARIZED 0000 - 2300 LST H PERIOD OF RECORD: HOURLY OBSERVATIONS...SNnW UFPTH USAFLTAC (FROM DAILY OBSERVATIUNSI AIR WEATHER SERVICL/MAC STATION NUMBER: 042020 STATION NAME: THULF AB GL P[|OU OF P[ COPD : SI-R6 DAILY...F IOM HOIU4LY ORSFVVATII0NS A14 s[A1H[ SERVICL/MAC S AIION NUMHRP: 01-2021 S341 AII NAM[ : THUL 74 5GL CC8100 oF P[ COPD : 77-46 MONTH: NOV 40U l(ILSTI

Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, Canada. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1972-01-25

CONDITIONS PART E DAILY MAX, M ,&MEAN TEMAP M ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA 0A16 N01 AVAILAbL~c EXTREME MAX & mIN TEMP j PART B PRECIPITATION pA Nor...FPREQJENCY riF UCCURRENUr OF RwEATHER CiliqUITIOtJS FROM 40LRLY UBSrkVATjoN5~ RAIN FREEZING SNO I OF SMOKE DUST % OF ORS TOTAL HOURS TOUR- M AND OR RHDG...262 - T S t,"PSOK NJ 1)T 5766PAR STATION STATION NAME YEARS M ONTH 1-FkCEP4TAGE PREQJ ENCY O’F UCCURRENCE OF WEATHER CUNUITIONS FRO HULALY

Using Arduinos and 3D-printers to Build Research-grade Weather Stations and Environmental Sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ham, J. M.

2013-12-01

Many plant, soil, and surface-boundary-layer processes in the geosphere are governed by the microclimate at the land-air interface. Environmental monitoring is needed at smaller scales and higher frequencies than provided by existing weather monitoring networks. The objective of this project was to design, prototype, and test a research-grade weather station that is based on open-source hardware/software and off-the-shelf components. The idea is that anyone could make these systems with only elementary skills in fabrication and electronics. The first prototypes included measurements of air temperature, humidity, pressure, global irradiance, wind speed, and wind direction. The best approach for measuring precipitation is still being investigated. The data acquisition system was deigned around the Arduino microcontroller and included an LCD-based user interface, SD card data storage, and solar power. Sensors were sampled at 5 s intervals and means, standard deviations, and maximum/minimums were stored at user-defined intervals (5, 30, or 60 min). Several of the sensor components were printed in plastic using a hobby-grade 3D printer (e.g., RepRap Project). Both passive and aspirated radiation shields for measuring air temperature were printed in white Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS). A housing for measuring solar irradiance using a photodiode-based pyranometer was printed in opaque ABS. The prototype weather station was co-deployed with commercial research-grade instruments at an agriculture research unit near Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Excellent agreement was found between Arduino-based system and commercial weather instruments. The technology was also used to support air quality research and automated air sampling. The next step is to incorporate remote access and station-to-station networking using Wi-Fi, cellular phone, and radio communications (e.g., Xbee).

Widespread land surface wind decline in the Northern Hemisphere partly attributed to land surface changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thepaut, J.; Vautard, R.; Cattiaux, J.; Yiou, P.; Ciais, P.

2010-12-01

The decline of surface wind observed in many regions of the world is a potential source of concern for wind power electricity generation. It is also suggested as the main cause of decreasing pan evaporation. In China, a persistent and significant decrease of monsoon winds was observed in all seasons. Surface wind declines were also evidenced in several regions of the world (U.S., Australia, several European countries). Except over China, no clear explanation was given for the wind decrease in the regions studied. Whether surface winds decrease is due to changes in the global atmospheric circulation or its variability, in surface processes or to observational trends has therefore not been elucidated. The identification of the drivers of such a decline requires a global investigation of available surface and upper-air wind data, which has not been conducted so far. Here we use global datasets of in-situ wind measurements that contain surface weather stations wind data (hourly or three-hourly data acquisition time step) and rawinsonde vertical wind data profiles (monthly time step) prepared by the NCAR. A set of 822 worldwide surface stations with continuous wind records was selected after a careful elimination of stations with obvious breaks and large gaps. This dataset mostly covers the Northern mid latitudes over the period 1979-2008. Using this data set, we found that annual mean wind speeds have declined at 73% of the surface stations over the past 30 years. In the Northern Hemisphere, positive wind trends are found only in a few places. In Europe, Central Asia, Eastern Asia and in North America the annual mean surface wind speed has decreased on average at a rate of -2.9, -5.9, -4.2, and -1.8 %/decade respectively, i.e. a decrease of about 10% in 30 years and up to about 20% in Central Asia. These results are robust to changes in the station selection method and parameters. By contrast, upper-air winds observed from rawinsondes, geostrophic winds deduced from pressure gradients, and modeled winds from weather re-analyses do not exhibit any comparable stilling trends than at surface stations. For instance, large-scale circulation changes captured in the most recent European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast re-analysis (ERA-interim) can only explain only up to 10-50% of the wind stilling, depending on the region. In addition, a significant amount of the slow-down could originate from a generalized increase in surface roughness, due for instance to forest growth and expansion, and urbanization. This hypothesis, which could explain up to 60% of the decline, is supported by remote sensing observations and theoretical calculations combined with meso-scale model simulations. For future wind power energy resource, the part of wind decline due to land cover changes is easier to cope with than that due to global atmospheric circulation slow down.

A portable station for recording fire weather data

Treesearch

John R. Murray; Clive M. Countryman

1968-01-01

A portable station for recording fire weather data has been developed for use in wildland fires, prescribed burns, evaluating sites for fire weather stations, and fire research. Housed in a mechanic's tool box, the station weighs about 60 pounds. One man can have it ready to operate in about 15 minutes. The unit can record five weather variables, but additional...

Meteorological surface conditions at Kohnen Station, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van As, D.; van den Broeke, M. R.

2003-04-01

Only a few detailed meteorological experiments have been performed in the higher regions of the Antarctic ice sheet. This contribution will describe part of such an experiment and its outcome, performed at Kohnen Station (75.00 S, 0.07 E, 2892 m asl.) in the Antarctic summer of 2001-'02. Results from this experiment are to benefit the interpretation of the ice core presently being drilled at this location. Surface conditions in the 40 day period of measurements varied from typically stable to extraordinarily warm and windy. First we focus on the surface energy balance during this summer period. A model with only a few input parameters is used to combine measured net radiation with calculated heat fluxes to iteratively search for a surface temperature for which all components balance out. Calculated components are compared with measurements. In time this model will be functional for weather stations at different locations. Despite the high albedo (0.82 - 0.92) the net shortwave radiation is the largest component at the surface, contributing a maximum of 100 W/m2. Surprisingly small is the latent heat flux, in fair weather no more than a few W/m2. In general the calculations agree well with the measurements. A shallow convective layer developed in the daytime by the sensible heat flux is confirmed by balloon measurements. Linking the surface conditions to measurements outside of the surface layer we find little correlation, as to be expected.

Toward Robust Climate Baselining: Objective Assessment of Climate Change Using Widely Distributed Miniaturized Sensors for Accurate World-Wide Geophysical Measurements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Teller, E; Leith, C; Canavan, G

A gap-free, world-wide, ocean-, atmosphere-, and land surface-spanning geophysical data-set of three decades time-duration containing the full set of geophysical parameters characterizing global weather is the scientific perquisite for defining the climate; the generally-accepted definition in the meteorological community is that climate is the 30-year running-average of weather. Until such a tridecadal climate base line exists, climate change discussions inevitably will have a semi-speculative, vs. a purely scientific, character, as the baseline against which changes are referenced will be at least somewhat uncertain. The contemporary technology base provides ways-and-means for commencing the development of such a meteorological measurement-intensive climate baseline, moreover with a program budget far less than the {approx}more » $2.5 B/year which the US. currently spends on ''global change'' studies. In particular, the recent advent of satellite-based global telephony enables real-time control of, and data-return from, instrument packages of very modest scale, and Silicon Revolution-based sensor, data-processing and -storage advances permit 'intelligent' data-gathering payloads to be created with 10 gram-scale mass budgets. A geophysical measurement system implemented in such modern technology is a populous constellation 03 long-lived, highly-miniaturized robotic weather stations deployed throughout the weather-generating portions of the Earths atmosphere, throughout its oceans and across its land surfaces. Leveraging the technological advances of the OS, the filly-developed atmospheric weather station of this system has a projected weight of the order of 1 ounce, and contains a satellite telephone, a GPS receiver, a full set of atmospheric sensing instruments and a control computer - and has an operational life of the order of 1 year and a mass-production cost of the order of $$20. Such stations are effectively ''intra-atmospheric satellites'' but likely have serial-production unit costs only about twenty-billionths that of a contemporary NASA global change satellite, whose entirely-remote sensing capabilities they complement with entirely-local sensing. It's thus feasible to deploy millions of them, and thereby to intensively monitor all aspects of the Earths weather. Analogs of these atmospheric weather stations will be employed to provide comparable-quality reporting of oceanic and land-surface geophysical parameters affecting weather. This definitive climate baselining system could be in initial-prototype operation on a one-year time-scale, and in intermediate-scale, proof-of-principle operation within three years, at a total cost of {approx}$$95M. Steady-state operating costs are estimated to be {approx} $$75M/year, or {approx}3% of the current US. ''global change'' program-cost. Its data-return would be of great value very quickly as simply the best weather information, and within a few years as the definitive climatic variability-reporting system. It would become the generator of a definitive climate baseline at a total present-value cost of {approx}$$0.9 B.« less

Seasonal prevailing surface winds in Northern Serbia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tošić, Ivana; Gavrilov, Milivoj B.; Marković, Slobodan B.; Ruman, Albert; Putniković, Suzana

2018-02-01

Seasonal prevailing surface winds are analyzed in the territory of Northern Serbia, using observational data from 12 meteorological stations over several decades. In accordance with the general definition of prevailing wind, two special definitions of this term are used. The seasonal wind roses in 16 directions at each station are analyzed. This study shows that the prevailing winds in Northern Serbia have northwestern and southeastern directions. Circulation weather types over Serbia are presented in order to determine the connections between the synoptic circulations and prevailing surface winds. Three controlling pressure centers, i.e., the Mediterranean cyclone, Siberian high, and the Azores anticyclone, appear as the most important large-scale factors that influence the creation of the prevailing winds over Northern Serbia. Beside the synoptic cause of the prevailing winds, it is noted that the orography of the eastern Balkans has a major influence on the winds from the second quadrant. It was found that the frequencies of circulation weather types are in agreement with those of the prevailing winds over Northern Serbia.

Remote Sensing of Urban Land Cover/Land Use Change, Surface Thermal Responses, and Potential Meteorological and Climate Change Impacts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quattrochi, Dale A.; Jedlovec, Gary; Meyer, Paul

2011-01-01

City growth influences the development of the urban heat island (UHI), but the effect that local meteorology has on the UHI is less well known. This paper presents some preliminary findings from a study that uses multitemporal Landsat TM and ASTER data to evaluate land cover/land use change (LULCC) over the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MFSC) and its Huntsville, AL metropolitan area. Landsat NLCD data for 1992 and 2001 have been used to evaluate LULCC for MSFC and the surrounding urban area. Land surface temperature (LST) and emissivity derived from NLCD data have also been analyzed to assess changes in these parameters in relation to LULCC. Additionally, LULCC, LST, and emissivity have been identified from ASTER data from 2001 and 2011 to provide a comparison with the 2001 NLCD and as a measure of current conditions within the study area. As anticipated, the multi-temporal NLCD and ASTER data show that significant changes have occurred in land covers, LST, and emissivity within and around MSFC. The patterns and arrangement of these changes, however, is significant because the juxtaposition of urban land covers within and outside of MSFC provides insight on what impacts at a local to regional scale, the inter-linkage of these changes potentially have on meteorology. To further analyze these interactions between LULCC, LST, and emissivity with the lower atmosphere, a network of eleven weather stations has been established across the MSFC property. These weather stations provide data at a 10 minute interval, and these data are uplinked for use by MSFC facilities operations and the National Weather Service. The weather data are also integrated within a larger network of meteorological stations across north Alabama. Given that the MSFC weather stations will operate for an extended period of time, they can be used to evaluate how the building of new structures, and changes in roadways, and green spaces as identified in the MSFC master plan for the future, will potentially affect land cover LSTs across the Center. Moreover, the weather stations will also provide baseline data for developing a better understanding of how localized weather factors, such as extreme rainfall and heat events, affect micrometeorology. These data can also be used to model the interrelationships between LSTs and meteorology on a longer term basis to help evaluate how changes in these parameters can be quantified from satellite data collected in the future. In turn, the overall integration of multi-temporal meteorological information with LULCC, and LST data for MSFC proper and the surrounding Huntsville urbanized area can provide a perspective on how urban land surface types affect the meteorology in the boundary layer and ultimately, the UHI. Additionally, data such as this can be used as a foundation for modeling how climate change will potentially impact local and regional meteorology and conversely, how urban LULCC can or will influence changes on climate over the north Alabama area.

Torrejon AB, Madrid, Spain. revised uniform summary of surface weather observations (RUSSWO). parts a-f. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1978-10-03

This report is a six-part statistical summary of surface weather observations for Torrejon AB, Madrid Spain. It contains the following parts: (A) Weather Conditions; Atmospheric Phenomena; (B) Precipitation, Snowfall and Snow Depth (daily amounts and extreme values); (C) Surface winds; (D) Ceiling Versus Visibility; Sky Cover; (E) Psychrometric Summaries (daily maximum and minimum temperatures, extreme maximum and minimum temperatures, psychrometric summary of wet-bulb temperature depression versus dry-bulb temperature, means and standard deviations of dry-bulb, wet-bulb and dew-point temperatures and relative humidity); and (F) Pressure Summary (means, standard, deviations, and observation counts of station pressure and sea-level pressure). Data in thismore » report are presented in tabular form, in most cases in percentage frequency of occurrence or cumulative percentage frequency of occurrence tables.« less

Statistics of link blockage due to cloud cover for free-space optical communications using NCDC surface weather observation data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Slobin, S. D.; Piazzolla, S.

2002-01-01

Cloud opacity is one of the main atmospheric physical phenomena that can jeopardize the successful completion of an optical link between a spacecraft and a ground station. Hence, the site location chosen for a telescope used for optical communications must rely on knowledge of weather and cloud cover statistics for the geographical area where the telescope itself is located.

Quantification of Local Warming Trend: A Remote Sensing-Based Approach

PubMed Central

Rahaman, Khan Rubayet; Hassan, Quazi K.

2017-01-01

Understanding the warming trends at local level is critical; and, the development of relevant adaptation and mitigation policies at those levels are quite challenging. Here, our overall goal was to generate local warming trend map at 1 km spatial resolution by using: (i) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-based 8-day composite surface temperature data; (ii) weather station-based yearly average air temperature data; and (iii) air temperature normal (i.e., 30 year average) data over the Canadian province of Alberta during the period 1961–2010. Thus, we analysed the station-based air temperature data in generating relationships between air temperature normal and yearly average air temperature in order to facilitate the selection of year-specific MODIS-based surface temperature data. These MODIS data in conjunction with weather station-based air temperature normal data were then used to model local warming trends. We observed that almost 88% areas of the province experienced warming trends (i.e., up to 1.5°C). The study concluded that remote sensing technology could be useful for delineating generic trends associated with local warming. PMID:28072857

Kwang Ju AB, Korea, Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO) Parts A, C - F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-07-01

VISIBILITY AIP wATHER SERVICE/MAC � KWANGJU AB KO 68-69,73-80 OCT STATION STATION NA.. V.AN. MONVN PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE ___OCO-C2C (FROM...8217.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , , , , II I l I l l l l ! uLL05AL CLIMATOLOGY 4RANCH S USAFETAC PSYCHROMETRIC SUMMARY A!O ’ WATHER SERVICE/MAC 43,15b

Development of a Graphical User Interface to Visualize Surface Observations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Buckley, R.L.

1998-07-13

Thousands of worldwide observing stations provide meteorological information near the earth's surface as often as once each hour. This surface data may be plotted on geographical maps to provide the meteorologist useful information regarding weather patterns for a region of interest. This report describes the components and applications of a graphical user interface which have been developed to visualize surface observations at any global location and time of interest.

Evapotranspiration based on equilibrated relative humidity (ETRHEQ): Evaluation over the continental U.S.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rigden, Angela J.; Salvucci, Guido D.

2015-04-01

A novel method of estimating evapotranspiration (ET), referred to as the ETRHEQ method, is further developed, validated, and applied across the U.S. from 1961 to 2010. The ETRHEQ method estimates the surface conductance to water vapor transport, which is the key rate-limiting parameter of typical ET models, by choosing the surface conductance that minimizes the vertical variance of the calculated relative humidity profile averaged over the day. The ETRHEQ method, which was previously tested at five AmeriFlux sites, is modified for use at common weather stations and further validated at 20 AmeriFlux sites that span a wide range of climates and limiting factors. Averaged across all sites, the daily latent heat flux RMSE is ˜26 W·m-2 (or 15%). The method is applied across the U.S. at 305 weather stations and spatially interpolated using ANUSPLIN software. Gridded annual mean ETRHEQ ET estimates are compared with four data sets, including water balance-derived ET, machine-learning ET estimates based on FLUXNET data, North American Land Data Assimilation System project phase 2 ET, and a benchmark product that integrates 14 global ET data sets, with RMSEs ranging from 8.7 to 12.5 cm·yr-1. The ETRHEQ method relies only on data measured at weather stations, an estimate of vegetation height derived from land cover maps, and an estimate of soil thermal inertia. These data requirements allow it to have greater spatial coverage than direct measurements, greater historical coverage than satellite methods, significantly less parameter specification than most land surface models, and no requirement for calibration.

Sachon AFS K-4, Sacheon, Korea. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO)

DTIC Science & Technology

1968-04-11

FREQUENCY OF WIND DIRECTION AND SPEED (FROM HOURLY OESERVATIONS) 41240 -- SACHON KflREALROK AFS K-4 55-67_________ APR UT"If STATION MANZ TSARS SON ?") ALL...KOREA/ROI( AFS K-4 55-67 ____APR SAINSTATION NAME YEARS MOSN ALL WEATHER 1500-1700 ~ LA $S NOUN$ (LST I ONITIOW (KNTSI 1 .3 4.6 7.10 11.-16 17.21 22...4S 1209 c~ ~iC4 1V/ . $ I - - ’~-4 V ~’ *-** La DATA PROCESSING DIVISION ElAc, UJSAF SURFACE WINDS ASHEVILLE, N. C. 28801 PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY OF

Extended T-index models for glacier surface melting: a case study from Chorabari Glacier, Central Himalaya, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karakoti, Indira; Kesarwani, Kapil; Mehta, Manish; Dobhal, D. P.

2016-10-01

Two enhanced temperature-index (T-index) models are proposed by incorporating meteorological parameters viz. relative humidity, wind speed and net radiation. The models are an attempt to explore different climatic variables other than temperature affecting glacier surface melting. Weather data were recorded at Chorabari Glacier using an automatic weather station during the summers of 2010 (July 10 to September 10) and 2012 (June 10 to October 25). The modelled surface melt is validated against the measured point surface melting at the snout. Performance of the developed models is evaluated by comparing with basic temperature-index model and is quantified through different efficiency criteria. The results suggest that proposed models yield considerable improvement in surface melt simulation . Consequently, the study reveals that glacier surface melt depends not only on temperature but also on weather parameters viz. relative humidity, wind speed and net radiation play a significant role in glacier surface melting. This approach provides a major improvement on basic temperature-index method and offers an alternative to energy balance model.

Taegu AB, Korea. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A, C-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-10-07

A N STATION STATiO% NAMI YEARS MTOtH PA3E ’ .3 --- S _ NOUS (IL. S. T .1 Te.p. WET SULS TEMPERATURE DEPRESSION (F) TOTAL TOTAL (F) _ 3.2 2.4 5.6 7-5 9...81 JAN___ STATION STATION NAME Y(D.RS MONTH *PAGE I-U "OURS I L. S. T . I Ten.p. ___WET BULB TEMPERATURE DEPRESSION (F) TOTAL ____TOTAL ___ *(F) 0 1 -2...EATHik SERVICL/ AC . 3 12 TALGU A9 KJ 69-7’,74-81 __,__,A _ STATION STATION NAk4 YEARS hOlork NOUNS (L.. S. T .1 Temp. WET BULB TEMPERATURE DEPRESSION (F

Davison AAF, Ft. Belvoir Virginia. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-12-08

PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY OF WIND DIRECTION AND SPEED (FROM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS) 9 T7,28 DAVISON AAF/FT BELVOIR VA 69-70,73-8O JAJ STATION STATION NAME YEARS...I1AC PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY OF WINU * DIRECTION AND SPEED (FROM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS) ?~..... JAj -j&0 AAF/FT AELVOIR VA M_______________ SA Y STATION...7 ~ 66~i~ sV C 4i .3 ,’ :.r.’ _ON .AIIF_[ TD LVOl’ VP , 7.-’-7",7._-_ v.AY SO#TAT ON STATION NAMC iSCARS MONTH NOONS uL. S. T,) retup. WET BULB

Elevational species shifts in a warmer climate are overestimated when based on weather station data.

PubMed

Scherrer, Daniel; Schmid, Samuel; Körner, Christian

2011-07-01

Strong topographic variation interacting with low stature alpine vegetation creates a multitude of micro-habitats poorly represented by common 2 m above the ground meteorological measurements (weather station data). However, the extent to which the actual habitat temperatures in alpine landscapes deviate from meteorological data at different spatial scales has rarely been quantified. In this study, we assessed thermal surface and soil conditions across topographically rich alpine landscapes by thermal imagery and miniature data loggers from regional (2-km(2)) to plot (1-m(2)) scale. The data were used to quantify the effects of spatial sampling resolution on current micro-habitat distributions and habitat loss due to climate warming scenarios. Soil temperatures showed substantial variation among slopes (2-3 K) dependent on slope exposure, within slopes (3-4 K) due to micro-topography and within 1-m(2) plots (1 K) as a result of plant cover effects. A reduction of spatial sampling resolution from 1 × 1 m to 100 × 100 m leads to an underestimation of current habitat diversity by 25% and predicts a six-times higher habitat loss in a 2-K warming scenario. Our results demonstrate that weather station data are unable to reflect the complex thermal patterns of aerodynamically decoupled alpine vegetation at the investigated scales. Thus, the use of interpolated weather station data to describe alpine life conditions without considering the micro-topographically induced thermal mosaic might lead to misinterpretation and inaccurate prediction.

Observations of the evening transition processes on opposing slopes of a north-south oriented mountain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pardyjak, E.

2014-12-01

The MATERHORN (Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observation) Program is a multiuniversity, multidisciplinary research initiative designed to improve numerical weather prediction in complex terrain and to better understand the physics of complex terrain flow phenomena across a wide range of scales. As part of MATERHORN, field campaigns were conducted at Dugway, UT, USA in Autumn 2012 and Spring 2013. A subset of the campaigns included dense observations along the East Slope of Granite Peak (40.096° N, -113.253° W), as well as additional observations on the opposing west facing slope. East Slope observations included five multi-sonic anemometer eddy covariance towers (two with full energy budget stations), eleven small energy budget stations, fifteen automated weather stations, a distributed temperature sensing (DTS) system, hot-film anemometry, infrared camera surface temperature observations and up to three Doppler lidars. West Slope operations were less intense with three main towers, two of which included sonic anemometry and one, which included full surface energy balance observations. For this presentation, our analysis will focus on characterizing and contrasting the response of mean wind circulations and thermodynamics variables, as well as turbulence quantities during the evening transitions on both the East Slope and West Slope when solar irradiation differences of the slope surfaces is extremely large.

Toward all weather, long record, and real-time land surface temperature retrievals from microwave satellite observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jimenez, Carlos; Prigent, Catherine; Aires, Filipe; Ermida, Sofia

2017-04-01

The land surface temperature can be estimated from satellite passive microwave observations, with limited contamination from the clouds as compared to the infrared satellite retrievals. With ˜60% cloud cover in average over the globe, there is a need for "all weather," long record, and real-time estimates of land surface temperature (Ts) from microwaves. A simple yet accurate methodology is developed to derive the land surface temperature from microwave conical scanner observations, with the help of pre-calculated land surface microwave emissivities. The method is applied to the Special Sensor Microwave/Imagers (SSM/I) and the Earth observation satellite (EOS) Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) observations?, regardless of the cloud cover. The SSM/I results are compared to infrared estimates from International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) and from Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR), under clear-sky conditions. Limited biases are observed (˜0.5 K for both comparisons) with a root-mean-square difference (RMSD) of ˜5 K, to be compared to the RMSE of ˜3.5 K between ISCCP et AATSR. AMSR-E results are compared with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) clear-sky estimates. As both instruments are on board the same satellite, this reduces the uncertainty associated to the observations match-up, resulting in a lower RMSD of ˜ 4K. The microwave Ts is compared to in situ Ts time series from a collection of ground stations over a large range of environments. For 22 stations available in the 2003-2004 period, SSM/I Ts agrees very well for stations in vegetated environments (down to RMSD of ˜2.5 K for several stations), but the retrieval methodology encounters difficulties under cold conditions due to the large variability of snow and ice surface emissivities. For 10 stations in the year 2010, AMSR-E presents an all-station mean RMSD of ˜4.0 K with respect tom the ground Ts. Over the same stations, MODIS agrees better (RMSD of 2.4 K), ?but AMSR-E provides a larger number of Ts estimates by being able to measure under cloudy conditions, with an approximated ratio of 3 to 1 over the analysed stations. At many stations the RMSD of the AMSR-E clear and cloudy-sky are comparable, highlighting the ability of the microwave inversions to provide Ts under most atmospheric and surface conditions.

Comparison between AVHRR surface temperature data and in-situ weather station temperatures over the Greenland Ice Sheet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rezvanbehbahani, S.; Csatho, B. M.; Comiso, J. C.; Babonis, G. S.

2011-12-01

Advanced Very-High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) images have been exhaustively used to measure surface temperature time series of the Greenland Ice sheet. The purpose of this study is to assess the accuracy of monthly average ice sheet surface temperatures, derived from thermal infrared AVHRR satellite imagery on a 6.25 km grid. In-situ temperature data sets are from the Greenland Collection Network (GC-Net). GC-Net stations comprise sensors monitoring air temperature at 1 and 2 meter above the snow surface, gathered at every 60 seconds and monthly averaged to match the AVHRR temporal resolution. Our preliminary results confirm the good agreement between satellite and in-situ temperature measurements reported by previous studies. However, some large discrepancies still exist. While AVHRR provides ice surface temperature, in-situ stations measure air temperatures at different elevations above the snow surface. Since most in-situ data on ice sheets are collected by Automatic Weather Station (AWS) instruments, it is important to characterize the difference between surface and air temperatures. Therefore, we compared and analyzed average monthly AVHRR ice surface temperatures using data collected in 2002. Differences between these temperatures correlate with in-situ temperatures and GC-Net station elevations, with increasing differences at lower elevations and higher temperatures. The Summit Station (3199 m above sea level) and the Swiss Camp (1176 m above sea level) results were compared as high altitude and low altitude stations for 2002, respectively. Our results show that AVHRR derived temperatures were 0.5°K warmer than AWS temperature at the Summit Station, while this difference was 2.8°K in the opposite direction for the Swiss Camp with surface temperatures being lower than air temperatures. The positive bias of 0.5°K at the high altitude Summit Station (surface warmer than air) is within the retrieval error of AVHRR temperatures and might be in part due to atmospheric inversion. The large negative bias of 2.8°K at the low altitude Swiss Camp (surface colder than the air) could be caused by a combination of different factors including local effects such as more windy circumstances above the snow surface and biases introduced by the cloud-masking applied on the AVHRR images. Usually only satellite images acquired in clear-sky conditions are used for deriving monthly AVHRR average temperatures. Since cloud-free days are usually warmer, satellite derived temperatures tend to underestimate the real average temperatures, especially regions with frequent cloud cover, such as Swiss Camp. Therefore, cautions must be exercised while using ice surface temperatures derived from satellite imagery for glaciological applications. Eliminating the cloudy day's' temperature from the in-situ data prior to the comparison with AVHRR derived temperatures will provide a better assessment of AVHRR surface temperature measurement accuracy.

Sea State and Boundary Layer Physics of the Emerging Arctic Ocean

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

meteorological stations; weather observations; upper-air (rawinsondes, balloons and tethered kit); turbulent fluxes; radiation; surface temperature...remote sensing, in-field remote sensing will be employed, using small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), balloons , and manned aircraft (funded by other

Chinae, ROK AFS K-10, Korea. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1968-04-10

5.L 5.6 5.8 2.5 o.’ 9 7 6c NCV .’ 5.4 . 5.4 6.6 4.1 1’.2 8758 CEC 3.7 .5 3.7 5.3 6.6 11.6 9ർ TOTALS .1 9.4 .1 7 1 .0 9.5 11.6 6.2 . 17.2 1,.8565...51-N3,55-61,63-66 NCV STATION STATO NAME YEARS MANTH ALL WEATHER ? C -11. CLASS HOURS I ST I SPEED --0 - MEAN (KNTS) 1 - 3 4 - 6 7-10 11 - 16 17 21 22...61963-66 Ncv STATION STATION SAME YEARS .ONT. ALL WEATFER 12-C-4 ClAs L S C5 T ) SPEED - I MEAN (KNTS) 1 - 3 4 - 6 7 - 10 11 - 16 17 21 22 27 28 - 33

Observational study of atmospheric surface layer and coastal weather in northern Qatar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samanta, Dhrubajyoti; Sadr, Reza

2016-04-01

Atmospheric surface layer is the interaction medium between atmosphere and Earth's surface. Better understanding of its turbulence nature is essential in characterizing the local weather, climate variability and modeling of turbulent exchange processes. The importance of Middle East region, with its unique geographical, economical and weather condition is well recognized. However, high quality micrometeorological observational studies are rare in this region. Here we show experimental results from micrometeorological observations from an experimental site in the coastal region of Qatar during August-December 2015. Measurements of winds are obtained from three sonic anemometers installed on a 9 m tower placed at Al Ghariyah beach in northern Qatar (26.08 °N, 51.36 °E). Different surface layer characteristics is analyzed and compared with earlier studies in equivalent weather conditions. Monthly statistics of wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity and heat index are made from concurrent observations from sonic anemometer and weather station to explore variations with surface layer characteristics. The results also highlights potential impact of sea breeze circulation on local weather and atmospheric turbulence. The observed daily maximum temperature and heat index during morning period may be related to sea breeze circulations. Along with the operational micrometeorological observation system, a camera system and ultrasonic wave measurement system are installed recently in the site to study coastline development and nearshore wave dynamics. Overall, the complete observational set up is going to provide new insights about nearshore wind dynamics and wind-wave interaction in Qatar.

Impact of derived global weather data on simulated crop yields

PubMed Central

van Wart, Justin; Grassini, Patricio; Cassman, Kenneth G

2013-01-01

Crop simulation models can be used to estimate impact of current and future climates on crop yields and food security, but require long-term historical daily weather data to obtain robust simulations. In many regions where crops are grown, daily weather data are not available. Alternatively, gridded weather databases (GWD) with complete terrestrial coverage are available, typically derived from: (i) global circulation computer models; (ii) interpolated weather station data; or (iii) remotely sensed surface data from satellites. The present study's objective is to evaluate capacity of GWDs to simulate crop yield potential (Yp) or water-limited yield potential (Yw), which can serve as benchmarks to assess impact of climate change scenarios on crop productivity and land use change. Three GWDs (CRU, NCEP/DOE, and NASA POWER data) were evaluated for their ability to simulate Yp and Yw of rice in China, USA maize, and wheat in Germany. Simulations of Yp and Yw based on recorded daily data from well-maintained weather stations were taken as the control weather data (CWD). Agreement between simulations of Yp or Yw based on CWD and those based on GWD was poor with the latter having strong bias and large root mean square errors (RMSEs) that were 26–72% of absolute mean yield across locations and years. In contrast, simulated Yp or Yw using observed daily weather data from stations in the NOAA database combined with solar radiation from the NASA-POWER database were in much better agreement with Yp and Yw simulated with CWD (i.e. little bias and an RMSE of 12–19% of the absolute mean). We conclude that results from studies that rely on GWD to simulate agricultural productivity in current and future climates are highly uncertain. An alternative approach would impose a climate scenario on location-specific observed daily weather databases combined with an appropriate upscaling method. PMID:23801639

Impact of derived global weather data on simulated crop yields.

PubMed

van Wart, Justin; Grassini, Patricio; Cassman, Kenneth G

2013-12-01

Crop simulation models can be used to estimate impact of current and future climates on crop yields and food security, but require long-term historical daily weather data to obtain robust simulations. In many regions where crops are grown, daily weather data are not available. Alternatively, gridded weather databases (GWD) with complete terrestrial coverage are available, typically derived from: (i) global circulation computer models; (ii) interpolated weather station data; or (iii) remotely sensed surface data from satellites. The present study's objective is to evaluate capacity of GWDs to simulate crop yield potential (Yp) or water-limited yield potential (Yw), which can serve as benchmarks to assess impact of climate change scenarios on crop productivity and land use change. Three GWDs (CRU, NCEP/DOE, and NASA POWER data) were evaluated for their ability to simulate Yp and Yw of rice in China, USA maize, and wheat in Germany. Simulations of Yp and Yw based on recorded daily data from well-maintained weather stations were taken as the control weather data (CWD). Agreement between simulations of Yp or Yw based on CWD and those based on GWD was poor with the latter having strong bias and large root mean square errors (RMSEs) that were 26-72% of absolute mean yield across locations and years. In contrast, simulated Yp or Yw using observed daily weather data from stations in the NOAA database combined with solar radiation from the NASA-POWER database were in much better agreement with Yp and Yw simulated with CWD (i.e. little bias and an RMSE of 12-19% of the absolute mean). We conclude that results from studies that rely on GWD to simulate agricultural productivity in current and future climates are highly uncertain. An alternative approach would impose a climate scenario on location-specific observed daily weather databases combined with an appropriate upscaling method. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Seasonal water chemistry variability in the Pangani River basin, Tanzania.

PubMed

Selemani, Juma R; Zhang, Jing; Muzuka, Alfred N N; Njau, Karoli N; Zhang, Guosen; Maggid, Arafa; Mzuza, Maureen K; Jin, Jie; Pradhan, Sonali

2017-11-01

The stable isotopes of δ 18 O, δ 2 H, and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr and dissolved major ions were used to assess spatial and seasonal water chemistry variability, chemical weathering, and hydrological cycle in the Pangani River Basin (PRB), Tanzania. Water in PRB was NaHCO 3 type dominated by carbonate weathering with moderate total dissolved solids. Major ions varied greatly, increasing from upstream to downstream. In some stations, content of fluoride and sodium was higher than the recommended drinking water standards. Natural and anthropogenic factors contributed to the lowering rate of chemical weathering; the rate was lower than most of tropical rivers. The rate of weathering was higher in Precambrian than volcanic rocks. 87 Sr/ 86 Sr was lower than global average whereas concentration of strontium was higher than global average with mean annual flux of 0.13 × 10 6  mol year -1 . Evaporation and altitude effects have caused enrichment of δ 18 O and δ 2 H in dry season and downstream of the river. Higher d-excess value than global average suggests that most of the stations were supplied by recycled moisture. Rainfall and groundwater were the major sources of surface flowing water in PRB; nevertheless, glacier from Mt. Kilimanjaro has insignificant contribution to the surface water. We recommend measures to be taken to reduce the level of fluoride and sodium before domestic use.

John Rodgers WBAS, Honolulu, Hawaii. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO), Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1967-12-05

4-’Al 0 SM40- INMAN’ - -a-. STATION O: STATION AME: LATITUDE: LONGITUDi. S N MONO STATION HISTORY AND WIND EQUIPMENT INFORMATION DATE OF fYEOF...75) 75,l a 60oo 15.5 16.2 16.2 16.5 16.5 76.5 16.5 16.5 16.5 165 76.o 1os5 16o5 16.5 16.5 16. C $ 000 71 a& Aw -jai -1 k. i, LC6 -m" go, to, IkeA

Langmuir probe measurements aboard the International Space Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirov, B.; Asenovski, S.; Bachvarov, D.; Boneva, A.; Grushin, V.; Georgieva, K.; Klimov, S. I.

2016-12-01

In the current work we describe the Langmuir Probe (LP) and its operation on board the International Space Station. This instrument is a part of the scientific complex "Ostonovka". The main goal of the complex is to establish, on one hand how such big body as the International Space Station affects the ambient plasma and on the other how Space Weather factors influence the Station. The LP was designed and developed at BAS-SRTI. With this instrument we measure the thermal plasma parameters-electron temperature Te, electron and ion concentration, respectively Ne and Ni, and also the potential at the Station's surface. The instrument is positioned at around 1.5 meters from the surface of the Station, at the Russian module "Zvezda", located at the farthermost point of the Space Station, considering the velocity vector. The Multi- Purpose Laboratory (MLM) module is providing additional shielding for our instrument, from the oncoming plasma flow (with respect to the velocity vector). Measurements show that in this area, the plasma concentration is two orders of magnitude lower, in comparison with the unperturbed areas. The surface potential fluctuates between-3 and-25 volts with respect to the ambient plasma. Fast upsurges in the surface potential are detected when passing over the twilight zone and the Equatorial anomaly.

Alconbury RAF United Kingdom Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-04-01

GLOSAL CLIMATOLOGY FRANCH USAFETAC EXTREME VALUES AID mfAT-sfh SERVICE/wACj PRECIPTTATION If"O DAILY 0 1U# ATIOH STATION STATION. 24 HOUR AMOUNTS...NUMMEt OP OSIIVATIONS 7 3 r USAFETAC 0685 JO A) *M.vo-S EI0Fll0 of THIS FORM A11MS()Ctq -- oftoo...." Food .. .IIIp 1v._ ( 5LCqAL CLIAT O O6Y EPANCH U

Spatiotemporal Variability of Surface Meteorological Variables During Fog and No-Fog Events in the Heber Valley, UT; Selected Case Studies From MATERHORN-Fog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van den Bossche, Michael; De Wekker, Stephan F. J.

2016-09-01

We investigated the spatiotemporal variability of surface meteorological variables in the nocturnal boundary layer using six automatic weather stations deployed in the Heber Valley, UT, during the MATERHORN-Fog experiment. The stations were installed on the valley floor within a 1.5 km × 0.8 km area and collected 1-Hz wind and pressure data and 0.2-Hz temperature and humidity data. We describe the weather stations and analyze the spatiotemporal variability of the measured variables during three nights with radiative cooling. Two nights were characterized by the presence of dense ice fog, one night with a persistent (`heavy') fog, and one with a short-lived (`moderate') fog, while the third night had no fog. Frost-point depressions were larger preceding the night without fog and showed a continued decrease during the no-fog night. On both fog nights, the frost-point depression reached values close to zero early in the night, but ~5 h earlier on the heavy-fog night than on the moderate-fog night. Spatial variability of temperature and humidity was smallest during the heavy-fog night and increased temporarily during short periods when wind speeds increased and the fog lifted. During all three nights, wind speeds did not exceed 2 m/s. The temporal variability of the wind speed and direction was larger during the fog nights than during the no-fog nights, but was particularly large during the heavy-fog night. The large variability corresponded with short-lived (5-10 min) pressure variations with amplitudes on the order of 0.5 hPa, indicating gravity wave activity. These pressure fluctuations occurred at all stations and were correlated in particular with variability in wind direction. Although not able to provide a complete picture of the nocturnal boundary layer, our low-cost weather stations were able to continuously collect data that were comparable to those of nearby research-grade instruments. From these data, we distinguished between fog and no-fog events, successfully quantified spatiotemporal variations in surface properties during these events, and detected gravity waves.

Torrejon AB, Spain. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations. Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-08-13

OF SURFACE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS Q IORREJON AB SPAIN MSC 082270 N 40 29 W 003 27 ELEV 1994 FT LETO PARTS A F HOURS SUMMARIZED 0000 - 2300 LST PERIOD OF...8217I ..5 .8? .11 ..1 I14*! .0? .fl .0. .00 TgvC( TRACE .30 1.3 • . I *=I" i.1?i . o’, . 35 .tIU .’ uC .,0 .0O0 .qurl...MAC TA TION NUMPLR: OP227:) STATION NAME: TORREJON AR SPAIN PERIOD OF RLCORD: 7A-A? MONT-: FES 6OUQS(LSTI: 1’. UC -I1UO I WIND SPEED IN KNOTS

Computing Evaporation Using Meteorological Data for Hydrological Budget of Lake Wapalanne in NJ School of Conservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jordan, J. J.; Barrett, K. R.; Galster, J. C.; Ophori, D. U.; Flores, D.; Kelly, S. A.; Lutey, A. M.

2011-12-01

Lake Wapalanne is small manmade lake about 5.4 hectares in northwest New Jersey in the Highlands Physiographic province within permanently protected land. The lake's surrounding area consists of forested vegetation and is relatively unoccupied which minimizes human influence. The lake's small size, minimal external influence, geographic isolation, and protected status provide an optimal research environment to record meteorological data used in calculation of potential evaporation. Between July 7h and August 3rd meteorological data was collected from a professional weather station placed on an island directly in the center of Lake Wapalanne. The Vantage Pro2 weather station provided accurate readings of temperate, humidity, wind-speed and direction, precipitation, and atmospheric pressure. A bathometric survey of the lake was conducted to determine the surface area with variations in depth of the lake's water level. Using the collected weather station data, a rate of potential evaporation was determined with several evaporation equations. A quantified volume was then derived from the rate and surface area of the lake. Using small scale evaporation measurements of known volumes of water within small pans placed in the lake water and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration evaporation stations near the experiment site, a comparison and validation of the calculated potential evaporation accuracy and regional evaporation is achieved. This three year study is part of an ongoing NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) project that encompasses additional topics of lake research; see abstract from Kelly et al. AGU 2011 for more information on the lake's hydrologic budget. The results and methods of this study will be of use in future forecasting and baseline measurements of hydrologic budgets for lakes and reservoirs within regional proximity, which provide drinking water to over five million people in the State of New Jersey.

Satellite Microwave Remote Sensing for Environmental Modeling of Mosquito Population Dynamics

PubMed Central

Chuang, Ting-Wu; Henebry, Geoffrey M.; Kimball, John S.; VanRoekel-Patton, Denise L.; Hildreth, Michael B.; Wimberly, Michael C.

2012-01-01

Environmental variability has important influences on mosquito life cycles and understanding the spatial and temporal patterns of mosquito populations is critical for mosquito control and vector-borne disease prevention. Meteorological data used for model-based predictions of mosquito abundance and life cycle dynamics are typically acquired from ground-based weather stations; however, data availability and completeness are often limited by sparse networks and resource availability. In contrast, environmental measurements from satellite remote sensing are more spatially continuous and can be retrieved automatically. This study compared environmental measurements from the NASA Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer on EOS (AMSR-E) and in situ weather station data to examine their ability to predict the abundance of two important mosquito species (Aedes vexans and Culex tarsalis) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA from 2005 to 2010. The AMSR-E land parameters included daily surface water inundation fraction, surface air temperature, soil moisture, and microwave vegetation opacity. The AMSR-E derived models had better fits and higher forecasting accuracy than models based on weather station data despite the relatively coarse (25-km) spatial resolution of the satellite data. In the AMSR-E models, air temperature and surface water fraction were the best predictors of Aedes vexans, whereas air temperature and vegetation opacity were the best predictors of Cx. tarsalis abundance. The models were used to extrapolate spatial, seasonal, and interannual patterns of climatic suitability for mosquitoes across eastern South Dakota. Our findings demonstrate that environmental metrics derived from satellite passive microwave radiometry are suitable for predicting mosquito population dynamics and can potentially improve the effectiveness of mosquito-borne disease early warning systems. PMID:23049143

Volk FLD. Camp Douglas, Wisconsin. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1970-08-03

A .......... .. 7.-.. (J ATA TRUCES5U46 OV1sp0N4 u Ar ETA q U UWj F CEILING VERSUS VISIBILITY4 AI WATHER TYtEM TI930 CAMP 00 GLAS W$CONS MlVItK FLU...CESSINC, DIVISIOIN IJNAI ETAC4 AIR WATHER W CEILING VERSUS VISIBILITY , i 94t30 CAMP DOUGLAS W CJN5IN/V/LK FLO 64-_67 _____ " STATION STATION AME YEAS...TA c O PSYCHROMETRIC SUMMARY AIR WATHER SERV~q6MAC 94930__ CA)YIP 0fUGLAS WISCONStI4/VLK FLO 65-68 ______________ f , STATION STATION NAME YEARS

Westover AFB, Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO) Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-10-01

Chicopee Falls, Fia rpt Mass 6. PERFORMING ORG. REPORT NUMBER 7. AUTNOR(e) S. CONTRACT OR GRANT NUMBER(#) 9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS 10...Chicopee Falls, Mass . * It contains the following parts: (A) Weather Conditions; Atmospheric Phenomena; (B) Precipitation, Snowfall and Snow Depth (daily...WESTOVER AFB/CHICOPEE FALLS MASS N 42 12 W 072 32 245 CEF 74491 STATION LOCATION AND INSTRUMENTATION HISTORY UNCEl TYPE AT TIS LOCATION ELEVATION ABOVE NSL

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lopez, Anthony

Presentation at ASHRAE about the spatial and temporal variability of gridded TMYs, discussing advanced GIS and Web services that allow for direct access to data, surface-based observations for thousands of stations, climate reanalysis data, and products derived from satellite data; new developments in NREL's solar databases based on both observed data and satellite-derived gridded data, status of TMY3 weather files, and NREL's plans for the next-generation TMY weather files; and also covers what is new and different in the Climatic Design Conditions Table in the 2013 ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals.

McGuire AFB, New Jersey. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-12-01

Air Weather Service (MAC) IS e REVISED UNIFORM SUMMARY OF SURFACE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS MCGUIRE AFB NJ MSC 724096 N 40 01 W 074 36 ELEV 133 FT KWRI...OCCUCRECVCL OF ’,UP F CE 4 1NU L DI ACT ICN v[ISSi *14U SFEEU ,,&FEICAC $AQM WOUkEY OhSFPVAIOS’ A Ti! L.ATIEP 5 3441ICE/ MSC $TA IC’. NUMFPP: 7,4𔄃t STATION...AI AELF I TOTALS I IT~ I2. .. 1 1 100.0 6.7 I19 I ’,ALNuI ~MP OF 0O"SEKhOA T I NS: ’K LLQL tL 4(L IMAI OO G’ 6Rf,H rLrCLNIIfCGE F iL CuENC9 Of uC (u

Shore platform downwearing in eastern Canada; A 9-14 year micro-erosion meter record

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trenhaile, Alan S.; Porter, Neil J.

2018-06-01

Downwearing rates (erosion in the vertical plane) were measured with a micro-erosion meter (MEM) in eastern Canada, on an argillacious, sub-horizontal shore platform at Mont Louis in eastern Québec, and on two sloping, basaltic and sandstone platforms at, respectively, Scots Bay and Burntcoat Head in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia. The original data covered a period from 2002 to 2009. This dataset was extended by measurements repeated at surviving MEM stations in 2017, producing records ranging over 9-14 years, depending on when each station was installed. Because of rapid surface downwearing, many of the original MEM stations were inoperable in 2017, especially at Burntcoat Head. Nevertheless, data were obtained from 19 stations at Burntcoat (35% of the 2009 original), 25 at Mont Louis (83% of the original), and 38 at Scots Bay (75% of the original). For the stations at Mont Louis and Scots Bay that were still functioning in 2017, there were no significant differences in rates of downwearing over the shorter (from station installation up to 2009) and extended periods (from installation to 2017). Mean rates of downwearing calculated from all the stations in each area declined through time, however, due to the loss of the more rapidly eroding stations. A simple procedure, which was proposed to compensate for this decrease, produced mean downwearing rates that were broadly similar to those reported over the original measurement period. There were significant relationships between downwearing rates and elevation (R2 = 0.32) and downwearing rates and rock hardness (R2 = 0.41) in the extended record at Scots Bay, and a small but significant relationship between downwearing rates and rock hardness at Mont Louis (R2 = 0.17). Differences in downwearing rates across the platforms suggest that salt weathering and wetting and drying are dominant weathering mechanisms at Scots Bay and Mont Louis. Chemical weathering of the sandstone cementing agent and the premature removal of weathered grains by wave-generated bottom currents may, however, be more important at Burntcoat Head.

Satellite freeze forecast system: Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martsolf, J. D. (Principal Investigator)

1983-01-01

A satellite-based temperature monitoring and prediction system consisting of a computer controlled acquisition, processing, and display system and the ten automated weather stations called by that computer was developed and transferred to the national weather service. This satellite freeze forecasting system (SFFS) acquires satellite data from either one of two sources, surface data from 10 sites, displays the observed data in the form of color-coded thermal maps and in tables of automated weather station temperatures, computes predicted thermal maps when requested and displays such maps either automatically or manually, archives the data acquired, and makes comparisons with historical data. Except for the last function, SFFS handles these tasks in a highly automated fashion if the user so directs. The predicted thermal maps are the result of two models, one a physical energy budget of the soil and atmosphere interface and the other a statistical relationship between the sites at which the physical model predicts temperatures and each of the pixels of the satellite thermal map.

Characteristics of the Surface Turbulent Flux and the Components of Radiation Balance over the Grasslands in the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, H.; Xiao, Z.; Wei, J.

2016-12-01

Characteristics of the Surface Turbulent Flux and the Components of Radiation Balance over the Grasslands in the Southeastern Tibetan PlateauHongyi Li 1, Ziniu Xiao 2 and Junhong Wei31 China Meteorological Administration Training Centre, Beijing, China2 State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 3Theory of Atmospheric Dynamics and Climate, Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Goethe University of Frankfurt, Campus Riedberg, GermanyAbstract:Based on the field observation data over the grasslands in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau and the observational datasets in Nyingchi weather station for the period from May 20 to July 9, 2013, the variation characteristics of the basic meteorological elements in Nyingchi weather station, the surface turbulent fluxes and the components of radiation balance over the grasslands, as well as their relationships, are analyzed in this paper. The results show that in Nyingchi weather station, the daily variations of relative humidity and average total cloud cover are consistent with that of precipitation, but that those of daily average air temperature, daily average ground temperature, daily average wind speed and daily sunshine duration have an opposite change to that of precipitation. During the observation period, latent heat exchange is greater than sensible heat exchange, and latent heat flux is significantly higher when there is rainfall, but sensible heat flux and soil heat flux are lower. The daily variation of the total solar radiation (DR) is synchronous with that of sensible heat flux, and the daily variations of reflective solar radiation (UR), long wave radiation by earth (ULR), net radiation (Rn) and surface albedo are consistent with DR, but that of the long wave radiation by atmosphere (DLR) has an opposite change. The diurnal variations of sensible heat flux, latent heat flux, soil heat flux and the components of surface radiation balance over the grasslands are characterized by higher values at noon and lower values in the morning and evening. Keywords: surface turbulent flux, components of radiation balance, grasslands, southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Development of a Predictive Corrosion Model Using Locality-Specific Corrosion Indices

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-01

exposure data project in FY05, datasets from several other variables were needed. Specif- ically, historic data from weather stations was collected...from the weather agency closest to the sample exposure rack was collected. The distance from the weather station to the exposure rack was also noted...occurring within the first ½ mile or so of the coast. Often, the weather station will be somewhat further inland and not near the corrosion samples

Johnston Island Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-01-01

BARD 1 7oi,.’. sland NAS NAS Jul 45 22 ,v 46 N 16 44 % 6 j 2 2 Sar -’ Same 23 Nov46 3u Lee47 Same Sam, am’ 243 So: - m . .Sa ,G4.. 444 Same 5.1- 4 Sam...Mar62 06Nov 62 S aime Sam, Same .. W1 07l N0,62- -Dpc62 SzL- . aea 12 Sam Same Jan 63 Feb 63 Salr,, a Sam, . m Same MarŚ Dnc rg14 Sao Same Jan 65 Jun...USAFETAC 0 O-IO5(OL Al. AMFf$0MOREi.S 0 AU OssoRl K T, . 0. WEATHER CONDITIONS ., - ’- ;’ , ’ ’ : ’ , - ’ I . - " 2 STATION . . . . . STATION NAME YRARS M NT

Comparison of measured and modeled radiation, heat and water vapor fluxes: FIFE pilot study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blad, Blaine L.; Verma, Shashi B.; Hubbard, Kenneth G.; Starks, Patrick; Hays, Cynthia; Norman, John M.; Waltershea, Elizabeth

1988-01-01

The primary objectives of the 1985 study were to test the feasibility of using radio frequency receivers to collect data from automated weather stations and to evaluate the use of the data collected by the automated weather stations for modeling the fluxes of latent heat, sensible heat, and radiation over wheat. The model Cupid was used to calculate these fluxes which were compared with fluxes of these entities measured using micrometeorological techniques. The primary objectives of the 1986 study were to measure and model reflected and emitted radiation streams at a few locations within the First International Satellite Land-Surface Climatology Project Field Experiment (FIFE) site and to compare modeled and measured latent heat and sensible heat fluxes from the prairie vegetation.

KSC-2014-2515

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The components of NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument await processing inside Kennedy Space Center's Space Station Processing Facility. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2508

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument arrives at the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2513

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Part of NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument is moved into Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2521

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument is revealed inside Kennedy Space Center's Space Station Processing Facility. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2522

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument is revealed inside Kennedy Space Center's Space Station Processing Facility. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

Integrating Clarus weather station data and state crash data into a travel decision support tool.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-09-23

2009 crash data from the State of Michigan was combined with weather data from four Clarus weather stations in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Crashes were monitored within a 50 mile radius and associated with weather conditions at the Clarus statio...

Weather and Climate Monitoring Protocol, Channel Islands National Park, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

McEachern, Kathryn; Power, Paula; Dye, Linda; Rudolph, Rocky

2008-01-01

Weather and climate are strong drivers of population dynamics, plant and animal spatial distributions, community interactions, and ecosystem states. Information on local weather and climate is crucial in interpreting trends and patterns in the natural environment for resource management, research, and visitor enjoyment. This document describes the weather and climate monitoring program at the Channel Islands National Park (fig. 1), initiated in the 1990s. Manual and automated stations, which continue to evolve as technology changes, are being used for this program. The document reviews the history of weather data collection on each of the five Channel Islands National Park islands, presents program administrative structure, and provides an overview of procedures for data collection, archival, retrieval, and reporting. This program overview is accompanied by the 'Channel Islands National Park Remote Automated Weather Station Field Handbook' and the 'Channel Islands National Park Ranger Weather Station Field Handbook'. These Handbooks are maintained separately at the Channel Island National Park as 'live documents' that are updated as needed to provide a current working manual of weather and climate monitoring procedures. They are available on request from the Weather Program Manager (Channel Islands National Park, 1901 Spinnaker Dr., Ventura, CA 93001; 805.658.5700). The two Field Handbooks describe in detail protocols for managing the four remote automated weather stations (RAWS) and the seven manual Ranger Weather Stations on the islands, including standard operating procedures for equipment maintenance and calibration; manufacturer operating manuals; data retrieval and archiving; metada collection and archival; and local, agency, and vendor contracts.

[Urban heat island intensity and its grading in Liaoning Province of Northeast China].

PubMed

Li, Li-Guang; Wang, Hong-Bo; Jia, Qing-Yu; Lü, Guo-Hong; Wang, Xiao-Ying; Zhang, Yu-Shu; Ai, Jing-Feng

2012-05-01

According to the recorded air temperature data and their continuity of each weather station, the location of each weather station, the numbers of and the distances among the weather stations, and the records on the weather stations migration, several weather stations in Liaoning Province were selected as the urban and rural representative stations to study the characteristics of urban heat island (UHI) intensity in the province. Based on the annual and monthly air temperature data of the representative stations, the ranges and amplitudes of the UHI intensity were analyzed, and the grades of the UHI intensity were classified. The Tieling station, Dalian station, Anshan station, Chaoyang station, Dandong station, and Jinzhou station and the 18 stations including Tai' an station were selected as the representative urban and rural weather stations, respectively. In 1980-2009, the changes of the annual UHI intensity in the 6 representative cities differed. The annual UHI intensity in Tieling was in a decreasing trend, while that in the other five cities was in an increasing trend. The UHI intensity was strong in Tieling but weak in Dalian. The changes of the monthly UHI intensity in the 6 representative cities also differed. The distribution of the monthly UHI intensity in Dandong, Jinzhou and Tieling took a "U" shape, with the maximum and minimum appeared in January and in May-August, respectively, indicating that the monthly UHI intensity was strong in winter and weak in summer. The ranges of the annual and monthly UHI intensity in the 6 cities were 0.57-2.15 degrees C and -0.70-4.60 degrees C, and the ranges of 0.5-2.0 degrees C accounted for 97.8% and 72.3%, respectively. The UHI intensity in the province could be classified into 4 grades, i. e., weak, strong, stronger and strongest.

Surface vapor conductance derived from the ETRHEQ: Dependence on environmental variables and similarity to Oren's stomatal stress model for vapor pressure deficit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salvucci, G.; Rigden, A. J.

2015-12-01

Daily time series of evapotranspiration and surface conductance to water vapor were estimated using the ETRHEQ method (Evapotranspiration from Relative Humidity at Equilibrium). ETRHEQ has been previously compared with ameriflux site-level measurements of ET at daily and seasonal time scales, with watershed water balance estimates, and with various benchmark ET data sets. The ETRHEQ method uses meteorological data collected at common weather stations and estimates the surface conductance by minimizing the vertical variance of the calculated relative humidity profile averaged over the day. The key advantage of the ETRHEQ method is that it does not require knowledge of the surface state (soil moisture, stomatal conductance, leaf are index, etc.) or site-specific calibration. The daily estimates of conductance from 229 weather stations for 53 years were analyzed for dependence on environmental variables known to impact stomatal conductance and soil diffusivity: surface temperature, surface vapor pressure deficit, solar radiation, antecedent precipitation (as a surrogate for soil moisture), and a seasonal vegetation greenness index. At each site the summertime (JJAS) conductance values estimated from ETRHEQ were fitted to a multiplicate Jarvis-type stress model. Functional dependence was not proscribed, but instead fitted using flexible piecewise-linear splines. The resulting stress functions reproduce the time series of conductance across a wide range of ecosystems and climates. The VPD stress term resembles that proposed by Oren (i.e., 1-m*log(VPD) ), with VPD measured in kilopascals. The equivalent value of m derived from our spline-fits at each station varied over a remarkably small range of 0.58 to 0.62, in agreement with Oren's original analysis based on leaf and tree-level measurements.

Intercomparison Between in situ and AVHRR Polar Pathfinder-Derived Surface Albedo over Greenland

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stroeve, Julienne C.; Box, Jason E.; Fowler, Charles; Haran, Terence; Key, Jeffery

2001-01-01

The Advanced Very High Resolution (AVHRR) Polar Pathfinder Data (APP) provides the first long time series of consistent, calibrated surface albedo and surface temperature data for the polar regions. Validations of these products have consisted of individual studies that analyzed algorithm performance for limited regions and or time periods. This paper reports on comparisons made between the APP-derived surface albedo and that measured at fourteen automatic weather stations (AWS) around the Greenland ice sheet from January 1997 to August 1998. Results show that satellite-derived surface albedo values are on average 10% less than those measured by the AWS stations. However, the station measurements tend to be biased high by about 4% and thus the differences in absolute albedo may be less (e.g. 6%). In regions of the ice sheet where the albedo variability is small, such as the dry snow facies, the APP albedo uncertainty exceeds the natural variability. Further work is needed to improve the absolute accuracy of the APP-derived surface albedo. Even so, the data provide temporally and spatially consistent estimates of the Greenland ice sheet albedo.

Linking the Weather Generator with Regional Climate Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubrovsky, Martin; Farda, Ales; Skalak, Petr; Huth, Radan

2013-04-01

One of the downscaling approaches, which transform the raw outputs from the climate models (GCMs or RCMs) into data with more realistic structure, is based on linking the stochastic weather generator with the climate model output. The present contribution, in which the parametric daily surface weather generator (WG) M&Rfi is linked to the RCM output, follows two aims: (1) Validation of the new simulations of the present climate (1961-1990) made by the ALADIN-Climate Regional Climate Model at 25 km resolution. The WG parameters are derived from the RCM-simulated surface weather series and compared to those derived from weather series observed in 125 Czech meteorological stations. The set of WG parameters will include statistics of the surface temperature and precipitation series (including probability of wet day occurrence). (2) Presenting a methodology for linking the WG with RCM output. This methodology, which is based on merging information from observations and RCM, may be interpreted as a downscaling procedure, whose product is a gridded WG capable of producing realistic synthetic multivariate weather series for weather-ungauged locations. In this procedure, WG is calibrated with RCM-simulated multi-variate weather series in the first step, and the grid specific WG parameters are then de-biased by spatially interpolated correction factors based on comparison of WG parameters calibrated with gridded RCM weather series and spatially scarcer observations. The quality of the weather series produced by the resultant gridded WG will be assessed in terms of selected climatic characteristics (focusing on characteristics related to variability and extremes of surface temperature and precipitation). Acknowledgements: The present experiment is made within the frame of projects ALARO-Climate (project P209/11/2405 sponsored by the Czech Science Foundation), WG4VALUE (project LD12029 sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of CR) and VALUE (COST ES 1102 action).

Comparison and Analysis of Energy Performance of Baseline and Enhanced Temporary Army Shelters

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

modeling .................................................................................................... 37 4.4 Predicted vs. field- measured data...with remote access capability ......................... 35 4-2 Direct normal solar radiation measured at weather station and estimated with the... Measured global horizontal radiation and EnergyPlus calculated incident solar radiation on a horizontal surface

Weather monitoring and forecasting over eastern Attica (Greece) in the frame of FLIRE project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotroni, Vassiliki; Lagouvardos, Konstantinos; Chrysoulakis, Nektarios; Makropoulos, Christtos; Mimikou, Maria; Papathanasiou, Chrysoula; Poursanidis, Dimitris

2015-04-01

In the frame of FLIRE project a Decision Support System has been built with the aim to support decision making of Civil Protection Agencies and local stakeholders in the area of east Attica (Greece), in the cases of forest fires and floods. In this presentation we focus on a specific action that focuses on the provision of high resolution short-term weather forecasting data as well as of dense meteorological observations over the study area. Both weather forecasts and observations serve as an input in the Weather Information Management Tool (WIMT) of the Decision Support System. We focus on: (a) the description of the adopted strategy for setting-up the operational weather forecasting chain that provides the weather forecasts for the FLIRE project needs, (b) the presentation of the surface network station that provides real-time weather monitoring of the study area and (c) the strategy adopted for issuing smart alerts for thunderstorm forecasting based of real-time lightning observations as well as satellite observations.

Cloud Compute for Global Climate Station Summaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baldwin, R.; May, B.; Cogbill, P.

2017-12-01

Global Climate Station Summaries are simple indicators of observational normals which include climatic data summarizations and frequency distributions. These typically are statistical analyses of station data over 5-, 10-, 20-, 30-year or longer time periods. The summaries are computed from the global surface hourly dataset. This dataset totaling over 500 gigabytes is comprised of 40 different types of weather observations with 20,000 stations worldwide. NCEI and the U.S. Navy developed these value added products in the form of hourly summaries from many of these observations. Enabling this compute functionality in the cloud is the focus of the project. An overview of approach and challenges associated with application transition to the cloud will be presented.

Elmendorf AFB, Anchorage, Alaska. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-09-17

APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP. OCT NOV. DEC. MONTHS YEAR II L 1 41 o -4L, 231 291 341 341 401 241 14 - 12 -171 2-C -2.u; -L- . 2 L 29 3- 46! 41 25 1 -16 -281...ANCHORAGL 07-76 FEB STATION STATION NAME YEARS MONTN c PAGE 2 0900-1100 4 NHOURS (L. S. T.) Tomp 0 12 5. . WET BULB TEMPERATURE DEPRESSION (F) TOTAL...34_ _ FEB STATION STATION NAME YEARS MONTH 0 PAGE 1 1500-1700 Temp. WET BULB TEMPER, TURE DEPRESSION (F) TOTAL TOTAL lF) 01- -.2 3.4 5.6 7 .8 19.10 11- 12

A search for solar related changes in tropospheric weather

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mohanakumar, K.

1989-01-01

The possibility that solar variations associated with the 11-year solar cycle may be the cause of the changes in tropospheric weather and climate has been the subject to scientific investigation for several decades. Meteorologists are greatly concerned with the changes in tropospheric phenomena. An attempt was made to find solar activity related changes in tropospheric weather, by the modulation of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) of zonal wind at 50 mb. Rainfall and surface temperature data for a period of about three solar cycles, 1953 to 1988, from various stations in the Indian subcontinent were utilized. By extension, a possible teleconnection was looked for between the temperature changes in middle atmospheric levels and surface temperature when the data are stratified according to east or west phase of the QBO. The temperature data were averaged for January and February to represent the winter temperature and for July and August to represent the summer temperature.

What is the weather like today

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jovic, Sladjana

2017-04-01

Meteorology is the study of all changes in the atmosphere that surround the Earth. In this project, students will design and build some of the instruments that meteorologists use and make two school Weather Stations and placed them in different school yards so that results of weather parameters date can be follow during three months and be compared. Poster will present a procedure and a preparation how to work with weather stations that contain 1. Barometer (Air pressure) 2. Rain Gauge (Precipitation) 3. Thermometer (Temperature ) 4. Wind Vane (Wind Direction) By collecting their own data, the students found out more about weather through a process similar to the one that professional meteorologists used. Finally students compared differences between two school weather station and used these results to presented how different places had different climate and how climate changed during the months in a year. This was opportunity for cooperation between students from different schools and different grades when older students from secondary school helped younger student to make their weather station and shared knowledge and experience while they followed weather condition during the project .

George AFB, Victorville, Caifornia Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO) Parts A -F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-09-14

722 6.21 ; WeB &b 958.j11 25971 36.) 5.77 22 22.5 4 m Do-. 6 44564 20 512 2P.Q 9.261 122 .7 58.4 ,4 • . ,. - 6 1 ...,. , ., . I . . t - GL -!- AL CLI.1A...PSYCHROMETRIC SUMMARY ,E’_ . ",L ,F- C/ P’-773-3- NCV STATION STATION NAME YEARS MONT" NOURS IL. S. T.I Te.p. WET BULB TEMPERATURE DEPRESSION (F) TOTAL

Tonopah, Nevada, Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-09-21

i AL CLMATCL.,.Y T CPSYCHROMETRIC SUMMARY 2 1-ap WET BULB TEAPERATURE DEPRESSIO . F 0’ 1 I 2 3.4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1- 1?2 3 4 5- 16 17 10 19 20 22 21 24...FEB STATION STATION SAW AS$ MOST% *PAGE 7 ?VO-2300 miwas 1. S. T. T.WIT RULE TEMPERATURE DEPRESSIOal (F)TA TOTAL o I -A 7.8a I o. V011-1 6 3 OA i

Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO) for Yucca Flat Air Strip, Mercury, Nevada. Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-09-28

FREQUENCY OF WIND DIRECTION AND SPEED (FROM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS) 03133 YUCCA FLAT AIR STRIP NV 6-77 SEF STATION STATION KANE TSARS NONIN ALL WF&THEk 1200...92.8 92.8 929 92.# 92.2 92.! 92. 92*, 92.6T 9*81 93.,* ~ 9. 3 3 393.3. 93. 9393. 93.22 93 9 9393 93󈨡 93.2 93.21 93.4 93.5 W 94.9 95.09a 9590 9. 51 51

Impact of dust deposition on the albedo of Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wittmann, Monika; Dorothea Groot Zwaaftink, Christine; Steffensen Schmidt, Louise; Guðmundsson, Sverrir; Pálsson, Finnur; Arnalds, Olafur; Björnsson, Helgi; Thorsteinsson, Throstur; Stohl, Andreas

2017-03-01

Deposition of small amounts of airborne dust on glaciers causes positive radiative forcing and enhanced melting due to the reduction of surface albedo. To study the effects of dust deposition on the mass balance of Brúarjökull, an outlet glacier of the largest ice cap in Iceland, Vatnajökull, a study of dust deposition events in the year 2012 was carried out. The dust-mobilisation module FLEXDUST was used to calculate spatio-temporally resolved dust emissions from Iceland and the dispersion model FLEXPART was used to simulate atmospheric dust dispersion and deposition. We used albedo measurements at two automatic weather stations on Brúarjökull to evaluate the dust impacts. Both stations are situated in the accumulation area of the glacier, but the lower station is close to the equilibrium line. For this site ( ˜ 1210 m a.s.l.), the dispersion model produced 10 major dust deposition events and a total annual deposition of 20.5 g m-2. At the station located higher on the glacier ( ˜ 1525 m a.s.l.), the model produced nine dust events, with one single event causing ˜ 5 g m-2 of dust deposition and a total deposition of ˜ 10 g m-2 yr-1. The main dust source was found to be the Dyngjusandur floodplain north of Vatnajökull; northerly winds prevailed 80 % of the time at the lower station when dust events occurred. In all of the simulated dust events, a corresponding albedo drop was observed at the weather stations. The influence of the dust on the albedo was estimated using the regional climate model HIRHAM5 to simulate the albedo of a clean glacier surface without dust. By comparing the measured albedo to the modelled albedo, we determine the influence of dust events on the snow albedo and the surface energy balance. We estimate that the dust deposition caused an additional 1.1 m w.e. (water equivalent) of snowmelt (or 42 % of the 2.8 m w.e. total melt) compared to a hypothetical clean glacier surface at the lower station, and 0.6 m w.e. more melt (or 38 % of the 1.6 m w.e. melt in total) at the station located further upglacier. Our findings show that dust has a strong influence on the mass balance of glaciers in Iceland.

Spatio-temporal variation in microclimate, the surface energy balance and ablation over a cirque glacier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hannah, David M.; Gurnell, Angela M.; McGregor, Glenn R.

2000-06-01

Climatic processes, operating at a range of scales, drive energy fluxes at the glacier surface which control meltwater generation and ultimately runoff. Nevertheless, to date, most glacier microclimate research has been both temporally (short-term) and spatially (single station) restricted. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by reporting on a detailed, empirical study which characterizes spatio-temporal variations in and linkages between glacier microclimate, surface energy and mass exchanges within a small glacierized cirque (Taillon Glacier, French Pyrénées) over two melt seasons. Data collected at five automatic weather stations (AWSs) and over ablation stake networks suggest that topoclimates, altitude and transient snowline position primarily determine the distribution of glacier energy receipt and, in turn, snow- and ice-melt patterns. Generally net radiation is the dominant energy source, followed by sensible heat, while latent heat is an energy sink. However, the magnitude and partitioning of energy balance terms, and consequently ablation, vary across the glacier both seasonally and with prevailing weather conditions. Importantly, this paper demonstrates that such monitoring programmes are required to truly represent and provide a sound basis for modelling glacier energy and mass-balances in both space and time.

The influence of surface versus free-air decoupling on temperature trend patterns in the western United States

Treesearch

N.C. Pepin; C. Daly; J. Lundquist

2011-01-01

We analyzed temperature trends from 460 GHCNv2 weather stations in the western United States for 1948¨C2006 to determine whether the extent of decoupling of surface temperatures from the free atmosphere influences past change. At each location we derived monthly indices representative of anticyclonicity using NCEP/NCAR 700 hPa reanalysis pressure fields. The number of...

Capturing the WUnder: Using weather stations and WeatherUnderground to increase middle school students' understanding and interest in science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schild, K. M.; Dunne, P.

2014-12-01

New models of elementary- and middle-school level science education are emerging in response to the need for science literacy and the development of the Next Generation Science Standards. One of these models is fostered through the NSF's Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) program, which pairs a graduate fellow with a science teacher at a local school for an entire school year. In our project, a PhD Earth Sciences student was paired with a local middle school science teacher with the goal of installing a weather station, and incorporating the station data into the 8th grade science curriculum. Here we discuss how we were able to use a school weather station to introduce weather and climate material, engage and involve students in the creative process of science, and motivate students through inquiry-based lessons. In using a weather station as the starting point for material, we were able to make science tangible for students and provide an opportunity for each student to experience the entire process of scientific inquiry. This hands-on approach resulted in a more thorough understanding the system beyond a knowledge of the components, and was particularly effective in challenging prior weather and climate misconceptions. We were also able to expand the reach of the lessons by connecting with other weather stations in our region and even globally, enabling the students to become members of a larger system.

Nanoscale Compositional Relations in Lunar Rock Patina: Deciphering Sources for Patina Components on an Apollo 17 Station 6 Boulder

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christoffersen, R.; Noble, S. K.; Keller, L. P.

2014-01-01

Space weathering on the Moon and other airless bodies modifies the surfaces of regolith grains as well as the space-exposed surfaces of larger rocks and boulders. As space weathering witness plates, rocks and boulders are distinguished from regolith grains based on their ability to persist as physically intact substrates over longer time scales before being disaggregated by impact processes. Because lunar surfaces, including exposed rocks, quickly develop an optically thick layer of patina, it is important to understand the compositional relationship between patinas and their underlying rock substrates, particularly to support remote-sensing of rocky lunar terrains. Based on analytical TEM techniques, supported by focused ion beam (FIB) cross-sectioning, we have begun to systematize the multi-layer microstructural complexity of patinas on rock samples with a range of space exposure histories. Our on-going work has particularly focused on lunar rock 76015, both because it has a long (approx. 22 my) exposure history, and because its surface was exposed to patina development approximately 1 m off the regolith surface on a boulder in the Apollo 17 Station 6 boulder field. Potential sources for the 76015 patina therefore include impact-melted and vaporized material derived from the local rock substrate, as well as from the mix of large boulders and regolith in the Station 6 area. While similar, there are differences in the mineralogy and chemistry of the rocks and regolith at Station 6. We were interested to see if these, or other sources, could be distinguished in the average composition, as well as the compositional nanostratigraphy of the 76015 patina. To date we have acquired a total of 9 TEM FIB cross-sections from the 76015 patina, giving us reasonable confidence of being able to arrive at an integrated average for the patina major element composition based on analytical TEM methods.

Predicting Near-surface Winds with WindNinja for Wind Energy Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagenbrenner, N. S.; Forthofer, J.; Shannon, K.; Butler, B.

2016-12-01

WindNinja is a high-resolution diagnostic wind model widely used by operational wildland fire managers to predict how near-surface winds may influence fire behavior. Many of the features which have made WindNinja successful for wildland fire are also important for wind energy applications. Some of these features include flexible runtime options which allow the user to initialize the model with coarser scale weather model forecasts, sparse weather station observations, or a simple domain-average wind for what-if scenarios; built-in data fetchers for required model inputs, including gridded terrain and vegetation data and operational weather model forecasts; relatively fast runtimes on simple hardware; an extremely user-friendly interface; and a number of output format options, including KMZ files for viewing in Google Earth and GeoPDFs which can be viewed in a GIS. The recent addition of a conservation of mass and momentum solver based on OpenFOAM libraries further increases the utility of WindNinja to modelers in the wind energy sector interested not just in mean wind predictions, but also in turbulence metrics. Here we provide an evaluation of WindNinja forecasts based on (1) operational weather model forecasts and (2) weather station observations provided by the MesoWest API. We also compare the high-resolution WindNinja forecasts to the coarser operational weather model forecasts. For this work we will use the High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model and the North American Mesoscale (NAM) model. Forecasts will be evaluated with data collected in the Birch Creek valley of eastern Idaho, USA between June-October 2013. Near-surface wind, turbulence data, and vertical wind and temperature profiles were collected at very high spatial resolution during this field campaign specifically for use in evaluating high-resolution wind models like WindNinja. This work demonstrates the ability of WindNinja to generate very high-resolution wind forecasts for wind energy applications and evaluates the forecasts produced by two different initialization methods with data collected in a broad valley surrounded by complex terrain.

Characterization of freezing precipitation events through other meteorological variables and their recent changes over Northern Extratropics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groisman, P. Y.; Yin, X.; Bulygina, O.

2017-12-01

Freezing precipitation events intertwine with agriculture, recreation, energy consumption, and seasonal transportation cycles of human activities. Using supplementary synoptic reports at 1,500 long-term stations of North America and Northern Eurasia, we created climatology of freezing precipitation near the surface and found significant changes (increases) in these occurrences in the past decade at high latitudes/elevations (Groisman et al. 2016; updated). Firstly, we document narrow boundaries of near surface temperature and humidity fields when freezing precipitation events occur; these are necessary but insufficient conditions of their occurrence. Secondly, using the upper air data at the sites collocated with in situ observations of freezing events, we quantify the typical pattern of lower troposphere temperature anomalies during freezing events: At the same locations and Julian days, the presence of freezing event at the surface is associated with significantly warmer temperatures in the lower troposphere; comparison of temperatures at nearest days before and after the freezing events with days during these events also shows statistically significant positive temperature anomalies in the lower troposphere to 500 hPa (on average, +3 to 4 °C) In the days with freezing events, vertical air temperature gradients between surface and 850 hPa become less than usual with frequent inversions, when the tropospheric air is warmer than at the surface. The above features of the lower tropospheric temperature, near-surface temperature and humidity represent a combination of weather conditions conducive for precipitation, if it happens, falling in the freezing rain form. The in situ reports of freezing events at synoptic stations allow us to estimate temporary and spatial distributions of such "special weather conditions". Thus, a posteriori high probability of freezing events under these weather conditions invokes similar probabilities of freezing rain over the ungauged terrain, where we do not have special synoptic reports but can reproduce these "special weather conditions" from less sophisticated observational networks and/or reanalyses. Reference: Groisman et al. 2016: Recent changes in the frequency of freezing precipitation in North America and Northern Eurasia. Environ Res Lett 11 045007.

Portland IAP, Portland, Oregon. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-09-08

JUL IATION STATION ANE TUA NONIN ALL WEATHER _1_0-05;! CLS NOURS 4L .T.) CONOITION SPEED MEAN (KNTS) 1.3 4.6 7.10 11*16 17.21 22.27 20.33 34-40 41.47...86. 86. 86. 86.3 860 86.3 86.3 86.3 86&3 6.3 8603 A603 > 2000 a*. 8a, 89 9590 .,1.ih 9.0 91 9. &. 9r.k 9 t. 6 90.& .94.1. (t. A91.. > 1800 3 9. 90. 910

Lessons in weather data interoperability: the National Mesonet Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, J. D.; Werner, B.; Cogar, C.; Heppner, P.

2015-12-01

The National Mesonet Program (NMP) links local, state, and regional surface weather observation networks (a.k.a. mesonets) to enhance the prediction of high-impact, local-scale weather events. A consortium of 23 (and counting) private firms, state agencies, and universities provides near-real-time observations from over 7,000 fixed weather stations, and over 1,000 vehicle-mounted sensors, every 15 minutes or less, together with the detailed sensor and station metadata required for effective forecasts and decision-making. In order to integrate these weather observations across the United States, and to provide full details about sensors, stations, and observations, the NMP has defined a set of conventions for observational data and sensor metadata. These conventions address the needs of users with limited bandwidth and computing resources, while also anticipating a growing variety of sensors and observations. For disseminating weather observation data, the NMP currently employs a simple ASCII format derived from the Integrated Ocean Observing System. This simplifies data ingest into common desktop software, and parsing by simple scripts; and it directly supports basic readings of temperature, pressure, etc. By extending the format to vector-valued observations, it can also convey readings taken at different altitudes (e.g. windspeed) or depths (e.g., soil moisture). Extending beyond these observations to fit a greater variety of sensors (solar irradiation, sodar, radar, lidar) may require further extensions, or a move to more complex formats (e.g., based on XML or JSON). We will discuss the tradeoffs of various conventions for different users and use cases. To convey sensor and station metadata, the NMP uses a convention known as Starfish Fungus Language (*FL), derived from the Open Geospatial Consortium's SensorML standard. *FL separates static and dynamic elements of a sensor description, allowing for relatively compact expressions that reference a library of shared definitions (e.g., sensor manufacturer's specifications) alongside time-varying and site-specific details (slope / aspect, calibration, etc.) We will discuss the tradeoffs of *FL, SensorML, and alternatives for conveying sensor details to various users and uses.

Research on Application of Automatic Weather Station Based on Internet of Things

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jianyun, Chen; Yunfan, Sun; Chunyan, Lin

2017-12-01

In this paper, the Internet of Things is briefly introduced, and then its application in the weather station is studied. A method of data acquisition and transmission based on NB-iot communication mode is proposed, Introduction of Internet of things technology, Sensor digital and independent power supply as the technical basis, In the construction of Automatic To realize the intelligent interconnection of the automatic weather station, and then to form an automatic weather station based on the Internet of things. A network structure of automatic weather station based on Internet of things technology is constructed to realize the independent operation of intelligent sensors and wireless data transmission. Research on networking data collection and dissemination of meteorological data, through the data platform for data analysis, the preliminary work of meteorological information publishing standards, networking of meteorological information receiving terminal provides the data interface, to the wisdom of the city, the wisdom of the purpose of the meteorological service.

Micro-sensors for in-situ meteorological measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crisp, David; Kaiser, William J.; Vanzandt, Thomas R.; Tillman, James E.

1993-01-01

Improved in-situ meteorological measurements are needed for monitoring the weather and climate of the terrestrial and Martian atmospheres. We have initiated a program to assess the feasibility and utility of micro-sensors for precise in-situ meteorological measurements in these environments. Sensors are being developed for measuring pressure, temperature, wind velocity, humidity, and aerosol amounts. Silicon micro-machining and large scale integration technologies are being used to make sensors that are small, rugged, lightweight, and require very little power. Our long-term goal is to develop very accurate miniaturized sensors that can be incorporated into complete instrument packages or 'micro weather stations,' and deployed on a variety of platforms. If conventional commercially available silicon production techniques can be used to fabricate these sensor packages, it will eventually be possible to mass-produce them at low cost. For studies of the Earth's troposphere and stratosphere, they could be deployed on aircraft, dropsondes, radiosondes, or autonomous surface stations at remote sites. Improved sensor accuracy and reduced sensor cost are the primary challenges for these applications. For studies of the Martian atmosphere, these sensor packages could be incorporated into the small entry probes and surface landers that are being planned for the Mars Environmental SURvey (MESUR) Mission. That decade-long program will deploy a global network of small stations on the Martian surface for monitoring meteorological and geological processes. Low mass, low power, durability, large dynamic range and calibration stability are the principal challenges for this application. Our progress on each of these sensor types is presented.

Surface Landing Site Weather Analysis for NASA's Constellation Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Altino, Karen M.; Burns, K. L.

2008-01-01

Weather information is an important asset for NASA's Constellation Program in developing the next generation space transportation system to fly to the International Space Station, the Moon and, eventually, to Mars. Weather conditions can affect vehicle safety and performance during multiple mission phases ranging from pre-launch ground processing of the Ares vehicles to landing and recovery operations, including all potential abort scenarios. Meteorological analysis is art important contributor, not only to the development and verification of system design requirements but also to mission planning and active ground operations. Of particular interest are the surface weather conditions at both nominal and abort landing sites for the manned Orion capsule. Weather parameters such as wind, rain, and fog all play critical roles in the safe landing of the vehicle and subsequent crew and vehicle recovery. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Natural Environments Branch has been tasked by the Constellation Program with defining the natural environments at potential landing zones. This paper wiI1 describe the methodology used for data collection and quality control, detail the types of analyses performed, and provide a sample of the results that cab be obtained.

Surface waters of Kansas, 1919-1924

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kinnison, H.B.

1926-01-01

From 1906 to 1916 no stream-gaging investigations were made in Kansas, and the only records available for this period are those of river stages taken by the United States Weather Bureau, at a few selected stations, for use by the river forcast service. The floods of 1908, 1909 and 1915 occurred during this period.

Seismic noise on Rarotonga: Surface versus downhole

USGS Publications Warehouse

Butler, Rhett; Hutt, C.R.

1992-01-01

Seismic noise data are presented from the new Global Seismographic Network station, RAR, on the Island of Rarotonga in the South Pacific. Data from the first new borehole site in the GSN are compared with a surface vault installation. Initial indications from the data show that borehole siting on a small island significantly reduces long-period (>20 s) horizontal seismic noise levels during the daytime, but little or no improvement is evident at periods shorter than 20 s or on the vertical component.The goal of the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) GSN program is broad, uniform coverage of the Earth with a 128-station network. To achieve this goal and provide coverage in oceanic areas, many stations will be sited on islands. A major siting consideration for these new stations is whether to build a surface vault or drill a borehole. Neither option is inexpensive. The costs for drilling a cased hole and a borehole sensor are large, but the benefit of a borehole site is that seismic noise is reduced during certain periods when a surface installation may be subject to wind, weather, and thermal effects. This benefit translates into recording greater numbers of smaller earthquakes and higher signal-to-noise ratio.

KSC-2014-2505

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument waits to be removed from the truck that delivered it to the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2504

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A truck carrying NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument arrives outside the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2523

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The components of NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument rest side by side after removal of their shipping cover inside Kennedy Space Center's Space Station Processing Facility. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2506

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A component of NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument is moved via forklift into the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2518

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Part of NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument is revealed after removal of its shipping container inside Kennedy Space Center's Space Station Processing Facility. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2514

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The components of NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument are moved into a laboratory inside Kennedy Space Center's Space Station Processing Facility. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2511

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Part of NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument is visible inside its protective enclosure as it arrives at the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2507

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A component of NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument is moved via forklift into the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2510

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A component of NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument is removed from a truck at the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2509

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A component of NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument is removed from the truck that delivered it to the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KSC-2014-2512

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The components of NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat scatterometer instrument arrive at the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ISS-RapidScat is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ISS-RapidScat is slated to fly on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight in 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

Hydrology of the Reelfoot Lake basin, Obion and Lake counties, northwestern Tennessee

USGS Publications Warehouse

Robbins, C.H.

1985-01-01

Nine maps describe the following water resources aspects of the Reelfoot Lake watershed: Map 1-Surface water gaging stations, lake level, and locations of observation wells, rainfall stations and National Weather Service rainfall stations; Maps 2 and 3-water level contours, river stage, groundwater movement; Maps 4 and 5-grid blocks simulating constant head on the Mississippi River, Reelfoot Lake, Running Reelfoot Bayou, Reelfoot Creek, and Running Slough; Maps 6 and 7-difference between model calculated and observed water levels; and Maps 8 and 9-line of equal groundwater level increase and approximate lake area at pool elevation. (Lantz-PTT)

Verification of National Weather Service spot forecasts using surface observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lammers, Matthew Robert

Software has been developed to evaluate National Weather Service spot forecasts issued to support prescribed burns and early-stage wildfires. Fire management officials request spot forecasts from National Weather Service Weather Forecast Offices to provide detailed guidance as to atmospheric conditions in the vicinity of planned prescribed burns as well as wildfires that do not have incident meteorologists on site. This open source software with online display capabilities is used to examine an extensive set of spot forecasts of maximum temperature, minimum relative humidity, and maximum wind speed from April 2009 through November 2013 nationwide. The forecast values are compared to the closest available surface observations at stations installed primarily for fire weather and aviation applications. The accuracy of the spot forecasts is compared to those available from the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD). Spot forecasts for selected prescribed burns and wildfires are used to illustrate issues associated with the verification procedures. Cumulative statistics for National Weather Service County Warning Areas and for the nation are presented. Basic error and accuracy metrics for all available spot forecasts and the entire nation indicate that the skill of the spot forecasts is higher than that available from the NDFD, with the greatest improvement for maximum temperature and the least improvement for maximum wind speed.

Implementation of weather stations at Ghanaian high schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pieron, M.

2012-04-01

The Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (www.tahmo.org) is an initiative that aims to develop a dense weather observation network in Sub-Sahara Africa. The ambition is to have 20.000 low-cost innovative weather stations in place in 2015. An increased amount of weather data is locally required to provide stakeholders that are dependent on the weather, such as farmers and fishermen, with accurate forecasts. As a first proof of concept, showing that sensors can be built at costs lower than commercially available, a disdrometer was developed. In parallel with the design of the measurement instruments, a high school curriculum is developed that covers environmental sciences. In order to find out which requirements the TAHMO weather station and accompanying educational materials should meet for optimal use at Junior High Schools research was done at Ghanaian schools. Useful insights regarding the future African context of the weather station and requirements for an implementation strategy were obtained during workshops with teachers and students, visits to WMO observatories and case studies regarding use of educational materials. The poster presents the conclusions of this research, which is part of the bigger TAHMO framework.

Temporal and Spatial prediction of groundwater levels using Artificial Neural Networks, Fuzzy logic and Kriging interpolation.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tapoglou, Evdokia; Karatzas, George P.; Trichakis, Ioannis C.; Varouchakis, Emmanouil A.

2014-05-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) combined with kriging interpolation method, in order to simulate the hydraulic head both spatially and temporally. Initially, ANNs are used for the temporal simulation of the hydraulic head change. The results of the most appropriate ANNs, determined through a fuzzy logic system, are used as an input for the kriging algorithm where the spatial simulation is conducted. The proposed algorithm is tested in an area located across Isar River in Bayern, Germany and covers an area of approximately 7800 km2. The available data extend to a time period from 1/11/2008 to 31/10/2012 (1460 days) and include the hydraulic head at 64 wells, temperature and rainfall at 7 weather stations and surface water elevation at 5 monitoring stations. One feedforward ANN was trained for each of the 64 wells, where hydraulic head data are available, using a backpropagation algorithm. The most appropriate input parameters for each wells' ANN are determined considering their proximity to the measuring station, as well as their statistical characteristics. For the rainfall, the data for two consecutive time lags for best correlated weather station, as well as a third and fourth input from the second best correlated weather station, are used as an input. The surface water monitoring stations with the three best correlations for each well are also used in every case. Finally, the temperature for the best correlated weather station is used. Two different architectures are considered and the one with the best results is used henceforward. The output of the ANNs corresponds to the hydraulic head change per time step. These predictions are used in the kriging interpolation algorithm. However, not all 64 simulated values should be used. The appropriate neighborhood for each prediction point is constructed based not only on the distance between known and prediction points, but also on the training and testing error of the ANN. Therefore, the neighborhood of each prediction point is the best available. Then, the appropriate variogram is determined, by fitting the experimental variogram to a theoretical variogram model. Three models are examined, the linear, the exponential and the power-law. Finally, the hydraulic head change is predicted for every grid cell and for every time step used. All the algorithms used were developed in Visual Basic .NET, while the visualization of the results was performed in MATLAB using the .NET COM Interoperability. The results are evaluated using leave one out cross-validation and various performance indicators. The best results were achieved by using ANNs with two hidden layers, consisting of 20 and 15 nodes respectively and by using power-law variogram with the fuzzy logic system.

Different combination of MODIS land surface temperature data for daily air surface temperature estimation in North West Vietnam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noi Phan, Thanh; Kappas, Martin; Degener, Jan

2017-04-01

Land air temperature (Ta) with high spatial and temporal resolution plays an important role in various applications, such as: crop growth monitoring and simulations, environmental risk models, weather forecasting, land use cover change, urban heat islands, etc. Daily Ta (including Ta-max, Ta-min, and Ta-mean) is usually measured by weather stations (often at 2 m above the ground); thus, Ta is limited in spatial coverage. Satellite data, especially MODIS land surface temperature (LST) data at 1 kilometre and high temporal resolution (4 times per day, combining TERRA and AQUA) are free available and easily to access. However, there is a difference between Ta and LST because of the complex surface energy budget and multiple related variables between them. Several researches states that the Ta could be estimated using MODIS LST data with accurate of 2-4oC. However, there are only a handful of studies using dynamically combining of four MODIS LST data for Ta estimation. In this study, we evaluated all 15 - possible - combinations of four MODIS LST using support vector machine (SVM) and random forests (RFs) models. MODIS LST and Ta data was extracted from 4 weather stations in rural area in North West Vietnam from 2010 to 2012 (three years). Our results indicated that the accuracy of Ta estimation was affected by the different combination and the combined data (multiple variables) gave better results than those of single LST (solely variable), the best result was achieved (coefficient of determination (R2) = 0.95, 0.97, 0.97; root mean square error (RMSE) =1.7, 1.4, 1.2 oC for Ta-min, Ta-max, Ta-mean respectively) when all four LSTs were combined and RFs performed better than SVM.

KSC-02pd1858

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-12-05

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Stephen Ezell, meteorological systems operator at Weather Station A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, gets ready to release a weather balloon. Such balloons are released twice a day. The package in Ezell's hand is a radio sonde that collects temperature and humidity data as the balloon rises. The data is released to agencies nationwide, including the 45th Space Wing, which uses the data for its daily weather reports. The weather station provides additional data to NASA for launches -- releasing 12 balloons in eight hours prior to liftoff - and landings - releasing 5 balloons in six and a half hours before expected touchdown.

KSC-02pd1859

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-12-05

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Stephen Ezell, meteorological systems operator at Weather Station A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, releases a weather balloon. Such balloons are released twice a day. The package at the bottom is a radio sonde that collects temperature and humidity data as the balloon rises. The data is released to agencies nationwide, including the 45th Space Wing, which uses the data for its daily weather reports. The weather station provides additional data to NASA for launches -- releasing 12 balloons in eight hours prior to liftoff - and landings - releasing 5 balloons in six and a half hours before expected touchdown.

KSC-02pd1857

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-12-05

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Stephen Ezell, meteorological systems operator at Weather Station A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, gets ready to release a weather balloon. Such balloons are released twice a day. The package in Ezell's hand is a radio sonde that collects temperature and humidity data as the balloon rises. The data is released to agencies nationwide, including the 45th Space Wing, which uses the data for its daily weather reports. The weather station provides additional data to NASA for launches -- releasing 12 balloons in eight hours prior to liftoff - and landings - releasing 5 balloons in six and a half hours before expected touchdown.

A comparison of methods for calculating population exposure estimates of daily weather for health research.

PubMed

Hanigan, Ivan; Hall, Gillian; Dear, Keith B G

2006-09-13

To explain the possible effects of exposure to weather conditions on population health outcomes, weather data need to be calculated at a level in space and time that is appropriate for the health data. There are various ways of estimating exposure values from raw data collected at weather stations but the rationale for using one technique rather than another; the significance of the difference in the values obtained; and the effect these have on a research question are factors often not explicitly considered. In this study we compare different techniques for allocating weather data observations to small geographical areas and different options for weighting averages of these observations when calculating estimates of daily precipitation and temperature for Australian Postal Areas. Options that weight observations based on distance from population centroids and population size are more computationally intensive but give estimates that conceptually are more closely related to the experience of the population. Options based on values derived from sites internal to postal areas, or from nearest neighbour sites--that is, using proximity polygons around weather stations intersected with postal areas--tended to include fewer stations' observations in their estimates, and missing values were common. Options based on observations from stations within 50 kilometres radius of centroids and weighting of data by distance from centroids gave more complete estimates. Using the geographic centroid of the postal area gave estimates that differed slightly from the population weighted centroids and the population weighted average of sub-unit estimates. To calculate daily weather exposure values for analysis of health outcome data for small areas, the use of data from weather stations internal to the area only, or from neighbouring weather stations (allocated by the use of proximity polygons), is too limited. The most appropriate method conceptually is the use of weather data from sites within 50 kilometres radius of the area weighted to population centres, but a simpler acceptable option is to weight to the geographic centroid.

A Databank of Antarctic Surface Temperature and Pressure Data (NDP-032)

DOE Data Explorer

Jones, P. D. [University of East Anglia; Reid, P. A. [University of East Anglia; Kaiser, D. P.

2001-10-01

This database contains monthly mean surface temperature and mean sea level pressure data from twenty-nine meteorological stations within the Antarctic region. The first version of this database was compiled at the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom. The database extended through 1988 and was made available in 1989 by the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) as a Numeric Data Package (NDP), NDP-032. This update of the database includes data through early 1999 for most stations (through 2000 for a few), and also includes all available mean monthly maximum and minimum temperature data. For many stations this means that over 40 years of data are now available, enough for many of the trends associated with recent warming to be more thoroughly examined. Much of the original version of this dataset was obtained from the World Weather Records (WWR) volumes (1951-1970), Monthly Climatic Data for the World (since 1961), and several other sources. Updating the station surface data involved requesting data from countries who have weather stations on Antarctica. Of particular importance within this study are the additional data obtained from Australia, Britain and New Zealand. Recording Antarctic station data is particularly prone to errors. This is mostly due to climatic extremes, the nature of Antarctic science, and the variability of meteorological staff at Antarctic stations (high turnover and sometimes untrained meteorological staff). For this compilation, as many sources as possible were contacted in order to obtain as close to official `source' data as possible. Some error checking has been undertaken and hopefully the final result is as close to a definitive database as possible. This NDP consists of this html documentation file, an ASCII text version of this file, six temperature files (three original CRU files for monthly maximum, monthly minimum, and monthly mean temperature and three equivalent files slightly reformatted at CDIAC), two monthly mean pressure data files (one original CRU file and one slightly reformatted CDIAC version of the file), four graphics files that describe the station network and the nature of temperature and pressure trends, a file summarizing annual and mean-monthly trends in surface temperatures over Antarctica, a file summarizing monthly Antarctic surface temperature anomalies with respect to the period 1961-90, a station inventory file, and 3 FORTRAN and 3 SAS routines for reading the data that may be incorporated into analysis programs that users may devise. These 23 files have a total size of approximately 2 megabytes and are available via the Internet through CDIAC's Web site or anonymous FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server, and, upon request, various magnetic media.

Hickam AFB, Hawaii Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-04-01

ZkAN~,I EATV A. TO RELATIVE HUMIDITY -- EAT’E~SE; VIC /MAL I.I 2n 4CK A A F H---- 74-337 STATION STATION NAME PERIOD CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY...AL 1 li 9 o G l O 1 0 . 1; 99 .9 7 92 -6 71.2 4 1’_.1 l S 1 67 . 72 2- ] USAFETAC F 0.87-5 (OL A) ....... -LCAIAL CL!’"ATCL3Y -sRANCM EATV - c L r TAC

A Spatio-Temporal Analysis of the Relationship Between Near-Surface Air Temperature and Satellite Land Surface Temperatures Using 17 Years of Data from the ATSR Series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghent, D.; Good, E.; Bulgin, C.; Remedios, J. J.

2017-12-01

Surface temperatures (ST) over land have traditionally been measured at weather stations. There are many parts of the globe with very few stations, e.g. across much of Africa, leading to gaps in ST datasets, affecting our understanding of how ST is changing, and the impacts of extreme events. Satellites can provide global ST data but these observations represent how hot the land ST (LST; including the uppermost parts of e.g. trees, buildings) is to touch, whereas stations measure the air temperature just above the surface (T2m). Satellite LST data may only be available in cloud-free conditions and data records are frequently <10-15 years in length. Consequently, satellite LST data have not yet featured widely in climate studies. In this study, the relationship between clear-sky satellite LST and all-sky T2m is characterised in space and time using >17 years of data. The analysis uses a new monthly LST climate data record (CDR) based on the Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) series, which has been produced within the European Space Agency GlobTemperature project. The results demonstrate the dependency of the global LST-T2m differences on location, land cover, vegetation and elevation. LSTnight ( 10 pm local solar time) is found to be closely coupled with minimum T2m (Tmin) and the two temperatures generally consistent to within ±5 °C (global median LSTnight- Tmin= 1.8 °C, interquartile range = 3.8 °C). The LSTday ( 10 am local time)-maximum T2m (Tmax) variability is higher because LST is strongly influenced by insolation and surface regime (global median LSTday-Tmax= -0.1 °C, interquartile range = 8.1 °C). Correlations for both temperature pairs are typically >0.9 outside of the tropics. A crucial aspect of this study is a comparison between the monthly global anomaly time series of LST and CRUTEM4 T2m. The time series agree remarkably well, with a correlation of 0.9 and 90% of the CDR anomalies falling within the T2m 95% confidence limits (see figure). This analysis provides independent verification of the 1995-2012 T2m anomaly time series, suggesting that LST can provide a complementary perspective on global ST change. The results presented give justification for increasing use of satellite LST data in climate and weather science, both as an independent variable, and to augment T2m data acquired at weather stations.

The state of broadcast meteorology in the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trobec, J.

2010-09-01

According to a 2010 study by the Radio, Television Digital News Association, there are 762 television stations in the U.S. producing local news (and presumably weather) content. Those stations reported staff reductions of 400 news department jobs in 2009, following a cut of 1,200 local news jobs in 2008. Even as the number of news employees declined, local stations increased the amount of local news programming from an average of 4.7 hours to 5.0 hours per weekday in the past year. The phrase "doing more with less" has become a common theme in television newsrooms. Broadcasting economics have also impacted the approximately 2,200 weather presenters on local television stations. Several high-profile, on-air meteorologists have lost their jobs. The workload of weather presenters is evolving as television stations extend their reach beyond broadcasting — to the internet, and wireless (e.g. cellular telephone) delivery of information. Technological advancements have improved televised severe weather coverage. The number of amateur storm chasers possessing video streaming equipment has grown signicantly, and social networks such as Twitter have become a useful source of weather reports from the public.

Analysis of Upper Air, Ground and Remote Sensing Data for the ATLAS Field Campaign in San Juan, Puerto Rico

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gonzalez, Jorge E.; Luvall, Jeff; Rickman, Douglas; Comarazamy, Daniel; Picon, Ana J.

2005-01-01

The Atlas San Juan Mission was conducted in February 2004 with the main objectives of observing the Urban Heat Island of San Juan, providing high resolution data of the land use for El Yunque Rain Forest and for calibrating remote sensors. The mission was coordinated with NASA staff members at Marsha& Stennis, Goddard, and Glenn. The Airborne Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) from NASA/Stennis, that operates in the visual and IR bands, was used as the main sensor and was flown over Puerto Rico in a Lear 23 jet plane. To support the data gathering effort by the ATLAS sensor, remote sensing observations and upper air soundings were conducted along with the deployment of a number of ground based weather stations and temperature sensors. This presentation focuses in the analysis of this complementary data for the Atlas San Juan Mission. Upper air data show that during the days of the mission the Caribbean mid and high atmospheres were relatively dry and highly stable reflecting positive surface lifted index, a necessary condition to conduct this suborbital campaign. Surface wind patterns at levels below 850mb were dominated by the easterly trades, while the jet stream at the edge of the troposphere dominated the westerly wind at levels above 500mb. The jet stream remained at high latitudes reducing the possibility of fronts. In consequence, only 8.4 mm of precipitation were reported during the entire mission. Observation of soundings located about 150 km apart reflected minimum variations of the boundary layer across the Island for levels below 850 meters and a uniform atmosphere for higher levels. The weather stations and the temperature sensors were placed at strategic locations to observe variations across the urban and rural landscapes. Time series plot of the stations' data show that heavily urbanized commercial areas have higher air temperatures than urban and suburban residential areas, and much higher temperatures than rural areas. Temperature differences [dT(U-R)] were obtained by subtracting the values of several stations h m a reference urban station, located m the commercial area of San Juan. These time series show that the UHI peaks during the morning between 10:00am and noon to an average of 4.5 C, a temporal pattern not previously observed in similar studies for continental cities. It is also observed a high variability of the UHI with the precipitation patterns even for short events. These results may be a reflection of a large land use density by low level buildings with an apparent absence of significant heat storage effects in the urban areas, and the importance of the surrounding soil and vegetation moisture in controlling the urban tropical climate. The ATLAS data was used to determine albedo and surface temperature patterns on a 10m scale for the study area. These data were used to calibrate the spatial distribution of the surface temperature when using remote sensing images from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectradiometer). Surface temperatures were estimated using the land surface temperature product MODII-L2 distributed by the Land Process Distributed Active Archive Center(LP DAAC). These results show the maximum, minimum and average temperatures in San Juan and in the entire Island at a resolution of 1 km. The information retrieved from MODIS for land surface temperatures reflected similar temporal and spatial variations as the weather stations and ATLAS measurements with a highest absolute offset of about 5 C due to the differences between surface and air temperatures.

Analysis of Upper Air, Ground and Remote Sensing Data For the ATLAS Field Campaign in San Juan, Puerto Rico

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gonzalez, J. E.; Luvall, J. C.; Rickman, D.; Comarazamy, D. E.; Picon, A.

2004-01-01

The Atlas San Juan Mission was conducted in February 2004 with the main objectives of observing the Urban Heat Island of San Juan, providing high resolution data of the land use for El Yunque Rain Forest and for calibrating remote sensors. The mission was coordinated with NASA staff members at Marshall, Stennis, Goddard, and Glenn. The Airborne Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) from NASA/Stennis, that operates in the visual and IR bands, was used as the main sensor and was flown over Puerto Rico in a Lear 23 jet plane. To support the data gathering effort by the ATLAS sensor, remote sensing observations and upper air soundings were conducted along with the deployment of a number of ground based weather stations and temperature sensors. This presentation focuses in the analysis of this complementary data for the Atlas San Juan Mission. Upper air data show that during the days of the mission the Caribbean mid and high atmospheres were relatively dry and highly stable reflecting positive surface lifted index, a necessary condition to conduct this suborbital campaign. Surface wind patterns at levels below 850mb were dominated by the easterly trades, while the jet stream at the edge of the troposphere dominated the westerly wind at levels above 500mb. The jet stream remained at high latitudes reducing the possibility of fronts. In consequence, only 8.4 mm of precipitation were reported during the entire mission. Observation of soundings located about 150 km apart reflected minimum variations of the boundary layer across the island for levels below 850 meters and a uniform atmosphere for higher levels. The weather stations and the temperature sensors were placed at strategic locations to observe variations across the urban and rural landscapes. Time series plot of the stations' data show that heavily urbanized commercial areas have higher air temperatures than urban and suburban residential areas, and much higher temperatures than rural areas. Temperature differences [dT(U-R)] were obtained by subtracting the values of several stations from a reference urban station, located in the commercial area of San Juan. These time series show that the UHI peaks during the morning between 10:00am and noon to an average of 4.5 C, a temporal pattern not previously observed in similar studies for continental cities. It is also observed a high variability of the UHI with the precipitation patterns even for short events. These results may be a reflection of a large land use density by low level buildings with an apparent absence of significant heat storage effects in the urban areas, and the importance of the surrounding soil and vegetation moisture in controlling the urban tropical climate. The ATLAS data was used to determine albedo and surface temperature patterns on a 10m scale for the study area. These data were used to calibrate the spatial distribution of the surface temperature when using remote sensing images from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer). Surface temperatures were estimated using the land surface temperature product MOD11_L2 distributed by the Land Process Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC). These results show the maximum, minimum and average temperatures in San Juan and in the entire Island at a resolution of 1 km. The information retrieved from MODIS for land surface temperatures reflected similar temporal and spatial variations as the weather stations and ATLAS measurements with a highest absolute offset of about 5 C due to the differences between surface and air temperatures.

Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, North Carolina. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO)

DTIC Science & Technology

1972-02-18

SIMMUNS AAF 62-7o MAY STATION STATION AM TSAOS NONIN ALI WEATHER 0600-0800 CLASS NOUON (L N.T.) CONDITION SPEED MEAN (KNTS) 1- 3 4.6 7-10 11 . 16 17.21 22...7o a973 979 1,0 Vzo V3 "t$ 3 94 e 71 937U 9Y DIP0 9Th 0 95,0 95𔃺 9590 9570 2o600 895’ 91.0 91,11 92.7 93;4 9496 94,7 95.2 95,5 95,6 9506 95.7 95.7 95...92,4 a2500 9093 V49VV31 9" 93f vjf - 9 V* v3ti f 9 3,-W- 1 3*7 V3,7, " -9, ŗ, S2000 91,4 93.2 94,2 94.8 9590 9$14 95,1 95,1 95,2 95,2 95,2 95.2 95,2

An Iterative, Geometric, Tilt Correction Method for Radiation and Albedo Observed by Automatic Weather Stations on Snow-Covered Surfaces: Application to Greenland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, W.; Zender, C. S.; van As, D.; Smeets, P.; van den Broeke, M.

2015-12-01

Surface melt and mass loss of Greenland Ice Sheet may play crucial roles in global climate change due to their positive feedbacks and large fresh water storage. With few other regular meteorological observations available in this extreme environment, measurements from Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) are the primary data source for the surface energy budget studies, and for validating satellite observations and model simulations. However, station tilt, due to surface melt and compaction, results in considerable biases in the radiation and thus albedo measurements by AWS. In this study, we identify the tilt-induced biases in the climatology of surface radiative flux and albedo, and then correct them based on geometrical principles. Over all the AWS from the Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net), the Kangerlussuaq transect (K-transect) and the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), only ~15% of clear days have the correct solar noon time, with the largest bias to be 3 hours. Absolute hourly biases in the magnitude of surface insolation can reach up to 200 W/m2, with daily average exceeding 100 W/m2. The biases are larger in the accumulation zone due to the systematic tilt at each station, although variabilities of tilt angles are larger in the ablation zone. Averaged over the whole Greenland Ice Sheet in the melting season, the absolute bias in insolation is ~23 W/m2, enough to melt 0.51 m snow water equivalent. We estimate the tilt angles and their directions by comparing the simulated insolation at a horizontal surface with the observed insolation by these tilted AWS under clear-sky conditions. Our correction reduces the RMSE against satellite measurements and reanalysis by ~30 W/m2 relative to the uncorrected data, with correlation coefficients over 0.95 for both references. The corrected diurnal changes of albedo are more smooth, with consistent semi-smiling patterns (see Fig. 1). The seasonal cycles and annual variabilities of albedo are in a better agreement with previous studies (see Fig. 2 and 3). The consistent tilt-corrected shortwave radiation dataset derived here will provide better observations and validations for surface energy budget studies on Greenland Ice Sheet, including albedo variation, surface melt simulations and cloud radiative forcing estimates.

Seasonal variability of atmospheric surface layer characteristics and weather pattern in Qatar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samanta, Dhrubajyoti; Cheng, Way Lee; Sadr, Reza

2016-11-01

Qatar's economy is based on oil and gas industry, which are mostly located in coastal regions. Therefore, better understanding of coastal weather, characteristics of surface layer and turbulence exchange processes is much needed. However, the turbulent atmospheric layer study in this region is severely limited. To support the broader aim and study long term precise wind information, a micro-meteorological field campaign has been carried out in a coastal location of north Qatar. The site is based on a 9 m tower, installed at Al Ghariya in the northern coast of Qatar, equipped with three sonic anemometers, temperature-humidity sensor, radiometer and a weather station. This study shows results based on the period August 2015 to July 2016. Various surface layer characteristics and modellings coefficients based on Monin Obukhov similarity theory is studied for the year and seasonal change is noted. Along with the seasonal variabilities of different weather parameters also observed. We hope this long term field observational study will be very much helpful for research community especially for modelers. In addition, two beach and shoreline monitoring cameras installed at the site could give first time information on waves and shoreline changes, and wind-wave interaction in Qatar. An Preliminary Analysis of Wind-Wave Interaction in Qatar in the Context of Changing Climate.

A resampling procedure for generating conditioned daily weather sequences

USGS Publications Warehouse

Clark, Martyn P.; Gangopadhyay, Subhrendu; Brandon, David; Werner, Kevin; Hay, Lauren E.; Rajagopalan, Balaji; Yates, David

2004-01-01

A method is introduced to generate conditioned daily precipitation and temperature time series at multiple stations. The method resamples data from the historical record “nens” times for the period of interest (nens = number of ensemble members) and reorders the ensemble members to reconstruct the observed spatial (intersite) and temporal correlation statistics. The weather generator model is applied to 2307 stations in the contiguous United States and is shown to reproduce the observed spatial correlation between neighboring stations, the observed correlation between variables (e.g., between precipitation and temperature), and the observed temporal correlation between subsequent days in the generated weather sequence. The weather generator model is extended to produce sequences of weather that are conditioned on climate indices (in this case the Niño 3.4 index). Example illustrations of conditioned weather sequences are provided for a station in Arizona (Petrified Forest, 34.8°N, 109.9°W), where El Niño and La Niña conditions have a strong effect on winter precipitation. The conditioned weather sequences generated using the methods described in this paper are appropriate for use as input to hydrologic models to produce multiseason forecasts of streamflow.

NASA Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX 2002/03): Ground-based and near-surface meteorological observations

Treesearch

Kelly Elder; Don Cline; Angus Goodbody; Paul Houser; Glen E. Liston; Larry Mahrt; Nick Rutter

2009-01-01

A short-term meteorological database has been developed for the Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX). This database includes meteorological observations from stations designed and deployed exclusively for CLPXas well as observations available from other sources located in the small regional study area (SRSA) in north-central Colorado. The measured weather parameters...

Uncertainty in User-contributed Weather Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, S.; Cornford, D.; Bastin, L.; Molyneux, M.

2012-04-01

Websites such as Weather Underground and the Met Office's recently launched Weather Observations Website encourage members of the public to not only record meteorological observations for personal use but to upload them to a free online community to be shared and compared with data from hundreds of other weather stations in the UK alone. With such a concentration of freely available surface observations the question is whether it would be beneficial to incorporate this data into existing data assimilation schemes for constructing the initial conditions in Numerical Weather Prediction models. This question ultimately relates to how closely the amateur data represents reality, and how to quantify this uncertainty such that it may be accounted for when using the data. We will highlight factors that can lead to increased uncertainty. For instance as amateur data often comes with limited metadata it is difficult to assess whether an amateur station conforms to the strict guidelines and quality procedures that professional sites do. These guidelines relate to factors such as siting, exposure and calibration and in many cases it is practically impossible for amateur sites to conform to the guidelines due to a tendency for amateur sites to be located in enclosed urbanised areas. We will present exploratory research comparing amateur data from Weather Observations Website and Weather Underground against the Met Office's meteorological monitoring system which will be taken to represent the 'truth'. We are particularly aiming to identify bias in the amateur data and residual variances which will help to quantify our degree of uncertainty. The research will focus on 3 case periods, each with different synoptic conditions (clear skies, overcast, a frontal progression) and on observations of surface air temperature, precipitation, humidity. Future plans of the project will also be introduced such as further investigations into which factors lead to increased uncertainty, highlighting the importance of quantifying and accounting for their effects. Factors may include the degree of urbanisation around the site as well as those that may vary temporally such as the prevailing synoptic conditions. Will we also describe plans to take a Bayesian approach to assessing uncertainty and how this can be incorporated into data assimilation schemes.

Designing a Weather Station

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roman, Harry T.

2012-01-01

The collection and analysis of weather data is crucial to the location of alternate energy systems like solar and wind. This article presents a design challenge that gives students a chance to design a weather station to collect data in advance of a large wind turbine installation. Data analysis is a crucial part of any science or engineering…

A Computerized Weather Station for the Apple IIe.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lorson, Mark V.

Predicting weather conditions is a topic of interest for students who want to make plans for outside activities. This paper discusses the development of an inexpensive computer-interfaced classroom weather station using an Apple IIe computer that provides the viewer with up to the minute digital readings of inside and outside temperature,…

KSC-02pd1856

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-12-05

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Stephen Ezell, meteorological systems operator at Weather Station A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, walks out with a weather balloon that he will release. Such balloons are released twice a day. The package in Ezell's hand is a radio sonde that collects temperature and humidity data as the balloon rises. The data is released to agencies nationwide, including the 45th Space Wing which uses the data for its daily weather reports. The weather station provides additional data to NASA for launches - releasing 12 balloons in eight hours prior to liftoff - and landings - releasing 5 balloons in six and a half hours before expected touchdown.

KSC-02pd1860

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-12-05

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Weather Station A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Judy Kelley, supervisor of Meteorology Operations, and Stephen Ezell, meteorological systems operator, get ready to release a weather balloon. Such balloons are released twice a day. The package at the bottom is a radio sonde that collects temperature and humidity data as the balloon rises. The data is released to agencies nationwide, including the 45th Space Wing, which uses the data for its daily weather reports. The weather station provides additional data to NASA for launches -- releasing 12 balloons in eight hours prior to liftoff - and landings - releasing 5 balloons in six and a half hours before expected touchdown.

Terminal Forecast Reference Notebook, Camp Casey, Korea.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-08-01

AGL) immediately west of the runway. b. The instrument shelter, with psychrometer , is just outside of building T-2651. It is much too close to the...EQUALS 100 FEET A-6 b. The instrument shelter with psychrometer is 60 feet northwest of the weather station. c. The rain gauge, ML-17, is adjacent to... psychrometer , is 180 feet south of the weather station just east of the runway. A-7 X I x x A IA. WEATHER x STATION RAIN GAUGE SHLTOWER SE IN STRUMENT

Temperature trends and Urban Heat Island intensity mapping of the Las Vegas valley area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Black, Adam Leland

Modified urban climate regions that are warmer than rural areas at night are referred to as Urban Heat Islands or UHI. Islands of warmer air over a city can be 12 degrees Celsius greater than the surrounding cooler air. The exponential growth in Las Vegas for the last two decades provides an opportunity to detect gradual temperature changes influenced by an increasing presence of urban materials. This thesis compares ground based thermometric observations and satellite based remote sensing temperature observations to identify temperature trends and UHI areas caused by urban development. Analysis of temperature trends between 2000 and 2010 at ground weather stations has revealed a general cooling trend in the Las Vegas region. Results show that urban development accompanied by increased vegetation has a cooling effect in arid climates. Analysis of long term temperature trends at McCarran and Nellis weather stations show 2.4 K and 1.2 K rise in temperature over the last 60 years. The ground weather station temperature data is related to the land surface temperature images from the Landsat Thematic Mapper to estimate and evaluate urban heat island intensity for Las Vegas. Results show that spatial and temporal trends of temperature are related to the gradual change in urban landcover. UHI are mainly observed at the airport and in the industrial areas. This research provides useful insight into the temporal behavior of the Las Vegas area.

The Joint Airport Weather Studies Project - Current analysis highlights in the aviation safety context

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccarthy, J.

1984-01-01

The principal objective of the Joint Airport Weather Studies Project was to obtain high-resolution velocity, turbulence, and thermodynamic data on a convective outflow called a microburst, an intense downdraft and resulting horizontal outflow near the surface. Data collection occurred during the summer of 1982 near Denver, CO. Data sensors included three pulsed-microwave Doppler and two pulsed CO2 lidar radars, along with 27 Portable Automated Mesonet surface weather stations, the FAA's low-level-wind-shear alert system (LLWSAS), and five instrumented research aircraft. Convective storms occurred on 75 of 91 operational days, with Doppler data being collected on at least 70 microbursts. Analyses reported included a thorough examination of microburst-climatology statistics, the capability of the LLWSAS to detect adequately and accurately the presence of low-altitude wind shear danger to aircraft, the capability of a terminal Doppler radar system development to provide improved wind-shear detection and warning, and progress toward improved wind-shear training for pilots.

Objective local weather types with applications on urban air pollution and on mortality with chronicle illnesses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mika, Janos; Ivady, Anett; Fulop, Andrea; Makra, László

2010-05-01

Synoptic climatology i.e. classification of the endless variability of the everyday weather states according to the pressure configuration and frontal systems relative to the point, or region of interest has long history in meteorology. Its logical alternative, i.e. classification of weather according to the observed local weather elements was less popular until the recent times when the numerical weather forecasts became able to outline not only the synoptic situation, but the near-surface meteorological variables, as well. Nowadays the computer-based statistical facilities are able to operate with matrices of multivariate diurnal samples, as well. The paper presents an attempt to define a set of local weather types using point-wise series at five rural stations, Szombathely, Pécs, Budapest, Szeged és Debrecen in the 1961-1990 reference period. Ten local variables are used, i.e. the diurnal mean temperature, the diurnal temperature range; the cloudiness, the sunshine duration, the water vapour pressure, the precipitation in a logarithmic scale, also differing trace (below 0.1 mm) and no precipitation, the relative humidity and wind speed, including the more extremity indicators of the two latter parameters, i.e. number of hours with over 80 % relative humidity and over 15 m/s wind gusts. Factor analysis of these ten variables was performed leading to 5 fairly independent variables retained for cluster analysis to obtain the local weather types. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to classify the 840-930 days within each month of the 30 years period. Furthers neighbour approach was preferred based on Euclidean metrics to establish optimum number of types. The 12 months and the 5 stations exhibited slightly different results but the optimum number of the types was always between 4 and 12 which is a quite reasonable number from practical considerations. According to a further reasonable compromise, the common number of the types not too bad in either stations or months defines that the common optimum number of local weather types is nine. This set of weather types, specified for each station, was used to "explain" the possible portion of local inter-diurnal variance of seven daily urban air quality measurements, i.e. CO, NO, NO2, NOx, O3, SO2 and PM10. Another set of data for testing the types are the mortalities with chronicle illnesses, i.e. cardio-vascular and respiratory illnesses. This set of 35 years data (1971-2005) is layered for capital city (Budapest, 2 million inhabitants) and rest of the countries (max. 200 000 inhab.). The use of complex weather types is likely better than the common use of individual weather elements, e.g. diurnal mean temperature or a kind of bioclimatic index. The ability of the types to decrease the variability is also compared for both sets of target variables to the analogous ability of macrosynoptic classification by Peczely. The results are also discussed by grouping the investigated contaminants according to their origin.

Water vapor over Europe obtained from remote sensors and compared with a hydrostatic NWP model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnsen, K.-P.; Kidder, S. Q.

Due to its high-variability water vapor is a crucial parameter in short-term numerical weather prediction. Integrated water vapor (IWV) data obtained from a network of groundbased Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers mainly over Germany and passive microwave measurements of the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-A) are compared with the high-resolution regional weather forecast model HRM of the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD). Time series of the IWV at 74 GPS stations obtained during the first complete year of the GFZ/GPS network between May 2000 and April 2001 are applied together with colocated forecasts of the HRM model. The low bias (0.08 kg/m 2) between the HRM model and the GPS data can mainly be explained by the bias between the ECMWF analysis data used to initilize the HRM model and the GPS data. The IWV standard deviation between the HRM model and the GPS data during that time is about 2.47 kg/ m2. GPS stations equipped with surface pressure sensors show about 0.29 kg/ m2 lower standard deviation compared with GPS stations with interpolated surface pressure from synoptic stations. The NOAA/NESDIS Total Precipitable Water algorithm is applied to obtain the IWV and to validate the model above the sea. While the mean IWV obtained from the HRM model is about 2.1 kg/ m2 larger than from the AMSU-A data, the standard deviations are 2.46 kg/ m2 (NOAA-15) and 2.29 kg/ m2 (NOAA-16) similar to the IWV standard deviation between HRM and GPS data.

Broadcast media and the dissemination of weather information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Byrnes, J.

1973-01-01

Although television is the public's most preferred source of weather information, it fails to provide weather reports to those groups who seek the information early in the day and during the day. The result is that many people most often use radio as a source of information, yet preferring the medium of television. The public actively seeks weather information from both radio and TV stations, usually seeking information on current conditions and short range forecasts. forecasts. Nearly all broadcast stations surveyed were eager to air severe weather bulletins quickly and often. Interest in Nowcasting was high among radio and TV broadcasters, with a significant portion indicating a willingness to pay something for the service. However, interest among TV stations in increasing the number of daily reports was small.

Streamflow and Selected Precipitation Data for Yucca Mountain Region, Southern Nevada and Eastern California, Water Years 1986-90

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kane, Thomas G.; Bauer, David J.; Martinez, Clair M.

1994-01-01

Streamflow and precipitation data collected at and near Yucca Mountain, Nevada, during water years 1986-90 are presented in this report. The data were collected and compiled as part of the studies by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, to characterize surface-water hydrology in the Yucca Mountain area. Streamflow data include daily-mean discharges and peak discharges at 5 continuous-record gaging stations, and peak discharges at 10 crest-stage, partial-record stations and 2 miscellaneous sites. Precipitation data include cumulative totals at 20 stations maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey and daily totals at 15 stations maintained by the Weather Service Nuclear Support Office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A 31-day battery-operated recording weather station.

Treesearch

Richard J. Barney

1972-01-01

The battery-powered recording weather station measures and records wet bulb temperature, dry bulb temperature, wind travel, and rainfall for 31 days. Assembly procedures and cost of supplies and components are discussed.

An advanced stochastic weather generator for simulating 2-D high-resolution climate variables

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peleg, Nadav; Fatichi, Simone; Paschalis, Athanasios; Molnar, Peter; Burlando, Paolo

2017-07-01

A new stochastic weather generator, Advanced WEather GENerator for a two-dimensional grid (AWE-GEN-2d) is presented. The model combines physical and stochastic approaches to simulate key meteorological variables at high spatial and temporal resolution: 2 km × 2 km and 5 min for precipitation and cloud cover and 100 m × 100 m and 1 h for near-surface air temperature, solar radiation, vapor pressure, atmospheric pressure, and near-surface wind. The model requires spatially distributed data for the calibration process, which can nowadays be obtained by remote sensing devices (weather radar and satellites), reanalysis data sets and ground stations. AWE-GEN-2d is parsimonious in terms of computational demand and therefore is particularly suitable for studies where exploring internal climatic variability at multiple spatial and temporal scales is fundamental. Applications of the model include models of environmental systems, such as hydrological and geomorphological models, where high-resolution spatial and temporal meteorological forcing is crucial. The weather generator was calibrated and validated for the Engelberg region, an area with complex topography in the Swiss Alps. Model test shows that the climate variables are generated by AWE-GEN-2d with a level of accuracy that is sufficient for many practical applications.

Weather summaries for Coram Experimental Forest, northwestern Montana-an International Biosphere Reserve

Treesearch

Roger D. Hungerford; Joyce A. Schlieter

1984-01-01

Presents weather data summaries (1934-82) for most of the weather stations within the Coram Experimental Forest (a Biosphere Reserve) in northwestern Montana and for three stations adjacent to the Forest. These data aid in the interpretation of silvicultural and other biological research, particularly the relationships of climatological variations to forest growth and...

Trends in the predictive performance of raw ensemble weather forecasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hemri, Stephan; Scheuerer, Michael; Pappenberger, Florian; Bogner, Konrad; Haiden, Thomas

2015-04-01

Over the last two decades the paradigm in weather forecasting has shifted from being deterministic to probabilistic. Accordingly, numerical weather prediction (NWP) models have been run increasingly as ensemble forecasting systems. The goal of such ensemble forecasts is to approximate the forecast probability distribution by a finite sample of scenarios. Global ensemble forecast systems, like the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ensemble, are prone to probabilistic biases, and are therefore not reliable. They particularly tend to be underdispersive for surface weather parameters. Hence, statistical post-processing is required in order to obtain reliable and sharp forecasts. In this study we apply statistical post-processing to ensemble forecasts of near-surface temperature, 24-hour precipitation totals, and near-surface wind speed from the global ECMWF model. Our main objective is to evaluate the evolution of the difference in skill between the raw ensemble and the post-processed forecasts. The ECMWF ensemble is under continuous development, and hence its forecast skill improves over time. Parts of these improvements may be due to a reduction of probabilistic bias. Thus, we first hypothesize that the gain by post-processing decreases over time. Based on ECMWF forecasts from January 2002 to March 2014 and corresponding observations from globally distributed stations we generate post-processed forecasts by ensemble model output statistics (EMOS) for each station and variable. Parameter estimates are obtained by minimizing the Continuous Ranked Probability Score (CRPS) over rolling training periods that consist of the n days preceding the initialization dates. Given the higher average skill in terms of CRPS of the post-processed forecasts for all three variables, we analyze the evolution of the difference in skill between raw ensemble and EMOS forecasts. The fact that the gap in skill remains almost constant over time, especially for near-surface wind speed, suggests that improvements to the atmospheric model have an effect quite different from what calibration by statistical post-processing is doing. That is, they are increasing potential skill. Thus this study indicates that (a) further model development is important even if one is just interested in point forecasts, and (b) statistical post-processing is important because it will keep adding skill in the foreseeable future.

Generating daily weather data for ecosystem modelling in the Congo River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petritsch, Richard; Pietsch, Stephan A.

2010-05-01

Daily weather data are an important constraint for diverse applications in ecosystem research. In particular, temperature and precipitation are the main drivers for forest ecosystem productivity. Mechanistic modelling theory heavily relies on daily values for minimum and maximum temperatures, precipitation, incident solar radiation and vapour pressure deficit. Although the number of climate measurement stations increased during the last centuries, there are still regions with limited climate data. For example, in the WMO database there are only 16 stations located in Gabon with daily weather measurements. Additionally, the available time series are heavily affected by measurement errors or missing values. In the WMO record for Gabon, on average every second day is missing. Monthly means are more robust and may be estimated over larger areas. Therefore, a good alternative is to interpolate monthly mean values using a sparse network of measurement stations, and based on these monthly data generate daily weather data with defined characteristics. The weather generator MarkSim was developed to produce climatological time series for crop modelling in the tropics. It provides daily values for maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and solar radiation. The monthly means can either be derived from the internal climate surfaces or prescribed as additional inputs. We compared the generated outputs observations from three climate stations in Gabon (Lastourville, Moanda and Mouilla) and found that maximum temperature and solar radiation were heavily overestimated during the long dry season. This is due to the internal dependency of the solar radiation estimates to precipitation. With no precipitation a cloudless sky is assumed and thus high incident solar radiation and a large diurnal temperature range. However, in reality it is cloudy in the Congo River Basin during the long dry season. Therefore, we applied a correction factor to solar radiation and temperature range based on the ratio of values on rainy days and days without rain, respectively. For assessing the impact of our correction, we simulated the ecosystem behaviour using the climate data from Lastourville, Moanda and Mouilla with the mechanistic ecosystem model Biome-BGC. Differences in terms of the carbon, nitrogen and water cycle were subsequently analysed and discussed.

Seismo-acoustic analysis of thunderstorms at Plostina (Romania) site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grecu, Bogdan; Ghica, Daniela; Moldovan, Iren; Ionescu, Constantin

2013-04-01

The National Institute for Earth Physics (Romania) operates one of the largest seismic networks in the Eastern Europe. The network includes 97 stations with velocity sensors of which 52 are broadband and 45 are short period, 102 strong motion stations and 8 seismic observatories. Located in the most active seismic region of Romania, i.e. Vrancea area, the Plostina Observatory included initially two seismic stations, one at surface with both broadband and accelerometer sensors and one at 30 m depth with only short period velocity sensor. Starting with 2007, the facilities at Plostina have been upgraded so that at present, the observatory also includes one seismic array (PLOR) of seven elements (PLOR1, PLOR2, PLOR3, PLOR4, PLOR5, PLOR6, PLOR7) with an aperture of 2.5 km, seven infrasound elements (IPL2, IPL3, IPL4, IPH4, IPH5, IPH6, IPH7), two three-component fluxgate sensors, one Boltek EFM-100 electrometer and one La Crosse weather station. The element PLOR4 is co-located with the accelerometer and borehole sensor, two infrasonic elements (IPL4 and IPH4), one fluxgate sensor, the Boltek electrometer and the weather station. All the date are continuously recorded and real-time transmitted to the Romanian National Data Centre (RONDC) in Magurele. The recent developments at Plostina site made possible the improvement of the local miscroseismic activity monitoring as well as conducting of other geophysical studies such as acoustic measurements, observations of the variation of the magnetic field in correlation with solar activity, observations of the variation of radioactive alpha gases concentration, observations of the telluric currents. In this work, we investigate the signals emitted due to the process of lightning and thunder during thunderstorms activity at Plostina site. These signals are well recorded by both seismic and infrasound networks and they are used to perform spectral and specific array analyses. We also perform multiple correlations between the atmospheric parameters recorded by the weather station and seismic and infrasound signals.

Combining a Distributed Melt Model and Meteorological Data of Shackleton Glacier, Canadian Rockies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller, M.; Jiskoot, H.

2010-12-01

Runoff from the Canadian Rocky Mountains into the Upper Columbia and Kootenay basins is strongly dominated by winter snow accumulation and spring melt, and it has been suggested that future reductions in snowpack will create increased competition for water between spring and early fall (Hamlet & Lettenmaier, 1999). Although the glacierised area is substantial for affecting summer flows in these basins, there are no measurements or quantified estimates of glacier runoff contribution. In an effort to provide an estimate of glacier runoff for the region, we measured ablation over 5 years, set up weather stations and temperature sensors in Summers 2009 and 2010 and developed a melt model for Shackleton Glacier (42.5 km2), the largest outlet of the Clemenceau Icefield Group (271 km2), which is the major local ice mass feeding into the Upper Columbia basin. Two HOBO weather stations (WS) were installed on the glacier for two weeks in Summer 2010, one near the left lateral moraine on very dirty ice, and one mid-glacier on relatively clean ice. Instrumentation included pyranometers (solar radiation and albedo), and temperature, wind speed and direction, relative humidity and barometric pressure sensors. A weather station off ice provided additional temperature and precipitation data. Other data included daily ablation stake measurements, surface roughness measurements, temperature data from Tidbit loggers on and off ice, and daily manual weather observations. Yearly ablation stake measurements and summer weather observations have been made by our team since 2005. A BC River Forecast Centre automatic snow pillow station provides additional temperature and precipitation data. Using these meteorological and ablation data for parameterisation and optimisation, a distributed GIS melt model was constructed from a simple energy balance model. The model is driven by hourly direct and diffuse radiation and DEM hillshading, an albedo parameterisation based on four ice/snow zones identified from a satellite image and field measurements, constant daily values of longwave radiation as a function of percent cloud cover, and sensible heat input as a function of air temperature, katabatic wind, surface roughness and elevation. Latent heat was considered negligible. Novel aspects of the melt model include a valley temperature threshold for katabatic wind (using on and off ice temperatures and katabatic wind speed) and slope corrected area melt and radiation calculations. In an attempt to quantify energy balance effects of tributary-trunk detachment due to glacier recession related glacier fragmentation, special attention was paid to the potential influence from lateral moraines and valley walls and very dirty ice on the ablation in ice marginal regions. Observations suggest that, when katabatic wind diminishes, heat advection from an even moderately warmer lateral moraine can raise nearby glacier temperature substantially. This suggests that a combination of katabatic wind fields and proximity to lateral moraines/rock walls may be important in calculations of sensible heat contribution to surface melt in recently fragmented glacier systems.

Activities in Teaching Weather

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tonn, Martin

1977-01-01

Presented is a unit composed of activities for teaching weather. Topics include cloud types and formation, simple weather instruments, and the weather station. Illustrations include a weather chart and instruments. A bibliography is given. (MA)

Altus AFB Oklahoma. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations. Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-06-01

amounts and extreme values); (c) surface winds; (D) Ceiling versus Visibility; Sky Cover; (E) Psychrometric DID I FONI 1473 EDITION OF Iae IOS6 1 ...By _ _ . . Distribut 1 on/ Availability Codes Avail and/or Dist Special SS" D UNCLASSIFIED SI~CUNiIY CLASIPICrlATIOUl Oir ’’ PAGC(Wlnr Dalta...stations around the world. This is the ptovenance of the number (e.g., MSC 999999) which will appear on future OL-A standard products. IWI -. ~~ 1

Viking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

The Viking program, its characteristics, goals, and investigations are described. The program consists of launching two spacecraft to Mars in 1975 to soft-land on the surface and test for signs of life. Topics discussed include the launch, the journey through space, tracking, Mars orbit and landing, experiments on the search for life, imaging systems, lander camera, water detection experiments, thermal mapping, and a possible weather station on Mars.

Stomatal response to decreasing humidity implicated in recent decline in U.S. evaporation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rigden, A. J.; Salvucci, G.

2015-12-01

We detect and attribute long-term changes in evapotranspiration (ET) over the contiguous United States from 1961 to 2013 using an approach we refer to as the ETRHEQ method (Evapotranspiration from Relative Humidity at Equilibrium). The ETRHEQ method primarily uses meteorological data collected at common weather stations. Daily ET is inferred by choosing the surface conductance to water vapor transport that minimizes the vertical variance of the calculated relative humidity profile averaged over the day. The key advantage of the ETRHEQ method is that it does not require knowledge of the surface state (soil moisture, stomatal conductance, leaf are index, etc.) or site-specific calibration. We estimate daily ET at 229 weather stations for 53 years. Across the U.S., we find a decrease in summertime (JJAS) ET of 0.21 cm/yr/yr from 1961-2013 with recent (1998-2013) declines in summertime ET of 1.08 cm/yr/yr. We decompose the ET trends into the dominant environmental drivers. Our results suggest that the recent decline in ET is due to increased vegetation stress induced by increases in vapor pressure deficit. We will present out results in context of other commonly used, regional ET data products.

A case study of atmospheric boundary layer features during winter over a tropical inland station — Kharagpur (22.32°N, 87.32°E)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alappattu, Denny P.; Kunhikrishnan, P. K.; Aloysius, Marina; Mohan, M.

2009-08-01

The local weather and air quality over a region are greatly influenced by the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) structure and dynamics. ABL characteristics were measured using a tethered balloon-sonde system over Kharagpur (22.32°N, 87.32°E, 40m above MSL), India, for the period 7 December 2004 to 30 December 2004, as a part of the Indian Space Research Organization-Geosphere Biosphere Program (ISRO-GBP) Aerosol Land Campaign II. High-resolution data of pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed and wind direction were archived along with surface layer measurements using an automatic weather station. This paper presents the features of ABL, like ABL depth and nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) depth. The sea surface winds from Quikscat over the oceanic regions near the experiment site were analyzed along with the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis winds over Kharagpur to estimate the convergence of wind, moisture and vorticity to understand the observed variations in wind speed and relative humidity, and also the increased aerosol concentrations. The variation of ventilation coefficient ( V C), a factor determining the air pollution potential over a region, is also discussed in detail.

Comparison of Sensible Heat Flux from Eddy Covariance and Scintillometer over different land surface conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeweldi, D. A.; Gebremichael, M.; Summis, T.; Wang, J.; Miller, D.

2008-12-01

The large source of uncertainty in satellite-based evapotranspiration algorithm results from the estimation of sensible heat flux H. Traditionally eddy covariance sensors, and recently large-aperture scintillometers, have been used as ground truth to evaluate satellite-based H estimates. The two methods rely on different physical measurement principles, and represent different foot print sizes. In New Mexico, we conducted a field campaign during summer 2008 to compare H estimates obtained from the eddy covariance and scintillometer methods. During this field campaign, we installed sonic anemometers; one propeller eddy covariance (OPEC) equipped with net radiometer and soil heat flux sensors; large aperture scintillometer (LAS); and weather station consisting of wind speed, direction and radiation sensors over three different experimental areas consisting of different roughness conditions (desert, irrigated area and lake). Our results show the similarities and differences in H estimates obtained from these various methods over the different land surface conditions. Further, our results show that the H estimates obtained from the LAS agree with those obtained from the eddy covariance method when high frequency thermocouple temperature, instead of the typical weather station temperature measurements, is used in the LAS analysis.

Prediction of Backscatter and Emissivity of Snow at Millimeter Wavelengths.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-01-01

LIST OF FIGURES Figure Title Page C-I General Area Map 204 C-2 Location of Alpena National Weather 205 Service Station C-3 Photographs of Site E 206 C-4...February 5, 6, 7, 1979 were ob- tained from National Weather Service, Alpena Station and included in Tables C-9 through C-12. Figure C-2 shows the...relative position * 1 of the sites and the Alpena National Weather Service Station. 203 I 0 1 s LAKE HURON ROGERS CITY 20 0 5 10 MILES 0 C HEBOYGAN NORTH

Evaluation of downscaled, gridded climate data for the conterminous United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Robert J. Behnke,; Stephen J. Vavrus,; Andrew Allstadt,; Thomas P. Albright,; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Volker C. Radeloff,

2016-01-01

Weather and climate affect many ecological processes, making spatially continuous yet fine-resolution weather data desirable for ecological research and predictions. Numerous downscaled weather data sets exist, but little attempt has been made to evaluate them systematically. Here we address this shortcoming by focusing on four major questions: (1) How accurate are downscaled, gridded climate data sets in terms of temperature and precipitation estimates?, (2) Are there significant regional differences in accuracy among data sets?, (3) How accurate are their mean values compared with extremes?, and (4) Does their accuracy depend on spatial resolution? We compared eight widely used downscaled data sets that provide gridded daily weather data for recent decades across the United States. We found considerable differences among data sets and between downscaled and weather station data. Temperature is represented more accurately than precipitation, and climate averages are more accurate than weather extremes. The data set exhibiting the best agreement with station data varies among ecoregions. Surprisingly, the accuracy of the data sets does not depend on spatial resolution. Although some inherent differences among data sets and weather station data are to be expected, our findings highlight how much different interpolation methods affect downscaled weather data, even for local comparisons with nearby weather stations located inside a grid cell. More broadly, our results highlight the need for careful consideration among different available data sets in terms of which variables they describe best, where they perform best, and their resolution, when selecting a downscaled weather data set for a given ecological application.

Evaluating Precipitation Elevation Gradients in the Alaska Range using Ice Core and Alpine Weather Station Records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McConnell, E.; Osterberg, E. C.; Winski, D.; Kreutz, K. J.; Wake, C. P.; Campbell, S. W.; Ferris, D. G.; Birkel, S. D.

2016-12-01

Precipitation in Alaska is sensitive to the Aleutian Low (ALow) pressure system and North Pacific sea-surface temperatures, as shown by the increase in Alaskan sub-Arctic precipitation associated with the 1976 shift to the positive phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Precipitation in the high-elevation accumulation zones of Alaskan alpine glaciers provides critical mass input for glacial mass balance, which has been declining in recent decades from warmer summer temperatures despite the winter precipitation increase. Twin >1500-year ice cores collected from the summit plateau of Mount Hunter in Denali National Park, Alaska show a remarkable doubling of annual snow accumulation over the past 150 years, with most of the change observed in the winter. Other alpine ice cores collected from the Alaska and Saint Elias ranges show similar snowfall increases over recent decades. However, although Alaskan weather stations at low elevation recorded a 7-38% increase in winter precipitation across the 1976 PDO transition, this increase is not as substantial as that recorded in the Mt. Hunter ice core. Weather stations at high-elevation alpine sites are comparatively rare, and reasons for the enhanced precipitation trends at high elevation in Alaska remain unclear. Here we use Automatic Weather Station data from the Mt. Hunter drill site (3,900 m a.s.l) and from nearby Denali climber's Base Camp (2,195 m a.s.l.) to evaluate the relationships between alpine and lowland Alaskan precipitation on annual, seasonal, and storm-event temporal scales from 2008-2016. Both stations are located on snow and have sonic snow depth sounders to record daily precipitation. We focus on the role of variable ALow and North Pacific High strength in influencing Alaskan precipitation elevational gradients, particularly in association with the extreme 2015-2016 El Niño event, the 2009-2010 moderate El Niño event, and the 2010-2011 moderate La Niña event. Our analysis will improve our paleoclimate interpretations of the 1200-year Mt. Hunter accumulation record, and improve our ability to integrate low-elevation hydroclimate proxies from lake sediment cores.

Weather Stations as Educational and Hazard-Forecasting Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowman, L. J.; Gierke, J. S.; Gochis, E. E.; Dominguez, R.; Mayer, A. S.

2014-12-01

Small, relatively inexpensive (<$1000 USD) weather stations can be valuable tools for enhancing inquiry-based educational opportunities at all grade levels, while also facilitating compilation of climate data for longer term research. Weather stations and networks of stations have been installed both locally and abroad in mostly rural and resource-limited settings. The data are being used either in the classroom to engage students in place-based, scientific investigations and/or research to improve hydrometeorological hazard forecasting, including water scarcity. The San Vicente (El Salvador) Network of six stations monitors rainfall to aid warning and evacuations for landslide and flooding hazards. Other parameters are used in modeling the watershed hydrology. A station installed in Hermosillo, Mexico is used in both Geography and Ecology Classes. Trends in temperature and rainfall are graphed and compared to historic data gathered over the last 30 years by CONAGUA. These observations are linked to local water-related problems, including well salinization, diminished agriculture, depleted aquifers, and social conflict regarding access to water. Two weather stations were installed at the Hannahville Indian Community School (Nah Tah Wahsh) in Michigan for educational purposes of data collection, analysis, and presentation. Through inquiry-based explorations of local hydrological processes, students are introduced to how meteorological data are used in understanding watershed hydrology and the sustainable management of groundwater resources. Several Michigan Technological University Peace Corps Masters International students have deployed weather stations in and around the communities where they serve, and the data are used in research to help in understanding water resource availability and irrigation needs.

Test of wind predictions for peak fire-danger stations in Oregon and Washington.

Treesearch

Owen P. Cramer

1957-01-01

Relative accuracy of several wind-speed forecasting methods was tested during the forest fire seasons of 1950 and 1951. For the study, three fire-weather forecast centers of the U. S. Weather Bureau prepared individual station forecasts for 11 peak stations within the national. forests of Oregon and Washington. These spot forecasts were considered...

FT Stewart AAF, Savannah, Georgia. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO)

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-04-18

OBSERVATIONS) 03871i FT STEWART AAF GA 67-70,73-77 SEP STATION STATION MAN, TSARS NONIN ( ~AL.L WI3ATHF:R ___ 1200-1400 CLAS NOUN$ (L.S.T.) SPEED MEAN (ENTS...0i 88:2 92.0 93.0 94t1 94.5 94.6 94.9 94.9 95.0 95.0 95.0 95.0 9590 9.0 95.0 e - , 73:1 88.31 92.5 93.4 95o 95.3 9s.6 95.8 95.8 96.1 96.1 96,1 96.1

Exploration of Objective Functions for Optimal Placement of Weather Stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snyder, A.; Dietterich, T.; Selker, J. S.

2016-12-01

Many regions of Earth lack ground-based sensing of weather variables. For example, most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have reliable weather station networks. This absence of sensor data has many consequences ranging from public safety (poor prediction and detection of severe weather events), to agriculture (lack of crop insurance), to science (reduced quality of world-wide weather forecasts, climate change measurement, etc.). The Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (TAHMO.org) project seeks to address these problems by deploying and operating a large network of weather stations throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. To design the TAHMO network, we must determine where to locate each weather station. We can formulate this as the following optimization problem: Determine a set of N sites that jointly optimize the value of an objective function. The purpose of this poster is to propose and assess several objective functions. In addition to standard objectives (e.g., minimizing the summed squared error of interpolated values over the entire region), we consider objectives that minimize the maximum error over the region and objectives that optimize the detection of extreme events. An additional issue is that each station measures more than 10 variables—how should we balance the accuracy of our interpolated maps for each variable? Weather sensors inevitably drift out of calibration or fail altogether. How can we incorporate robustness to failed sensors into our network design? Another important requirement is that the network should make it possible to detect failed sensors by comparing their readings with those of other stations. How can this requirement be met? Finally, we provide an initial assessment of the computational cost of optimizing these various objective functions. We invite everyone to join the discussion at our poster by proposing additional objectives, identifying additional issues to consider, and expanding our bibliography of relevant papers. A prize (derived from grapes grown in Oregon) will be awarded for the most insightful contribution to the discussion!

Novel method for water vapour monitoring using wireless communication networks measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

David, N.; Alpert, P.; Messer, H.

2009-04-01

We propose a new technique for monitoring near-surface water vapour, by estimating humidity from data collected through existing wireless communication networks. Water vapour plays a crucial part in a variety of atmospheric processes. As the most influential of greenhouse gases, it absorbs long-wave terrestrial radiation. The water vapour cycle of evaporation and recondensation is a major energy redistributing mechanism transferring heat energy from the Earth's surface to the atmosphere. Additionally, humidity has an important role in weather forecasting as a key variable required for initialization of atmospheric models and hazard warning techniques. However, current methods of monitoring humidity suffer from low spatial resolution, high cost or a lack of precision when measuring near ground levels. Weather conditions and atmospheric phenomena affect the electromagnetic channel, causing attenuations to the radio signals. Thus, wireless communication networks are in effect built-in environmental monitoring facilities. The wireless microwave links, used in these networks, are widely deployed by cellular providers for backhaul communication between base stations, a few tens of meters above ground level. As a result, the proposed method can provide moisture observations at high temporal and spatial resolution. Further, the implementation cost is minimal, since the data used is already collected and saved by the cellular operators. In addition - many of these links are installed in areas where access is difficult such as orographic terrain and complex topography. As such, our method enables measurements in places that have been hard to measure in the past, or have never been measured before. The technique is restricted to weather conditions which include absence of rain, fog or clouds along the propagation path. We present results from real-data measurements taken from microwave links used in a backhaul cellular network that show very good agreement with surface station humidity measurements.

An Examination of Body Temperature for the Rocky Intertidal Mussel species, Mytilus californianus, Using Remotely Sensed Satellite Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Price, J.; Liff, H.; Lakshmi, V.

2012-12-01

Temperature is considered to be one of the most important physical factors in determining organismal distribution and physiological performance of species in rocky intertidal ecosystems, especially the growth and survival of mussels. However, little is known about the spatial and temporal patterns of temperature in intertidal ecosystems or how those patterns affect intertidal mussel species because of limitations in data collection. We collected in situ temperature at Strawberry Hill, Oregon USA using mussel loggers embedded among the intertidal mussel species, Mytilus californianus. Remotely sensed surface temperatures were used in conjunction with in situ weather and ocean data to determine if remotely sensed surface temperatures can be used as a predictor for changes in the body temperature of a rocky intertidal mussel species. The data used in this study was collected between January 2003 and December 2010. The mussel logger temperatures were compared to in situ weather data collected from a local weather station, ocean data collected from a NOAA buoy, and remotely sensed surface temperatures collected from NASA's sun-synchronous Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard the Earth Observing System Aqua and EOS Terra satellites. Daily surface temperatures were collected from four pixel locations which included two sea surface temperature (SST) locations and two land surface temperature (LST) locations. One of the land pixels was chosen to represent the intertidal surface temperature (IST) because it was located within the intertidal zone. As expected, all surface temperatures collected via satellite were significantly correlated to each other and the associated in situ temperatures. Examination of temperatures from the off-shore NOAA buoy and the weather station provide evidence that remotely sensed temperatures were similar to in situ temperature data and explain more variability in mussel logger temperatures than the in situ temperatures. Our results suggest that temperatures (surface temperature and air temperature) are similar across larger spatial scales even when the type of data collection is different. Mussel logger temperatures were strongly correlated to SSTs and were not significantly different than SSTs. Sea surface temperature collected during the Aqua overpass explained 67.1% of the variation in mean monthly mussel logger temperature. When SST, LST, and IST were taken into consideration, nearly 73% of the variation in mussel logger temperature was explained. While in situ monthly air temperature and water temperature explained only 28-33% of the variation in mussel logger temperature. Our results suggests that remotely sensed surface temperatures are reliable and important measurements that can be used to better understand the effects temperature may have on intertidal mussel species in Strawberry Hill, Oregon. Remotely sensed surface temperature could act as a relative indicator of change and may be used to predict general habitat trends and drivers that could directly affect organism body temperature.

Comparing AIRS/AMSU-A Satellite and MERRA/MERRA-2 Reanalysis products with In-situ Station Observations at Summit, Greenland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hearty, T. J., III; Vollmer, B.; Wei, J. C.; Huwe, P. M.; Albayrak, A.; Wu, D. L.; Cullather, R. I.; Meyer, D. L.; Lee, J. N.; Blaisdell, J. M.; Susskind, J.; Nowicki, S.

2017-12-01

The surface air and skin temperatures reported by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA), and MERRA-2 at Summit, Greenland are compared with near surface air temperatures measured at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net) weather stations. Therefore this investigation requires familiarity with a heterogeneous set of swath, grid, and point data in several different formats, different granularity, and different sampling. We discuss the current subsetting capabilities available at the GES DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data Information Services Center) to perform the inter-comparisons necessary to evaluate the quality and trustworthiness of these datasets. We also explore potential future services which may assist users with this type of intercomparison. We find the AIRS Surface Skin Temperature (TS) is best correlated with the NOAA 2 m air temperature (T2M) but it tends to be colder than the station measurements. The difference may be the result of the frequent near surface temperature inversions in the region. The AIRS Surface Air Temperature (SAT) is also well correlated with the NOAA T2M but it has a warm bias with respect to the NOAA T2M during the cold season and a larger standard error than surface temperature. This suggests that the extrapolation of the temperature profile to the surface is not valid for the strongest inversions. Comparing the temperature lapse rate derived from the 2 stations shows that the lapse rate can increase closer to the surface. We also find that the difference between the AIRS SAT and TS is sensitive to near surface inversions. The MERRA-2 surface and near surface temperatures show improvements over MERRA but little sensitivity to near surface temperature inversions.

Sparrevohn AFS, Alaska. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-09-18

SSURFACE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS SPARREVOHN AFS AK MSC #702350 N 61 06 W155 35 ELEV: 1573 FT PASV PARTS A-F HOURS SUMMARIZED: 0000 - 2300 LST PERIOD OF RECORD...stations around the world. This is the provenance of the number (e.g., MSC 999999) which will appear on future OL-A standard products. D I...AFS Af PEt 7oif of [ COPD : 77-84 MONTH: A W, HO URS4LS3: ALL 7.3 itIts 816181L1F7 IN 6FAFLIF WILCS INs ((I (F IF F G CF b t I, [ CF ŕ 6 1 ,F F F tF7F I

Investigation on the Reference Evapotranspiration Distribution at Regional Scale By Alternative Methods to Compute the FAO Penman-Monteith Equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snyder, R. L.; Mancosu, N.; Spano, D.

2014-12-01

This study derived the summer (June-August) reference evapotranspiration distribution map for Sardinia (Italy) based on weather station data and use of the geographic information system (GIS). A modified daily Penman-Monteith equation from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN-FAO) and the American Society of Civil Engineers Environmental and Water Resources Institute (ASCE-EWRI) was used to calculate the Standardized Reference Evapotranspiration (ETos) for all weather stations having a "full" set of required data for the calculations. For stations having only temperature data (partial stations), the Hargreaves-Samani equation was used to estimate the reference evapotranspiration for a grass surface (ETo). The ETos and ETo results were different depending on the local climate, so two methods to estimate ETos from the ETo were tested. Substitution of missing solar radiation, wind speed, and humidity data from a nearby station within a similar microclimate was found to give better results than using a calibration factor that related ETos and ETo. Therefore, the substitution method was used to estimate ETos at "partial" stations having only temperature data. The combination of 63 full and partial stations was sufficient to use GIS to map ETos for Sardinia. Three interpolation methods were studied, and the ordinary kriging model fitted the observed data better than a radial basis function or the inverse distance weighting method. Using station data points to create a regional map simplified the zonation of ETos when large scale computations were needed. Making a distinction based on ETos classes allows the simulation of crop water requirements for large areas and it can potentially lead to improved irrigation management and water savings. It also provides a baseline to investigate possible impact of climate change.

An interoperable standard system for the automatic generation and publication of the fire risk maps based on Fire Weather Index (FWI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Julià Selvas, Núria; Ninyerola Casals, Miquel

2015-04-01

It has been implemented an automatic system to predict the fire risk in the Principality of Andorra, a small country located in the eastern Pyrenees mountain range, bordered by Catalonia and France, due to its location, his landscape is a set of a rugged mountains with an average elevation around 2000 meters. The system is based on the Fire Weather Index (FWI) that consists on different components, each one, measuring a different aspect of the fire danger calculated by the values of the weather variables at midday. CENMA (Centre d'Estudis de la Neu i de la Muntanya d'Andorra) has a network around 10 automatic meteorological stations, located in different places, peeks and valleys, that measure weather data like relative humidity, wind direction and speed, surface temperature, rainfall and snow cover every ten minutes; this data is sent daily and automatically to the system implemented that will be processed in the way to filter incorrect measurements and to homogenizer measurement units. Then this data is used to calculate all components of the FWI at midday and for the level of each station, creating a database with the values of the homogeneous measurements and the FWI components for each weather station. In order to extend and model this data to all Andorran territory and to obtain a continuous map, an interpolation method based on a multiple regression with spline residual interpolation has been implemented. This interpolation considerer the FWI data as well as other relevant predictors such as latitude, altitude, global solar radiation and sea distance. The obtained values (maps) are validated using a cross-validation leave-one-out method. The discrete and continuous maps are rendered in tiled raster maps and published in a web portal conform to Web Map Service (WMS) Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard. Metadata and other reference maps (fuel maps, topographic maps, etc) are also available from this geoportal.

Satellite Weather Watch.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Summers, R. Joe

1982-01-01

Describes an inexpensive (about $1,500) direct-readout ground station for use in secondary school science/mathematics programs. Includes suggested activities including, among others, developing map overlays, operating station equipment, interpreting satellite data, developing weather forecasts, and using microcomputers for data storage, orbit…

Tool to assess contents of ARM surface meteorology network netCDF files

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Staudt, A.; Kwan, T.; Tichler, J.

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program, supported by the US Department of Energy, is a major program of atmospheric measurement and modeling designed to improve the understanding of processes and properties that affect atmospheric radiation, with a particular focus on the influence of clouds and the role of cloud radiative feedback in the climate system. The ARM Program will use three highly instrumented primary measurement sites. Deployment of instrumentation at the first site, located in the Southern Great Plains of the United States, began in May of 1992. The first phase of deployment at the second site in the Tropicalmore » Western Pacific is scheduled for late in 1995. The third site will be in the North Slope of Alaska and adjacent Arctic Ocean. To meet the scientific objectives of ARM, observations from the ARM sites are combined with data from other sources; these are called external data. Among these external data sets are surface meteorological observations from the Oklahoma Mesonet, a Kansas automated weather network, the Wind Profiler Demonstration Network (WPDN), and the National Weather Service (NWS) surface stations. Before combining these data with the Surface Meteorological Observations Station (SMOS) ARM data, it was necessary to assess the contents and quality of both the ARM and the external data sets. Since these data sets had previously been converted to netCDF format for use by the ARM Science Team, a tool was written to assess the contents of the netCDF files.« less

Kunsan AB, Kunsan, Korea. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (Russwo) Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-10-27

Ch T ,, fC /, SAF SURFACE WINDS A I’!k I0TIA-ER SERv ICEI- /t PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY OF WIND DIRECTION AND SPEED (FROM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS) STATION STATION...9 .3 7. e i i, _ ,__ F ._ ss .71 .3; .8 b I .3 3’ a I 1 l.A 7.o w - 194 - _2 --- __ 1____ 1 .7 7.1 __ .4_.,.0 6. y NNW 4- . . .1 10 b. C 6.1 CALM...8217.. ’ . % ;. ) H--- ’• 3. :," , 7’ fC . ’ r;.7 97.’ ) L:. o i’, 9 ’. 9 C ’ " - 9 *.; 7. t) Q .IAo .... Ll 79. ... J .. _ ! i ¢Vo7i 9.9 90o7 97ou, ’,3 ; * I ,vq,9 99

Parametric vs. non-parametric daily weather generator: validation and comparison

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubrovsky, Martin

2016-04-01

As the climate models (GCMs and RCMs) fail to satisfactorily reproduce the real-world surface weather regime, various statistical methods are applied to downscale GCM/RCM outputs into site-specific weather series. The stochastic weather generators are among the most favourite downscaling methods capable to produce realistic (observed like) meteorological inputs for agrological, hydrological and other impact models used in assessing sensitivity of various ecosystems to climate change/variability. To name their advantages, the generators may (i) produce arbitrarily long multi-variate synthetic weather series representing both present and changed climates (in the latter case, the generators are commonly modified by GCM/RCM-based climate change scenarios), (ii) be run in various time steps and for multiple weather variables (the generators reproduce the correlations among variables), (iii) be interpolated (and run also for sites where no weather data are available to calibrate the generator). This contribution will compare two stochastic daily weather generators in terms of their ability to reproduce various features of the daily weather series. M&Rfi is a parametric generator: Markov chain model is used to model precipitation occurrence, precipitation amount is modelled by the Gamma distribution, and the 1st order autoregressive model is used to generate non-precipitation surface weather variables. The non-parametric GoMeZ generator is based on the nearest neighbours resampling technique making no assumption on the distribution of the variables being generated. Various settings of both weather generators will be assumed in the present validation tests. The generators will be validated in terms of (a) extreme temperature and precipitation characteristics (annual and 30 years extremes and maxima of duration of hot/cold/dry/wet spells); (b) selected validation statistics developed within the frame of VALUE project. The tests will be based on observational weather series from several European stations available from the ECA&D database.

Surface Landing Site Weather Analysis for Constellation Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Altino, Karen M.; Burns, K. Lee

2008-01-01

Weather information is an important asset for NASA's Constellation Program in developing the next generation space transportation system to fly to the International Space Station, the Moon and, eventually, to Mars. Weather conditions can affect vehicle safety and performance during multiple mission phases ranging from pre-launch ground processing to landing and recovery operations, including all potential abort scenarios. Meteorological analysis is an important contributor, not only to the development and verification of system design requirements but also to mission planning and active ground operations. Of particular interest are the surface atmospheric conditions at both nominal and abort landing sites for the manned Orion capsule. Weather parameters such as wind, rain, and fog all play critical roles in the safe landing of the vehicle and subsequent crew and vehicle recovery. The Marshall Space Flight Center Natural Environments Branch has been tasked by the Constellation Program with defining the natural environments at potential landing zones. Climatological time series of operational surface weather observations are used to calculate probabilities of occurrence of various sets of hypothetical vehicle constraint thresholds, Data are available for numerous geographical locations such that statistical analysis can be performed for single sites as well as multiple-site network configurations. Results provide statistical descriptions of how often certain weather conditions are observed at the site(s) and the percentage that specified criteria thresholds are matched or exceeded. Outputs are tabulated by month and hour of day to show both seasonal and diurnal variation. This paper will describe the methodology used for data collection and quality control, detail the types of analyses performed, and provide a sample of the results that can be obtained,

Monthly Surface Air Temperature Time Series Area-Averaged Over the 30-Degree Latitudinal Belts of the Globe

DOE Data Explorer

Lugina, K. M. [Department of Geography, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia; Groisman, P. Ya. [National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, North Carolina USA); Vinnikov, K. Ya. [Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland (USA); Koknaeva, V. V. [State Hydrological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia; Speranskaya, N. A. [State Hydrological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia

2006-01-01

The mean monthly and annual values of surface air temperature compiled by Lugina et al. have been taken mainly from the World Weather Records, Monthly Climatic Data for the World, and Meteorological Data for Individual Years over the Northern Hemisphere Excluding the USSR. These published records were supplemented with information from different national publications. In the original archive, after removal of station records believed to be nonhomogeneous or biased, 301 and 265 stations were used to determine the mean temperature for the Northern and Southern hemispheres, respectively. The new version of the station temperature archive (used for evaluation of the zonally-averaged temperatures) was created in 1995. The change to the archive was required because data from some stations became unavailable for analyses in the 1990s. During this process, special care was taken to secure homogeneity of zonally averaged time series. When a station (or a group of stations) stopped reporting, a "new" station (or group of stations) was selected in the same region, and its data for the past 50 years were collected and added to the archive. The processing (area-averaging) was organized in such a way that each time series from a new station spans the reference period (1951-1975) and the years thereafter. It was determined that the addition of the new stations had essentially no effect on the zonally-averaged values for the pre-1990 period.

Compilation of Water-Resources Data and Hydrogeologic Setting for Brunswick County, North Carolina, 1933-2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fine, Jason M.; Cunningham, William L.

2001-01-01

Water-resources data were compiled for Brunswick County, North Carolina, to describe the hydrologic conditions of the County. Hydrologic data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey as well as data collected by other governmental agencies and reviewed by the U.S. Geological Survey are presented. Data from four weather stations and two surface-water stations are summarized. Data also are presented for land use and land cover, soils, geology, hydrogeology, 12 continuously monitored ground-water wells, 73 periodically measured ground-water wells, and water-quality measurements from 39 ground-water wells. Mean monthly precipitation at the Longwood, Shallotte, Southport, and Wilmington Airport weather stations ranged from 2.19 to 7.94 inches for the periods of record, and mean monthly temperatures at the Longwood, Southport, and Wilmington Airport weather stations ranged from 43.4 to 80.1 degrees Fahrenheit for the periods of record. An evaluation of land-use and land-cover data for Brunswick County indicated that most of the County is either forested land (about 57 percent) or wetlands (about 29 percent). Cross sections are presented to illustrate the general hydrogeology beneath Brunswick County. Water-level data for Brunswick County indicate that water levels ranged from about 110 feet above mean sea level to about 22 feet below mean sea level. Chloride concentrations measured in aquifers in Brunswick County ranged from near 0 to 15,000 milligrams per liter. Chloride levels in the Black Creek and Cape Fear aquifers were measured at well above the potable limit for ground water of 250 milligrams per liter set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for safe drinking water.

Thermoelectric generator installation at Divide Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS).

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-04-13

The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) has a network of Road Weather Information System (RWIS) environmental sensor stations (ESS) deployed along the road network. Six of the stations do not have access to commercial power an...

AMRC / AWS -- SSEC

Science.gov Websites

Program (USAP) sister projects focusing on observational Antarctic meteorological research, providing real -Madison Antarctic Meteorological Research Center & Automatic Weather Stations Project The Antarctic Meteorological Research Center (AMRC) and Automatic Weather Station (AWS) program are United States Antarctic

Assessing the spatial variability of mountain precipitation in California's Sierra Nevada using the Airborne Snow Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandt, T.; Deems, J. S.; Painter, T. H.; Dozier, J.

2016-12-01

In California's Sierra Nevada, 10 or fewer winter storms are responsible for most of the annual precipitation, which falls mostly as snow. Presently, surface stations are used to measure the dynamics of mountain precipitation. However, even in places like the Sierra Nevada—one of the most gauged regions in the world—the paucity of surface stations can lead to large errors in precipitation thereby biasing both total water year and short-term streamflow forecasts. Remotely sensed snow depth and water equivalent, at a time scale that resolves storms, might provide a novel solution to the problems of: (1) quantifying the spatial variability of mountain precipitation; and (2) assessing gridded precipitation products that are mostly based on surface station interpolation. NASA's Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO), an imaging spectrometer and LiDAR system, has measured snow in the Tuolumne River Basin in California's Sierra Nevada for the past four years, 2013-2016; and, measurements will continue. Principally, ASO monitors the progression of melt for water supply forecasting, nonetheless, a number of flights bracketed storms allowing for estimates of snow accumulation. In this study we examine a few of the ASO recorded storms to determine both the basin and subbasin orographic effect as well as the spatial patterns in total precipitation. We then compare these results to a number of gridded climate products and weather models including: Daymet, the Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM), the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS-2), and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Finally, to put each ASO recorded storm into context, we use a climatology produced from snow pillows and the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) for 2014-2016 to examine key accumulation events, and classify storms based on their integrated water vapor flux.

Improved forecasts of winter weather extremes over midlatitudes with extra Arctic observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Kazutoshi; Inoue, Jun; Yamazaki, Akira; Kim, Joo-Hong; Maturilli, Marion; Dethloff, Klaus; Hudson, Stephen R.; Granskog, Mats A.

2017-02-01

Recent cold winter extremes over Eurasia and North America have been considered to be a consequence of a warming Arctic. More accurate weather forecasts are required to reduce human and socioeconomic damages associated with severe winters. However, the sparse observing network over the Arctic brings errors in initializing a weather prediction model, which might impact accuracy of prediction results at midlatitudes. Here we show that additional Arctic radiosonde observations from the Norwegian young sea ICE expedition (N-ICE2015) drifting ice camps and existing land stations during winter improved forecast skill and reduced uncertainties of weather extremes at midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. For two winter storms over East Asia and North America in February 2015, ensemble forecast experiments were performed with initial conditions taken from an ensemble atmospheric reanalysis in which the observation data were assimilated. The observations reduced errors in initial conditions in the upper troposphere over the Arctic region, yielding more precise prediction of the locations and strengths of upper troughs and surface synoptic disturbances. Errors and uncertainties of predicted upper troughs at midlatitudes would be brought with upper level high potential vorticity (PV) intruding southward from the observed Arctic region. This is because the PV contained a "signal" of the additional Arctic observations as it moved along an isentropic surface. This suggests that a coordinated sustainable Arctic observing network would be effective not only for regional weather services but also for reducing weather risks in locations distant from the Arctic.

The importance of accurate glacier albedo for estimates of surface mass balance on Vatnajökull: Evaluating the surface energy budget in a Regional Climate Model with automatic weather station observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steffensen Schmidt, Louise; Aðalgeirsdóttir, Guðfinna; Guðmundsson, Sverrir; Langen, Peter L.; Pálsson, Finnur; Mottram, Ruth; Gascoin, Simon; Björnsson, Helgi

2017-04-01

The evolution of the surface mass balance of Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland, from 1981 to the present day is estimated by using the Regional Climate Model HIRHAM5 to simulate the surface climate. A new albedo parametrization is used for the simulation, which describes the albedo with an exponential decay with time. In addition, it utilizes a new background map of the ice albedo created from MODIS data. The simulation is validated against observed daily values of weather parameters from five Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs) from 2001-2014, as well as mass balance measurements from 1995-2014. The modelled albedo is overestimated at the AWS sites in the ablation zone, which we attribute to an overestimation of the thickness of the snow layer and the model not accounting for dust and ash deposition during dust storms and volcanic eruptions. A comparison with the specific summer, winter, and annual mass balance for all Vatnajökull from 1995-2014 shows a good overall fit during the summer, with the model underestimating the balance by only 0.04 m w. eq. on average. The winter balance, on the other hand, is overestimated by 0.5 m w. eq. on average, mostly due to an overestimation of the precipitation at the highest areas of the ice cap. A simple correction of the accumulation at these points reduced the error to 0.15 m w. eq. The model captures the evolution of the specific mass balance well, for example it captures an observed shift in the balance in the mid-1990s, which gives us confidence in the results for the entire model run. Our results show the importance of bare ice albedo for modelled mass balance and that processes not currently accounted for in RCMs, such as dust storms, are an important source of uncertainty in estimates of the snow melt rate.

KSC-2011-6750

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-09-06

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Joel Tumbiolo, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., participates in the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) prelaunch news conference in the NASA Press Site auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. GRAIL is scheduled to launch Sept. 8 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem around the moon to precisely measure and map variations in the moon's gravitational field. The mission will provide the most accurate global gravity field to date for any planet, including Earth. This detailed information will reveal differences in the density of the moon's crust and mantle and will help answer fundamental questions about the moon's internal structure, thermal evolution, and history of collisions with asteroids. The aim is to map the moon's gravity field so completely that future moon vehicles can safely navigate anywhere on the moon’s surface. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/grail. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Automated Continuous Commissioning of Commercial Buildings

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

matched pair of supply and return chilled water temperature sensors, a pyranometer , and aspirated wet and dry bulb temperature sensors for the weather...temp X Aspirated weather station is required. Outside air wet bulb X Pyranometer X Wind speed & direction X Main power meter X Lighting load power X...Aspirated weather station is required. Outside air wet bulb X Pyranometer X Provides measurements on global horizontal solar radiation, beam radiation and

Anemometer performance at fire-weather stations.

Treesearch

Donald A. Haines; John S. Frost

1984-01-01

A survey of 142 fire-weather stations in the Northeastern United States showed that, although maintenance was generally satisfactory, calibration or testing of anemometers was virtually nonexistent. We tested these anemometers using portable equipment that we designed and found the deviations from true wind speed.

GPS Estimates of Integrated Precipitable Water Aid Weather Forecasters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Angelyn W.; Gutman, Seth I.; Holub, Kirk; Bock, Yehuda; Danielson, David; Laber, Jayme; Small, Ivory

2013-01-01

Global Positioning System (GPS) meteorology provides enhanced density, low-latency (30-min resolution), integrated precipitable water (IPW) estimates to NOAA NWS (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis tration Nat ional Weather Service) Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) to provide improved model and satellite data verification capability and more accurate forecasts of extreme weather such as flooding. An early activity of this project was to increase the number of stations contributing to the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) GPS meteorology observing network in Southern California by about 27 stations. Following this, the Los Angeles/Oxnard and San Diego WFOs began using the enhanced GPS-based IPW measurements provided by ESRL in the 2012 and 2013 monsoon seasons. Forecasters found GPS IPW to be an effective tool in evaluating model performance, and in monitoring monsoon development between weather model runs for improved flood forecasting. GPS stations are multi-purpose, and routine processing for position solutions also yields estimates of tropospheric zenith delays, which can be converted into mm-accuracy PWV (precipitable water vapor) using in situ pressure and temperature measurements, the basis for GPS meteorology. NOAA ESRL has implemented this concept with a nationwide distribution of more than 300 "GPSMet" stations providing IPW estimates at sub-hourly resolution currently used in operational weather models in the U.S.

An aid to streamlining fire-weather station networks

Treesearch

R. William Furman

1975-01-01

For reasons of economy it may be necessary to close one or several fire-weather stations in a protection area. Since it is logical to close those stations that will have the least impact on the ability of the fire manager to assess overall fire danger, it is desirable to know if there is duplication in monitoring fire climate, and to what degree. A method is proposed...

Exploring the Utility of Model-based Meteorology Data for Heat-Related Health Research and Surveillance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vaidyanathan, A.; Yip, F.

2017-12-01

Context: Studies that have explored the impacts of environmental exposure on human health have mostly relied on data from weather stations, which can be limited in geographic scope. For this assessment, we: (1) evaluated the performance of the meteorological data from the North American Land Data Assimilation System Phase 2 (NLDAS) model with measurements from weather stations for public health and specifically for CDC's Environmental Public Health Tracking Program, and (2) conducted a health assessment to explore the relationship between heat exposure and mortality, and examined region-specific differences in heat-mortality (H-M) relationships when using model-based estimates in place of measurements from weather stations.Methods: Meteorological data from the NLDAS Phase 2 model was evaluated against measurements from weather stations. A time-series analysis was conducted, using both station- and model-based data, to generate H-M relationships for counties in the U.S. The county-specific risk information was pooled to characterize regional relationships for both station- and model-based data, which were then compared to identify degrees of overlap and discrepancies between results generated using the two data sources. Results: NLDAS-based heat metrics were in agreement with those generated using weather station data. In general, the H-M relationship tended to be non-linear and varied by region, particularly the heat index value at which the health risks become positively significant. However, there was a high degree of overlap between region-specific H-M relationships generated from weather stations and the NLDAS model.Interpretation: Heat metrics from NLDAS model are available for all counties in the coterminous U.S. from 1979-2015. These data can facilitate health research and surveillance activities exploring health impacts associated with long-term heat exposures at finer geographic scales.Conclusion: High spatiotemporal coverage of environmental health data is an important attribute in understanding potential public health impacts. With the limited geographic scope of station-based measurements, adopting NLDAS-based modeled estimates in CDC's Tracking Network would provide a more comprehensive understanding of specific meteorological exposures on human health.

Evaluating the applicability of using daily forecasts from seasonal prediction systems (SPSs) for agriculture: a case study of Nepal's Terai with the NCEP CFSv2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jha, Prakash K.; Athanasiadis, Panos; Gualdi, Silvio; Trabucco, Antonio; Mereu, Valentina; Shelia, Vakhtang; Hoogenboom, Gerrit

2018-03-01

Ensemble forecasts from dynamic seasonal prediction systems (SPSs) have the potential to improve decision-making for crop management to help cope with interannual weather variability. Because the reliability of crop yield predictions based on seasonal weather forecasts depends on the quality of the forecasts, it is essential to evaluate forecasts prior to agricultural applications. This study analyses the potential of Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2) in predicting the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) for producing meteorological variables relevant to crop modeling. The focus area was Nepal's Terai region, and the local hindcasts were compared with weather station and reanalysis data. The results showed that the CFSv2 model accurately predicts monthly anomalies of daily maximum and minimum air temperature (Tmax and Tmin) as well as incoming total surface solar radiation (Srad). However, the daily climatologies of the respective CFSv2 hindcasts exhibit significant systematic biases compared to weather station data. The CFSv2 is less capable of predicting monthly precipitation anomalies and simulating the respective intra-seasonal variability over the growing season. Nevertheless, the observed daily climatologies of precipitation fall within the ensemble spread of the respective daily climatologies of CFSv2 hindcasts. These limitations in the CFSv2 seasonal forecasts, primarily in precipitation, restrict the potential application for predicting the interannual variability of crop yield associated with weather variability. Despite these limitations, ensemble averaging of the simulated yield using all CFSv2 members after applying bias correction may lead to satisfactory yield predictions.

The Impact of Sea-Surface Winds on Meteorological Conditions in Israel: An Initial Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Otterman, J.; Saaroni, H.; Atlas, R.; Ardizzone, J.; Ben-Dor, E.; Druyan, L.; Jusem, C. J.; Karnieli, A.; Terry, J.

2000-01-01

The SSM/I (Spectral Sensor Microwave Imager) dataset is used to monitor surface wind speed and direction at four locations over the Eastern Mediterranean during December 1998 - January 1999. Time series of these data are compared to concurrent series of precipitation, surface temperature, humidity and winds at selected Israeli stations: Sde Dov (coastal), Bet Dagan (5 km. inland), Jerusalem (Judean Hills), Hafetz Haim (3 km. inland) and Sde Boker (central Negev). December 1998 and the beginning of January 1999 were dry in Israel, but significant precipitation was recorded at many stations during the second half of January (1999). SSM/I data show a surge in westerly surface winds west of Israel (32 N, 32.5 E) on 15 January, coinciding with the renewal of precipitation. We discuss the relevant circulation and pressure patterns during this transition in the context of the evolving meteorological conditions at the selected Israeli locations. The SSM/I dataset of near ocean surface winds, available for the last 12 years, is described. We analyze lagged correlation between these data and the Israeli station data and investigate possibility of predictive skill. Application of such relationships to short-term weather prediction would require real-time access to the SSM/I observations.

A tree fell in the forest, and SPREE heard it: seismic recording of the 2011 St. Croix Valley Blowdown

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolin, E.; van der Lee, S.

2016-12-01

As part of the Superior Province Rifting Earthscope Experiment (SPREE), 82 broadband seismic stations from the EarthScope Flexible Array pool were deployed by the SPREE team from April 2011 through October 2013, to explore the deep structure of the Mid-Continent Rift System (Stein et al., 2011). The deployment included two crosslines with approximate station spacing of 10 km centered near the northern Minnesota-Wisconsin border. Analysis of long-period noise reveals strong seasonal and diurnal variations (Wolin et al., 2015). On 1 July 2011, a severe thunderstorm system swept over the St. Croix Valley, passing directly over the dense SPREE array. This storm system was accompanied by a series of downbursts that generated straight-line winds in excess of 100 km/hr, resulting in extensive damage to hundreds of thousands of acres of forest. Seven SPREE stations were located in the path of the storm, with two stations in the center of areas that were heavily damaged by downbursts. The stations remained in operation throughout this extreme weather event, capturing a unique record of ground noise generated by the storm system. We compare available radar reflectivity data with seismic noise power spectra throughout the event and show that storm cells generated significant broadband seismic signals as they passed over the region. Relative to typical background seismic noise levels, power between 0.05-10 Hz increased by 5-20 dB during the storm. Seismic noise levels can be compared to available wind speed data to provide a detailed record of wind speeds during the weather event. We also explore the long-period coherence of energy across the array, which is potentially useful to help constrain near-surface velocity structure at the array sites as well as to better characterize how atmospheric processes couple into the solid earth during severe weather events.

Phoenix Lander on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander monitors the atmosphere overhead and reaches out to the soil below in this artist's depiction of the spacecraft fully deployed on the surface of Mars.

Phoenix has been assembled and tested for launch in August 2007 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., and for landing in May or June 2008 on an arctic plain of far-northern Mars. The mission responds to evidence returned from NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter in 2002 indicating that most high-latitude areas on Mars have frozen water mixed with soil within arm's reach of the surface.

Phoenix will use a robotic arm to dig down to the expected icy layer. It will analyze scooped-up samples of the soil and ice for factors that will help scientists evaluate whether the subsurface environment at the site ever was, or may still be, a favorable habitat for microbial life. The instruments on Phoenix will also gather information to advance understanding about the history of the water in the icy layer. A weather station on the lander will conduct the first study Martian arctic weather from ground level.

The vertical green line in this illustration shows how the weather station on Phoenix will use a laser beam from a lidar instrument to monitor dust and clouds in the atmosphere. The dark 'wings' to either side of the lander's main body are solar panels for providing electric power.

The Phoenix mission is led by Principal Investigator Peter H. Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, with project management at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and development partnership with Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver. International contributions for Phoenix are provided by the Canadian Space Agency, the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland), the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), the Max Planck Institute (Germany) and the Finnish Meteorological institute. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Phoenix Lander on Mars (Stereo)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander monitors the atmosphere overhead and reaches out to the soil below in this stereo illustration of the spacecraft fully deployed on the surface of Mars. The image appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-green stereo glasses.

Phoenix has been assembled and tested for launch in August 2007 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., and for landing in May or June 2008 on an arctic plain of far-northern Mars. The mission responds to evidence returned from NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter in 2002 indicating that most high-latitude areas on Mars have frozen water mixed with soil within arm's reach of the surface.

Phoenix will use a robotic arm to dig down to the expected icy layer. It will analyze scooped-up samples of the soil and ice for factors that will help scientists evaluate whether the subsurface environment at the site ever was, or may still be, a favorable habitat for microbial life. The instruments on Phoenix will also gather information to advance understanding about the history of the water in the icy layer. A weather station on the lander will conduct the first study Martian arctic weather from ground level.

The vertical green line in this illustration shows how the weather station on Phoenix will use a laser beam from a lidar instrument to monitor dust and clouds in the atmosphere. The dark 'wings' to either side of the lander's main body are solar panels for providing electric power.

The Phoenix mission is led by Principal Investigator Peter H. Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, with project management at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and development partnership with Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver. International contributions for Phoenix are provided by the Canadian Space Agency, the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland), the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), the Max Planck Institute (Germany) and the Finnish Meteorological institute. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

A HIERARCHIAL STOCHASTIC MODEL OF LARGE SCALE ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION PATTERNS AND MULTIPLE STATION DAILY PRECIPITATION

EPA Science Inventory

A stochastic model of weather states and concurrent daily precipitation at multiple precipitation stations is described. our algorithms are invested for classification of daily weather states; k means, fuzzy clustering, principal components, and principal components coupled with ...

Cost and Performance Comparison of an Earth-Orbiting Optical Communication Relay Transceiver and a Ground-Based Optical Receiver Subnet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, K. E.; Wright, M.; Cesarone, R.; Ceniceros, J.; Shea, K.

2003-01-01

Optical communications can provide high-data-rate telemetry from deep-space probes with subsystems that have lower mass, consume less power, and are smaller than their radio frequency (RF) counterparts. However, because optical communication is more affected by weather than is RF communication, it requires ground station site diversity to mitigate the adverse effects of inclement weather on the link. An optical relay satellite is not affected by weather and can provide 24-hour coverage of deep-space probes. Using such a relay satellite for the deep-space link and an 8.4-GHz (X-band) link to a ground station would support high-data-rate links from small deep-space probes with very little link loss due to inclement weather. We have reviewed past JPL-funded work on RF and optical relay satellites, and on proposed clustered and linearly dispersed optical subnets. Cost comparisons show that the life cycle costs of a 7-m optical relay station based on the heritage of the Next Generation Space Telescope is comparable to that of an 8-station subnet of 10-m optical ground stations. This makes the relay link an attractive option vis-a-vis a ground station network.

Simulation-based coefficients for adjusting climate impact on energy consumption of commercial buildings

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Na; Makhmalbaf, Atefe; Srivastava, Viraj

This paper presents a new technique for and the results of normalizing building energy consumption to enable a fair comparison among various types of buildings located near different weather stations across the U.S. The method was developed for the U.S. Building Energy Asset Score, a whole-building energy efficiency rating system focusing on building envelope, mechanical systems, and lighting systems. The Asset Score is calculated based on simulated energy use under standard operating conditions. Existing weather normalization methods such as those based on heating and cooling degrees days are not robust enough to adjust all climatic factors such as humidity andmore » solar radiation. In this work, over 1000 sets of climate coefficients were developed to separately adjust building heating, cooling, and fan energy use at each weather station in the United States. This paper also presents a robust, standardized weather station mapping based on climate similarity rather than choosing the closest weather station. This proposed simulated-based climate adjustment was validated through testing on several hundreds of thousands of modeled buildings. Results indicated the developed climate coefficients can isolate and adjust for the impacts of local climate for asset rating.« less

Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO) for Little Rock AFB, Little Rock, Arkansas. Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-02-06

PHOTOGRAPH THIS SHEEL Camera Operator "o When Filming attachod document use Bell & Howell camera 0NLY:𔃻 LEVEL Consult with Supervisor for INVENTORY...hours during the period available from 5. 5. operated stations. The hours used by each servic. fot each period ae as follws: Air rorce Stations; U.S...MOTH ALL .LT4ET 2900-1100 CLASS WOURS ( US T) CONDITION (KNTS) ’ 1 .3 A.6 7.10 1It-16 17-21 22-27 28.33 34-40 41.4 48-5 5 56 % WIND (KTS 3 tI SPEED,I

Development of climate data input files for the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG).

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-06-30

Prior to this effort, Mississippi's MEPDG climate files were limited to 12 weather stations in only 10 countries and only seven weather stations had over 8 years (100 months)of data. Hence, building MEPDG climate input datasets improves modeling accu...

KSC-2014-2978

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-06-18

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Personnel from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL in California secure the protective cover around NASA's International Space Station-RapidScat during testing of its rotating radar antenna and its flight computer and airborne support equipment, at left, in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left are RapidScat project manager John Wirth and JPL flight technician Kieran McKay. Built at JPL, the radar scatterometer is the first scientific Earth-observing instrument designed to operate from the exterior of the space station. It will measure Earth's ocean surface wind speed and direction, providing data to be used in weather and marine forecasting. ISS-RapidScat will be delivered to the station on the SpaceX-4 commercial cargo resupply flight targeted for August 2014. For more information, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/iss-rapidscat. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

An Extended Objective Evaluation of the 29-km Eta Model for Weather Support to the United States Space Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nutter, Paul; Manobianco, John

1998-01-01

This report describes the Applied Meteorology Unit's objective verification of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction 29-km eta model during separate warm and cool season periods from May 1996 through January 1998. The verification of surface and upper-air point forecasts was performed at three selected stations important for 45th Weather Squadron, Spaceflight Meteorology Group, and National Weather Service, Melbourne operational weather concerns. The statistical evaluation identified model biases that may result from inadequate parameterization of physical processes. Since model biases are relatively small compared to the random error component, most of the total model error results from day-to-day variability in the forecasts and/or observations. To some extent, these nonsystematic errors reflect the variability in point observations that sample spatial and temporal scales of atmospheric phenomena that cannot be resolved by the model. On average, Meso-Eta point forecasts provide useful guidance for predicting the evolution of the larger scale environment. A more substantial challenge facing model users in real time is the discrimination of nonsystematic errors that tend to inflate the total forecast error. It is important that model users maintain awareness of ongoing model changes. Such changes are likely to modify the basic error characteristics, particularly near the surface.

High resolution regional climate simulation of the Hawaiian Islands - Validation of the historical run from 2003 to 2012

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xue, L.; Newman, A. J.; Ikeda, K.; Rasmussen, R.; Clark, M. P.; Monaghan, A. J.

2016-12-01

A high-resolution (a 1.5 km grid spacing domain nested within a 4.5 km grid spacing domain) 10-year regional climate simulation over the entire Hawaiian archipelago is being conducted at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model version 3.7.1. Numerical sensitivity simulations of the Hawaiian Rainband Project (HaRP, a filed experiment from July to August in 1990) showed that the simulated precipitation properties are sensitive to initial and lateral boundary conditions, sea surface temperature (SST), land surface models, vertical resolution and cloud droplet concentration. The validations of model simulated statistics of the trade wind inversion, temperature, wind field, cloud cover, and precipitation over the islands against various observations from soundings, satellites, weather stations and rain gauges during the period from 2003 to 2012 will be presented at the meeting.

Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations. Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-12

UNIFORM SUMMARY OF ASURFACE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS WURTSMITH AFB MI MSC 726395 N 44 27 W 0 8 3 24 ELEV 634 FT KOSC PARTS A - F HOURS SUMMARIZED 0000...SNOaFA[ USAFETAC FWCM SJPMAPY Of DAY [ATA AIR AFATHtr 5!RVICE/MAC STATION NUMSLR: 726395 STAT1O N NAmE : wURTSMITH Arb MI PI 0 IOU Or Pt COPD : ,j-7...1 1 1 F U),,%! WVAI limb, : r UC ’,1iL (L7’AI7,LOGY PRANC*tH Pt.FP NIA’ - FPR(’U,7NCY OF OCCURr-NCL OF SUPFACE WINO UIRECrIPN V(R.SUS gIE . 7 Ajj L1

Characterization of the Shuttle Landing Facility as a laser range for testing and evaluation of EO systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stromqvist Vetelino, Frida; Borbath, Michael R.; Andrews, Larry C.; Phillips, Ronald L.; Burdge, Geoffrey L.; Chin, Peter G.; Galus, Darren J.; Wayne, David; Pescatore, Robert; Cowan, Doris; Thomas, Frederick

2005-08-01

The Shuttle Landing Facility runway at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida is almost 5 km long and 100 m wide. Its homogeneous environment makes it a unique and ideal place for testing and evaluating EO systems. An experiment, with the goal of characterizing atmospheric parameters on the runway, was conducted in June 2005. Weather data was collected and the refractive index structure parameter was measured with a commercial scintillometer. The inner scale of turbulence was inferred from wind speed measurements and surface roughness. Values of the crosswind speed obtained from the scintillometer were compared with wind measurements taken by a weather station.

The Meteorology Instrument on Viking Lander 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

Those Martian weather reports, received here daily from more than 200 million miles away, start right here at Viking l's meteorology instrument. Mounted atop the extended boom, the meteorology sensors face away from the spacecraft. They stand about four feet above the surface and measure atmospheric pressure, temperature, wind velocity and wind direction. The cable parallel to the boom is connected inside the spacecraft body with the electronics for operating the sensors, reading the data and preparing it for transmission to Earth. A second Mars weather station will begin operation next month when Viking 2 lands somewhere in the planet's northern latitude Viking 2 arrives at Mars and goes into orbit tomorrow (August 7).

Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations. Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-10-01

REPORTING STATIONS WORLD wICE. S" h * 0 suMMot ANTI V4 "W AM.. 17󈨑 173500 INCIRLIK AB TURKEY/ADANA N 37 00 t 0)s s 238 LTAG 17350 STATION LOCATION...TU PERIOD OF QECORD: 77-83,85-87 14ONTH: WAR HOL;RS(LST|: 03CO--05O I aINO ,PEE’U IN KNOTS DIRECTION I 1-3 4-6 7-1i 11-16 17-21 2Z-2,7 i’s-33 34-40 41...EAT,-ER ,ERv1CE/M&C STATION NUMPPER. 1735CO S TATICN NAME: . 𔃻CIRLIN AB TU PERIQO CF RECOR•: 77-83,8S-87 MON’H: WAR HtoURSLST)J: 06CO-CtiCO

Martin Marietta Airfield, Baltimore, Maryland. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-08-02

FOR PUBLIC RELEASE AND SALE , ITS DIS. TRIBUTION IS UNLIMITED." S5g-4420 b Review and Approval Statement This report is approved for public release...IARIETTA AIRFIEL) MIj) ඏ-78 APR STATION ITATINI Nae ITUN m ALL hFATHF. , 0600-0800 CLAN NOVE (L.,T,) CONDITION SPEED ] MUAN (KNTS) 1 3 4. 6 7- 10 11 •1 1

McChord AFB, Tacoma, Washington. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO)

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-03-19

depth at 0W LST Jan L6-MaY 57 Snow depth at 1230 (JOT Jun 57-present Snow depth at 1.200 G CO’ U. S. Nlavy :mad Wather From neginning of record thru Jun...8217;. Wather Bureau and Navy stations did not report ceilings within the range 10,000 feet and higher prior to jant.ary 19h9. Summaries prepared from

Adaptive Blending of Model and Observations for Automated Short-Range Forecasting: Examples from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bailey, Monika E.; Isaac, George A.; Gultepe, Ismail; Heckman, Ivan; Reid, Janti

2014-01-01

An automated short-range forecasting system, adaptive blending of observations and model (ABOM), was tested in real time during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in British Columbia. Data at 1-min time resolution were available from a newly established, dense network of surface observation stations. Climatological data were not available at these new stations. This, combined with output from new high-resolution numerical models, provided a unique and exciting setting to test nowcasting systems in mountainous terrain during winter weather conditions. The ABOM method blends extrapolations in time of recent local observations with numerical weather predictions (NWP) model predictions to generate short-range point forecasts of surface variables out to 6 h. The relative weights of the model forecast and the observation extrapolation are based on performance over recent history. The average performance of ABOM nowcasts during February and March 2010 was evaluated using standard scores and thresholds important for Olympic events. Significant improvements over the model forecasts alone were obtained for continuous variables such as temperature, relative humidity and wind speed. The small improvements to forecasts of variables such as visibility and ceiling, subject to discontinuous changes, are attributed to the persistence component of ABOM.

Experimental and casework validation of ambient temperature corrections in forensic entomology.

PubMed

Johnson, Aidan P; Wallman, James F; Archer, Melanie S

2012-01-01

This paper expands on Archer (J Forensic Sci 49, 2004, 553), examining additional factors affecting ambient temperature correction of weather station data in forensic entomology. Sixteen hypothetical body discovery sites (BDSs) in Victoria and New South Wales (Australia), both in autumn and in summer, were compared to test whether the accuracy of correlation was affected by (i) length of correlation period; (ii) distance between BDS and weather station; and (iii) periodicity of ambient temperature measurements. The accuracy of correlations in data sets from real Victorian and NSW forensic entomology cases was also examined. Correlations increased weather data accuracy in all experiments, but significant differences in accuracy were found only between periodicity treatments. We found that a >5°C difference between average values of body in situ and correlation period weather station data was predictive of correlations that decreased the accuracy of ambient temperatures estimated using correlation. Practitioners should inspect their weather data sets for such differences. © 2011 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Very Portable Remote Automatic Weather Stations

Treesearch

John R. Warren

1987-01-01

Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS) were introduced to Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management field units in 1978 following development, test, and evaluation activities conducted jointly by the two agencies. The original configuration was designed for semi-permanent installation. Subsequently, a need for a more portable RAWS was expressed, and one was...

Validation of two (parametric vs non-parametric) daily weather generators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubrovsky, M.; Skalak, P.

2015-12-01

As the climate models (GCMs and RCMs) fail to satisfactorily reproduce the real-world surface weather regime, various statistical methods are applied to downscale GCM/RCM outputs into site-specific weather series. The stochastic weather generators are among the most favourite downscaling methods capable to produce realistic (observed-like) meteorological inputs for agrological, hydrological and other impact models used in assessing sensitivity of various ecosystems to climate change/variability. To name their advantages, the generators may (i) produce arbitrarily long multi-variate synthetic weather series representing both present and changed climates (in the latter case, the generators are commonly modified by GCM/RCM-based climate change scenarios), (ii) be run in various time steps and for multiple weather variables (the generators reproduce the correlations among variables), (iii) be interpolated (and run also for sites where no weather data are available to calibrate the generator). This contribution will compare two stochastic daily weather generators in terms of their ability to reproduce various features of the daily weather series. M&Rfi is a parametric generator: Markov chain model is used to model precipitation occurrence, precipitation amount is modelled by the Gamma distribution, and the 1st order autoregressive model is used to generate non-precipitation surface weather variables. The non-parametric GoMeZ generator is based on the nearest neighbours resampling technique making no assumption on the distribution of the variables being generated. Various settings of both weather generators will be assumed in the present validation tests. The generators will be validated in terms of (a) extreme temperature and precipitation characteristics (annual and 30-years extremes and maxima of duration of hot/cold/dry/wet spells); (b) selected validation statistics developed within the frame of VALUE project. The tests will be based on observational weather series from several European stations available from the ECA&D database. Acknowledgements: The weather generator is developed and validated within the frame of projects WG4VALUE (sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of CR), and VALUE (COST ES 1102 action).

Classification of rainfall events for weather forecasting purposes in andean region of Colombia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suárez Hincapié, Joan Nathalie; Romo Melo, Liliana; Vélez Upegui, Jorge Julian; Chang, Philippe

2016-04-01

This work presents a comparative analysis of the results of applying different methodologies for the identification and classification of rainfall events of different duration in meteorological records of the Colombian Andean region. In this study the work area is the urban and rural area of Manizales that counts with a monitoring hydro-meteorological network. This network is composed of forty-five (45) strategically located stations, this network is composed of forty-five (45) strategically located stations where automatic weather stations record seven climate variables: air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, rainfall, solar radiation and barometric pressure. All this information is sent wirelessly every five (5) minutes to a data warehouse located at the Institute of Environmental Studies-IDEA. With obtaining the series of rainfall recorded by the hydrometeorological station Palogrande operated by the National University of Colombia in Manizales (http://froac.manizales.unal.edu.co/bodegaIdea/); it is with this information that we proceed to perform behavior analysis of other meteorological variables, monitored at surface level and that influence the occurrence of such rainfall events. To classify rainfall events different methodologies were used: The first according to Monjo (2009) where the index n of the heavy rainfall was calculated through which various types of precipitation are defined according to the intensity variability. A second methodology that permitted to produce a classification in terms of a parameter β introduced by Rice and Holmberg (1973) and adapted by Llasat and Puigcerver, (1985, 1997) and the last one where a rainfall classification is performed according to the value of its intensity following the issues raised by Linsley (1977) where the rains can be considered light, moderate and strong fall rates to 2.5 mm / h; from 2.5 to 7.6 mm / h and above this value respectively for the previous classifications. The main contribution which is done with this research is the obtainment elements to optimize and to improve the spatial resolution of the results obtained with mesoscale models such as the Weather Research & Forecasting Model- WRF, used in Colombia for the purposes of weather forecasting and that in addition produces other tools used in current issues such as risk management.

Accuracy assessment of land surface temperature retrievals from Landsat 7 ETM + in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica using iButton temperature loggers and weather station data.

PubMed

Brabyn, Lars; Zawar-Reza, Peyman; Stichbury, Glen; Cary, Craig; Storey, Bryan; Laughlin, Daniel C; Katurji, Marwan

2014-04-01

The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica are the largest snow/ice-free regions on this vast continent, comprising 1% of the land mass. Due to harsh environmental conditions, the valleys are bereft of any vegetation. Land surface temperature is a key determinate of microclimate and a driver for sensible and latent heat fluxes of the surface. The Dry Valleys have been the focus of ecological studies as they arguably provide the simplest trophic structure suitable for modelling. In this paper, we employ a validation method for land surface temperatures obtained from Landsat 7 ETM + imagery and compared with in situ land surface temperature data collected from four transects totalling 45 iButtons. A single meteorological station was used to obtain a better understanding of daily and seasonal cycles in land surface temperatures. Results show a good agreement between the iButton and the Landsat 7 ETM + product for clear sky cases. We conclude that Landsat 7 ETM + derived land surface temperatures can be used at broad spatial scales for ecological and meteorological research.

An updated global grid point surface air temperature anomaly data set: 1851--1990

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sepanski, R.J.; Boden, T.A.; Daniels, R.C.

1991-10-01

This document presents land-based monthly surface air temperature anomalies (departures from a 1951--1970 reference period mean) on a 5{degree} latitude by 10{degree} longitude global grid. Monthly surface air temperature anomalies (departures from a 1957--1975 reference period mean) for the Antarctic (grid points from 65{degree}S to 85{degree}S) are presented in a similar way as a separate data set. The data were derived primarily from the World Weather Records and the archives of the United Kingdom Meteorological Office. This long-term record of temperature anomalies may be used in studies addressing possible greenhouse-gas-induced climate changes. To date, the data have been employed inmore » generating regional, hemispheric, and global time series for determining whether recent (i.e., post-1900) warming trends have taken place. This document also presents the monthly mean temperature records for the individual stations that were used to generate the set of gridded anomalies. The periods of record vary by station. Northern Hemisphere station data have been corrected for inhomogeneities, while Southern Hemisphere data are presented in uncorrected form. 14 refs., 11 figs., 10 tabs.« less

Earth aeolian wind streaks: Comparison to wind data from model and stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cohen-Zada, A. L.; Maman, S.; Blumberg, D. G.

2017-05-01

Wind streak is a collective term for a variety of aeolian features that display distinctive albedo surface patterns. Wind streaks have been used to map near-surface winds and to estimate atmospheric circulation patterns on Mars and Venus. However, because wind streaks have been studied mostly on Mars and Venus, much of the knowledge regarding the mechanism and time frame of their formation and their relationship to the atmospheric circulation cannot be verified. This study aims to validate previous studies' results by a comparison of real and modeled wind data with wind streak orientations as measured from remote-sensing images. Orientations of Earth wind streaks were statistically correlated to resultant drift direction (RDD) values calculated from reanalysis and wind data from 621 weather stations. The results showed good agreement between wind streak orientations and reanalysis RDD (r = 0.78). A moderate correlation was found between the wind streak orientations and the weather station data (r = 0.47); a similar trend was revealed on a regional scale when the analysis was performed by continent, with r ranging from 0.641 in North America to 0.922 in Antarctica. At sites where wind streak orientations did not correspond to the RDDs (i.e., a difference of 45°), seasonal and diurnal variations in the wind flow were found to be responsible for deviation from the global pattern. The study thus confirms that Earth wind streaks were formed by the present wind regime and they are indeed indicative of the long-term prevailing wind direction on global and regional scales.

The May 25-27 2005 Mount Logan Storm: Implications for the reconstruction of the climate signal contained in Gulf of Alaska Ice Cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, K.; Holdsworth, G.

2006-12-01

In late May 2005, 3 climbers were immobilized at 5400 m on Mount Logan, Canada`s highest mountain, by the high impact weather associated with an extratropical cyclone over the Gulf of Alaska. Rescue operations were hindered by the high winds, cold temperatures, and heavy snowfall associated with the storm. Ultimately, the climbers were rescued after the weather cleared. Just prior to the storm, two automated weather stations had been deployed on the mountain as part of a research program aimed at interpreting the climate signal contained in summit ice cores. These data provide a unique and hitherto unobtainable record of the high elevation meteorological conditions associated with a severe extratropical cyclone. In this talk, data from these weather stations along with surface and sounding data from the nearby town of Yakutat Alaska, satellite imagery and the NCEP reanalysis are used to characterize the synoptic-scale conditions associated with this storm. Particular emphasis is placed on the water vapor transport associated with this storm. The authors show that during this event, subtropical moisture was transported northwards towards the Mount Logan region. The magnitude of this transport into the Gulf of Alaska was exceeded only 1% of the time during the months of May and June over the period 1948-2005. As a result, the magnitude of the precipitable water field in the Gulf of Alaska region attained values usually found in the tropics. An atmospheric moisture budget analysis indicates that most of the moisture advected into the Mount Logan region was pre-existing water vapor already in the subtropical atmosphere and was not water vapor evaporated from the surface during the evolution of the storm. Implications of this moisture source for our understanding of the water isotopic climate signal in the Mount Logan ice cores will be discussed.

Temperature trend biases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venema, Victor; Lindau, Ralf

2016-04-01

In an accompanying talk we show that well-homogenized national dataset warm more than temperatures from global collections averaged over the region of common coverage. In this poster we want to present auxiliary work about possible biases in the raw observations and on how well relative statistical homogenization can remove trend biases. There are several possible causes of cooling biases, which have not been studied much. Siting could be an important factor. Urban stations tend to move away from the centre to better locations. Many stations started inside of urban areas and are nowadays more outside. Even for villages the temperature difference between the centre and edge can be 0.5°C. When a city station moves to an airport, which often happened around WWII, this takes the station (largely) out of the urban heat island. During the 20th century the Stevenson screen was established as the dominant thermometer screen. This screen protected the thermometer much better against radiation than earlier designs. Deficits of earlier measurement methods have artificially warmed the temperatures in the 19th century. Newer studies suggest we may have underestimated the size of this bias. Currently we are in a transition to Automatic Weather Stations. The net global effect of this transition is not clear at this moment. Irrigation on average decreases the 2m-temperature by about 1 degree centigrade. At the same time, irrigation has increased significantly during the last century. People preferentially live in irrigated areas and weather stations serve agriculture. Thus it is possible that there is a higher likelihood that weather stations are erected in irrigated areas than elsewhere. In this case irrigation could lead to a spurious cooling trend. In the Parallel Observations Science Team of the International Surface Temperature Initiative (ISTI-POST) we are studying influence of the introduction of Stevenson screens and Automatic Weather Stations using parallel measurements, as well as the influence of relocations. Previous validation studies of statistical homogenizations unfortunately have some caveats when it comes to the large-scale trends. The main problem is that the validation datasets had a relatively large signal to noise ratio (SNR), i.e., they had a large break variance relative to the variance of the noise of the difference time series. Our recent work on multiple breakpoint detection methods shows that SNR is very important and that for a SNR around 0.5 the segmentation is about as good as a random segmentation. If the corrections are computed with a composite reference that also contains breaks, the bias due to network-wide transitions that are executed over short periods will reduce the obvious breaks in the single stations, but may not reduce the large-scale bias much. The joint correction method using a decomposition approach (ANOVA) can remove the bias when all breaks (predictors) are known. Any error in the predictors will, however, lead to undercorrection of any large-scale trend biases.

Pikalert(R) System Vehicle Data Translator (VDT) Utilizing Integrated Mobile Observations Pikalert VDT Enhancements, Operations, & Maintenance

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-03-24

The Pikalert System provides high precision road weather guidance. It assesses current weather and road conditions based on observations from connected vehicles, road weather information stations, radar, and weather model analysis fields. It also for...

Building and Operating Weather Satellite Ground Stations for High School Science. Teachers Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Summers, R. Joe; Gotwald, Timothy

Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) images are real-time weather pictures transmitted from satellites on a radio frequency in a video format. Amateur radio enthusiasts and electronic experimenters have for a number of years designed, built, and operated direct readout stations capable of receiving APT photographs. The equipment to receive weather…

--No Title--

Science.gov Websites

822 13431700 1.0 TRUE Approximatation of the best NSRDB weather station to use given a specific location. It is diffcult to know what weather station to use given a specific location; the purpose of this ;DOE"). The user is granted the right, without any fee or cost, to use, copy, modify, alter

Using Satellite Imagery with ET Weather Station Networks to Map Crop Water Use for Irrigation Scheduling: TOPS-SIMS.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Evapotranspiration estimates for scheduling irrigation must be field specific and real time. Weather station networks provide daily reference ET values, but users need to select crop coefficients for their particular crop and field. A prototype system has been developed that combines satellite image...

The capacity of radar, crowdsourced personal weather stations and commercial microwave links to monitor small scale urban rainfall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uijlenhoet, R.; de Vos, L. W.; Leijnse, H.; Overeem, A.; Raupach, T. H.; Berne, A.

2017-12-01

For the purpose of urban rainfall monitoring high resolution rainfall measurements are desirable. Typically C-band radar can provide rainfall intensities at km grid cells every 5 minutes. Opportunistic sensing with commercial microwave links yields rainfall intensities over link paths within cities. Additionally, recent developments have made it possible to obtain large amounts of urban in situ measurements from weather amateurs in near real-time. With a known high resolution simulated rainfall event the accuracy of these three techniques is evaluated, taking into account their respective existing layouts and sampling methods. Under ideal measurement conditions, the weather station networks proves to be most promising. For accurate estimation with radar, an appropriate choice for Z-R relationship is vital. Though both the microwave links and the weather station networks are quite dense, both techniques will underestimate rainfall if not at least one link path / station captures the high intensity rainfall peak. The accuracy of each technique improves when considering rainfall at larger scales, especially by increasing time intervals, with the steepest improvements found in microwave links.

Weather adjustment using seemingly unrelated regression

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Noll, T.A.

1995-05-01

Seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) is a system estimation technique that accounts for time-contemporaneous correlation between individual equations within a system of equations. SUR is suited to weather adjustment estimations when the estimation is: (1) composed of a system of equations and (2) the system of equations represents either different weather stations, different sales sectors or a combination of different weather stations and different sales sectors. SUR utilizes the cross-equation error values to develop more accurate estimates of the system coefficients than are obtained using ordinary least-squares (OLS) estimation. SUR estimates can be generated using a variety of statistical software packagesmore » including MicroTSP and SAS.« less

North American Observing Systems: An Interagency Group Runs Tests at the NCCS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

Some 250,000 weather reports are collected by the National Weather Service (NWS) every day. Important measurements are taken by satellites, weather balloons, ground weather stations, airplanes, oceangoing ships, and tethered ocean buoys. Local or global weather models rely on these reports to provide the raw data used as initial conditions for the models to produce a weather prediction.

Paper birch decline in the Niobrara River Valley, Nebraska: Weather, microclimate, and birch stand conditions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stroh, Esther D.; Miller, Joel P.

2009-01-01

The Niobrara River Valley in north-central Nebraska supports scattered stands of paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh), a species more typical of boreal forests. These birch stands are considered to be relictual populations that have persisted since the end of the Wisconsin glaciation, when regional flora was more boreal in nature (Wright 1970, Kaul and others, 1988). Dieback of canopy-sized birch has been observed throughout the Niobrara Valley in recent years, although no onset dates are documented. The current dieback event probably started around or after the early 1980’s. The study objectives were to understand microclimatic conditions in birch stands relative to nearby weather stations and historic weather conditions, and to assess current health conditions of individual birch trees. Temperature was measured every half-hour from June 2005 through October 2007 in 12 birch stands and individual birch tree health was measured as expressed by percent living canopy in these and 13 additional stands in spring 2006 and 2007. Birch site microclimate was compared to data from a National Weather Service station in Valentine, Nebraska, and to an automated weather station at The Nature Conservancy Niobrara Valley Preserve 24 kilometers north of Johnstown, Nebraska. Historic weather data from the Valentine station and another National Weather Service Station at Ainsworth, Nebraska, were used to reconstruct minimum and maximum temperature at The Nature Conservancy and one microclimate monitoring station using Kalman filtering and smoothing algorithms. Birch stand microclimate differed from local weather stations as well as among stands. Birch health was associated with annual minimum temperature regimes; those stands whose annual daily minimum temperature regimes were most like The Nature Conservancy station contained smaller proportions of living trees. Frequency of freeze/thaw conditions capable of inducing rootlet injury and subsequent crown dieback significantly have increased in the second one-half of the period of record (1978–2007) as compared to the first one-half (1948–1977). River location was associated with birch health; upper river sites had significantly healthier trees than north bank sites. Localized microclimates in the birch stands have likely facilitated the persistence of the birch populations in a region otherwise unsuitable for the species. These microclimate differences may reduce frequency of thaw/freeze conditions that can induce root injury and potential crown dieback. A large population decline in the context of increased frequency of potentially injurious climatic events would make population recovery much more difficult now than from 1948 to 1977, when thaw/freeze conditions were less frequent. These conditions, combined with little evidence of recruitment of young birch and great geographic distances from potential immigrant sources, make the future persistence of birch in the Niobrara River Valley stands uncertain.

Atmospheric Deposition of Nitrogen and Sulfur in the Yellow Sea Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghim, Y.; Kim, J.; Lee, S.; Moon, K.; Won, J.; Yoon, S.

2002-05-01

The Yellow Sea is a semi-enclosed, shelf-type shallow basin with reduced water exchange with the open ocean. The rim of the Yellow Sea--the west side is China and the east side is Korea--is one of the fastest developing zones in the world. During the past several years, considerable measurements have been made both around and over the Yellow Sea in order to study the pollutant transport in the region. Fine particles as well as gaseous pollutants have been routinely measured at three national background monitoring stations on the Korean side. Two ground stations have been operated for supplementing these monitoring stations; one is on the Korean side and the other is on the Chinese side. Aircraft and shipboard measurements were also made during selected intensive measurement periods. However, not all these measurements have been made for a common object. Rather, several research teams carried out their measurements for their own purposes according to separate plans. In the present work, the amounts of nitrogen and sulfur deposited in the region of the Yellow Sea in both dry and wet forms were estimated. Concentration data available from each measurement were reviewed to choose adequate ones. Meteorological data at ground stations were readily obtained either from a collocated automatic weather station or from a surface weather station in the nearby area. However, those over the sea were estimated from the output of RDAPS (Regional Data Assimilation and Prediction System), which were provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration. Precipitation data were only available from several routinely operated ground stations since intensive measurements accompanying aircraft or shipboard measurements were not made on rainy days. The amounts of dry and wet depositions were compared at these stations. (This work was supported in part by the Korea Ministry of Science and Technology under grant 98-LO-01-01-A-003 and in part by the Sustainable Water Resources Research Center of the 21st Century Frontier Research Program.)

Tracking near-surface atmospheric conditions using an infrasound network.

PubMed

Marcillo, O; Johnson, J B

2010-07-01

Continuous volcanic infrasound signal was recorded on a three-microphone network at Kilauea in July 2008 and inverted for near-surface horizontal winds. Inter-station phase delays, determined by signal cross-correlation, vary by up to 4% and are attributable to variable atmospheric conditions. The results suggest two predominant weather regimes during the study period: (1) 6-9 m/s easterly trade winds and (2) lower-intensity 2-5 m/s mountain breezes from Mauna Loa. The results demonstrate the potential of using infrasound for tracking local averaged meteorological conditions, which has implications for modeling plume dispersal and quantifying gas flux.

Edited Synoptic Cloud Reports from Ships and Land Stations Over the Globe, 1982-1991 (NDP-026B)

DOE Data Explorer

Hahn, Carole J. [University of Arizona; Warren, Stephen G. [University of Washington; London, Julius [University of Colorado

1996-01-01

Surface synoptic weather reports for the entire globe for the 10-year period from December 1981 through November 1991 have been processed, edited, and rewritten to provide a data set designed for use in cloud analyses. The information in these reports relating to clouds, including the present weather information, was extracted and put through a series of quality control checks. Reports not meeting certain quality control standards were rejected, as were reports from buoys and automatic weather stations. Correctable inconsistencies within reports were edited for consistency, so that the "edited cloud report" can be used for cloud analysis without further quality checking. Cases of "sky obscured" were interpreted by reference to the present weather code as to whether they indicated fog, rain or snow and were given appropriate cloud type designations. Nimbostratus clouds, which are not specifically coded for in the standard synoptic code, were also given a special designation. Changes made to an original report are indicated in the edited report so that the original report can be reconstructed if desired. While low cloud amount is normally given directly in the synoptic report, the edited cloud report also includes the amounts, either directly reported or inferred, of middle and high clouds, both the non-overlapped amounts and the "actual" amounts (which may be overlapped). Since illumination from the moon is important for the adequate detection of clouds at night, both the relative lunar illuminance and the solar altitude are given, as well as a parameter that indicates whether our recommended illuminance criterion was satisfied. This data set contains 124 million reports from land stations and 15 million reports from ships. Each report is 56 characters in length. The archive consists of 240 files, one file for each month of data for land and ocean separately. With this data set a user can develop a climatology for any particular cloud type or group of types, for any geographical region and any spatial and temporal resolution desired.

Cost and Performance Comparison of an Earth-Orbiting Optical Communication Relay Transceiver and a Ground-Based Optical Receiver Subnet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, K. E.; Wright, M.; Cesarone, R.; Ceniceros, J.; Shea, K.

2003-01-01

Optical communications can provide high-data-rate telemetry from deep-space probes with subsystems that have lower mass, consume less power, and are smaller than their radio frequency (RF) counterparts. However, because optical communication is more a.ected by weather than is RF communication, it requires groundstation site diversity to mitigate the adverse e.ects of inclement weather on the link. An optical relay satellite is not a.ected by weather and can provide 24-hour coverage of deep-space probes. Using such a relay satellite for the deep-space link and an 8.4-GHz (X-band) link to a ground station would support high-data-rate links from small deep-space probes with very little link loss due to inclement weather. We have reviewed past JPL-funded work on RF and optical relay satellites, and on proposed clustered and linearly dispersed optical subnets. Cost comparisons show that the life cycle costs of a 7-m optical relay station based on the heritage of the Next Generation Space Telescope is comparable to that of an 8-station subnet of 10- m optical ground stations. This makes the relay link an attractive option vis- a-vis a ground-station network.

Meteorological data for selected sites along the Colorado River Corridor, Arizona, 2011-13

USGS Publications Warehouse

Caster, Joshua J.; Dealy, Timothy P.; Andrews, Timothy; Fairley, Helen C.; East, Amy E.; Sankey, Joel B.

2014-01-01

This report presents data from 14 automated weather stations collected as part of an ongoing monitoring program within the Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon Recreation Area along the Colorado River Corridor in Arizona. Weather data presented in this document include precipitation, wind speed, maximum wind gusts, wind direction, barometric pressure, relative humidity, and air temperature collected by the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center at 4-minute intervals between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2013, using automated weather stations consisting of a data logger and a weather transmitter equipped with a piezoelectric sensor, ultrasonic transducers, and capacitive thermal and pressure sensors. Data collection was discontinuous because of station additions, station removals, changes in permits, and equipment failure. A large volume of data was collected for each station. These data are part of a larger research effort focused on physical processes affecting landscapes and archaeological-site stability in the Colorado River Corridor—both natural processes (including meteorological events) and those related to the Glen Canyon Dam operations. Meteorological conditions during the study interval were warmer and drier than is typical, due to ongoing drought conditions during the time period studied. The El Niño/Southern Oscillation was primarily in a neutral state during the reporting period.

A Self-Organizing Map Based Evaluation of the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System Using Observations from a 30-m Instrumented Tower on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nigro, M. A.; Cassano, J. J.; Wille, J.; Bromwich, D. H.; Lazzara, M. A.

2015-12-01

An accurate representation of the atmospheric boundary layer in numerical weather prediction models is important for predicting turbulence and energy exchange in the atmosphere. This study uses two years of observations from a 30-m automatic weather station (AWS) installed on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica to evaluate forecasts from the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS), a numerical weather prediction system based on the polar version of the Weather Research and Forecasting (Polar WRF) model that uses the MYJ planetary boundary layer scheme and that primarily supports the extensive aircraft operations of the U.S. Antarctic Program. The 30-m AWS has six levels of instrumentation, providing vertical profiles of temperature, wind speed, and wind direction. The observations show the atmospheric boundary layer over the Ross Ice Shelf is stable approximately 80% of the time, indicating the influence of the permanent ice surface in this region. The observations from the AWS are further analyzed using the method of self-organizing maps (SOM) to identify the range of potential temperature profiles that occur over the Ross Ice Shelf. The SOM analysis identified 30 patterns, which range from strong inversions to slightly unstable profiles. The corresponding AMPS forecasts were evaluated for each of the 30 patterns to understand the accuracy of the AMPS near surface layer under different atmospheric conditions. The results indicate that under stable conditions AMPS with MYJ under predicts the inversion strength by as much as 7.4 K over the 30-m depth of the tower and over predicts the near surface wind speed by as much as 3.8 m s-1. Conversely, under slightly unstable conditions, AMPS predicts both the inversion strength and near surface wind speeds with reasonable accuracy.

Maui Optical Site, Mt. Halekulia, Hawaii, Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO) Parts C, E-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-09-23

PAGE 1 no2IJ1L HouRs I.. S. T .) Tomp. _ _WET BULB TEMPERATURE DEPRESSION (F) TOTAL TOTAL (F) 0_1__2_.4 1 5. 0111- 12113.-14 15.-16117.-1S119.-20 21.22...80 JAN STATION STATION NAME YEARS MONTH PAGE 1 (13110-1 1501711 HOURS (L. S. T .) Temp. _ WET BULB TEMPERATURE DEPRESsION (F) J TOTAL TOTAL (F) o 1. T 3...NAME YEARS MONTH PAGE 1 111nn-nAnn HOURS t . S. T ,) Temp. WET BULB TEMPERATURE DEPRESSION (P) TOTAL TOTAL F 0 1.? 3-4 5.6 7-S 9.10 11 1213 14 1 16

Classification of weather patterns to study the influence of meteorological characteristics on PM2.5 concentrations in Yunlin County, Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsu, Chia-Hua; Cheng, Fang-Yi

2016-11-01

Yunlin County is located in the central part of western Taiwan with major emissions from the Mailiao industrial park, the Taichung Power Plants and heavy traffic. In order to understand the influence of meteorological conditions on PM2.5 concentrations in Yunlin County, we applied a two-stage cluster analysis method using the daily averaged surface winds from four air quality monitoring stations in Yunlin County to classify the weather pattern. The study period includes 1095 days from Jan 2013 to December 2015. The classification results show that the low PM2.5 concentration occurs when the synoptic weather in Taiwan is affected by the strong southwesterly monsoonal flow. The high PM2.5 concentration occurs when Taiwan is under the influence of weak synoptic weather conditions and continental high-pressure peripheral circulation. A high PM2.5 event was studied and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) meteorological model was performed. The result indicated that due to being blocked by the Central Mountain Range, Yunlin County, which is situated on the leeside of the mountains, exhibits low wind speed and strong subsidence behavior that favors PM2.5 accumulation.

Response of North American ecosystem models to multi-annual periodicities in temperature and precipitation

Treesearch

J. Alan Yeakley; Ron A. Moen; David D. Breshears; Martha K. Nungesser

1994-01-01

Ecosystem models typically use input temperature and precipitation data generated stochastically from weather station means and variances. Although the weather station data are based on measurements taken over a few decades, model simulations are usually on the order of centuries. Consequently, observed periodicities in temperature and precipitation at the continental...

Validation of Noah-simulated Soil Temperature in the North American Land Data Assimilation System Phase 2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xia, Youlong; Ek, Michael; Sheffield, Justin

2013-02-25

Soil temperature can exhibit considerable memory from weather and climate signals and is among the most important initial conditions in numerical weather and climate models. Consequently, a more accurate long-term land surface soil temperature dataset is needed to improve weather and climate simulation and prediction, and is also important for the simulation of agricultural crop yield and ecological processes. The North-American Land Data Assimilation (NLDAS) Phase 2 (NLDAS-2) has generated 31-years (1979-2009) of simulated hourly soil temperature data with a spatial resolution of 1/8o. This dataset has not been comprehensively evaluated to date. Thus, the ultimate purpose of the presentmore » work is to assess Noah-simulated soil temperature for different soil depths and timescales. We used long-term (1979-2001) observed monthly mean soil temperatures from 137 cooperative stations over the United States to evaluate simulated soil temperature for three soil layers (0-10 cm, 10-40 cm, 40-100 cm) for annual and monthly timescales. We used short-term (1997-1999) observed soil temperature from 72 Oklahoma Mesonet stations to validate simulated soil temperatures for three soil layers and for daily and hourly timescales. The results showed that the Noah land surface model (Noah LSM) generally matches observed soil temperature well for different soil layers and timescales. At greater depths, the simulation skill (anomaly correlation) decreased for all time scales. The monthly mean diurnal cycle difference between simulated and observed soil temperature revealed large midnight biases in the cold season due to small downward longwave radiation and issues related to model parameters.« less

Micro Weather Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoenk, Michael E.

1999-01-01

Improved in situ meteorological measurements in the troposphere and stratosphere are needed for studies of weather and climate, both as a primary data source and as validation for remote sensing instruments. Following the initial development and successful flight validation of the surface acoustic wave (SAW) hygrometer, the micro weather station program was directed toward the development of an integrated instrument, capable of accurate, in situ profiling of the troposphere, and small enough to fly on a radiosonde balloon for direct comparison with standard radiosondes. On April 23, 1998, working with Frank Schmidlin and Bob Olson of Wallops Island Flight Facility, we flew our instrument in a dual payload experiment, for validation and direct comparison with a Vaisala radiosonde. During that flight, the SAW dewpoint hygrometer measured frostpoint down to -76T at 44,000 feet. Using a laptop computer in radio contact with the balloon, we monitored data in real time, issued the cutdown command, and recovered the payload less than an hour after landing in White Sands Missile Range, 50 miles from the launch site in Hatch, New Mexico. Future flights will extend the intercomparison, and attempt to obtain in situ meteorological profiles from the surface through the tropopause. The SAW hygrometer was successfully deployed on the NASA DC8 as part of NASA's Third Convection and Moisture Experiment (CAMEX-3) during August and September, 1998. This field campaign was devoted to the study of hurricane tracking and intensification using NASA-funded aircraft. In situ humidity data from the SAW hygrometer are currently being analyzed and compared with data from other instruments on the DC8 and ER2 aircraft. Additional information is contained in the original.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sepanski, R.J.; Boden, T.A.; Daniels, R.C.

This document presents land-based monthly surface air temperature anomalies (departures from a 1951--1970 reference period mean) on a 5{degree} latitude by 10{degree} longitude global grid. Monthly surface air temperature anomalies (departures from a 1957--1975 reference period mean) for the Antarctic (grid points from 65{degree}S to 85{degree}S) are presented in a similar way as a separate data set. The data were derived primarily from the World Weather Records and the archives of the United Kingdom Meteorological Office. This long-term record of temperature anomalies may be used in studies addressing possible greenhouse-gas-induced climate changes. To date, the data have been employed inmore » generating regional, hemispheric, and global time series for determining whether recent (i.e., post-1900) warming trends have taken place. This document also presents the monthly mean temperature records for the individual stations that were used to generate the set of gridded anomalies. The periods of record vary by station. Northern Hemisphere station data have been corrected for inhomogeneities, while Southern Hemisphere data are presented in uncorrected form. 14 refs., 11 figs., 10 tabs.« less

The Worldwide Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) Stations (WIPSS) Network in support of Space-Weather Science and Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bisi, M. M.; Gonzalez-Esparza, A.; Jackson, B. V.; Aguilar-Rodriguez, E.; Tokumaru, M.; Chashei, I. V.; Tyul'bashev, S. A.; Manoharan, P. K.; Fallows, R. A.; Chang, O.; Mejia-Ambriz, J. C.; Yu, H. S.; Fujiki, K.; Shishov, V.

2016-12-01

The phenomenon of space weather - analogous to terrestrial weather which describes the changing low-altitude atmospheric conditions on Earth - is essentially a description of the changes in the plasma environment at and near the Earth. Some key parameters for space-weather purposes driving space weather at the Earth include velocity, density, magnetic field, high-energy particles, and radiation coming into and within the near-Earth space environment. Interplanetary scintillation (IPS) can be used to provide a global measure of velocity and density as well as indications of changes in the plasma and magnetic-field rotations along each observational line of sight. If the observations are formally inverted into a three-dimensional (3-D) tomographic reconstruction (such as using the University of California, San Diego - UCSD - kinematic model and reconstruction technique), then source-surface magnetic fields can also be propagated out to the Earth (and beyond) as well as in-situ data also being incorporated into the reconstruction. Currently, this has been done using IPS data only from the Institute for Space-Earth Environmental (ISEE) and has been scientifically since the 1990s, and in a forecast mode since around 2000. There is now a defined IPS Common Data Format (IPSCDFv1.0) which is being implemented by the majority of the IPS community (this also feeds into the tomography). The Worldwide IPS Stations (WIPSS) Network aims to bring together, using IPSCDFv1.0, the worldwide real-time capable IPS observatories with well-developed and tested analyses techniques being unified across all single-site systems (such as MEXART, Pushchino, and Ooty) and cross-calibrated to the multi-site ISEE system (as well as learning from the scientific-based systems such as EISCAT, LOFAR, and the MWA), into the UCSD 3-D tomography to improve the accuracy, spatial and temporal data coverage, and both the spatial and temporal resolution for improved space-weather science and forecast capabilities.

The Worldwide Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) Stations (WIPSS) Network in support of Space-Weather Science and Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bisi, Mario Mark; Americo Gonzalez-Esparza, J.; Jackson, Bernard; Aguilar-Rodriguez, Ernesto; Tokumaru, Munetoshi; Chashei, Igor; Tyul'bashev, Sergey; Manoharan, Periasamy; Fallows, Richard; Chang, Oyuki; Yu, Hsiu-Shan; Fujiki, Ken'ichi; Shishov, Vladimir; Barnes, David

2017-04-01

The phenomenon of space weather - analogous to terrestrial weather which describes the changing low-altitude atmospheric conditions on Earth - is essentially a description of the changes in the plasma environment at and near the Earth. Some key parameters for space-weather purposes driving space weather at the Earth include velocity, density, magnetic field, high-energy particles, and radiation coming into and within the near-Earth space environment. Interplanetary scintillation (IPS) can be used to provide a global measure of velocity and density as well as indications of changes in the plasma and magnetic-field rotations along each observational line of sight. If the observations are formally inverted into a three-dimensional (3-D) tomographic reconstruction (such as using the University of California, San Diego - UCSD - kinematic model and reconstruction technique), then source-surface magnetic fields can also be propagated out to the Earth (and beyond) as well as in-situ data also being incorporated into the reconstruction. Currently, this has been done using IPS data only from the Institute for Space-Earth Environmental (ISEE) and has been scientifically since the 1990s, and in a forecast mode since around 2000. There is now a defined (and updated) IPS Common Data Format (IPSCDFv1.1) which is being implemented by the majority of the IPS community (this also feeds into the UCSD tomography). The Worldwide IPS Stations (WIPSS) Network aims to bring together, using IPSCDFv1.1, the worldwide real-time capable IPS observatories with well-developed and tested analyses techniques being unified across all single-site systems (such as MEXART, Pushchino, and Ooty) and cross-calibrated to the multi-site ISEE system (as well as learning from the scientific-based systems such as EISCAT, LOFAR, and the MWA), into the UCSD 3-D tomography to improve the accuracy, spatial and temporal data coverage, and both the spatial and temporal resolution for improved space-weather science and forecast capabilities.

Extracting near-surface QL between 1-4 Hz from higher-order noise correlations in the Euroseistest area, Greece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haendel, A.; Ohrnberger, M.; Krüger, F.

2016-11-01

Knowledge of the quality factor of near-surface materials is of fundamental interest in various applications. Attenuation can be very strong close to the surface and thus needs to be properly assessed. In recent years, several researchers have studied the retrieval of attenuation coefficients from the cross correlation of ambient seismic noise. Yet, the determination of exact amplitude information from noise-correlation functions is, in contrast to the extraction of traveltimes, not trivial. Most of the studies estimated attenuation coefficients on the regional scale and within the microseism band. In this paper, we investigate the possibility to derive attenuation coefficients from seismic noise at much shallower depths and higher frequencies (>1 Hz). The Euroseistest area in northern Greece offers ideal conditions to study quality factor retrieval from ambient noise for different rock types. Correlations are computed between the stations of a small scale array experiment (station spacings <2 km) that was carried out in the Euroseistest area in 2011. We employ the correlation of the coda of the correlation (C3) method instead of simple cross correlations to mitigate the effect of uneven noise source distributions on the correlation amplitude. Transient removal and temporal flattening are applied instead of 1-bit normalization in order to retain relative amplitudes. The C3 method leads to improved correlation results (higher signal-to-noise ratio and improved time symmetry) compared to simple cross correlations. The C3 functions are rotated from the ZNE to the ZRT system and we focus on Love wave arrivals on the transverse component and on Love wave quality factors QL. The analysis is performed for selected stations being either situated on soft soil or on weathered rock. Phase slowness is extracted using a slant-stack method. Attenuation parameters are inferred by inspecting the relative amplitude decay of Love waves with increasing interstation distance. We observe that the attenuation coefficient γ and QL can be reliably extracted for stations situated on soft soil whereas the derivation of attenuation parameters is more problematic for stations that are located on weathered rock. The results are in acceptable conformance with theoretical Love wave attenuation curves that were computed using 1-D shear wave velocity and quality factor profiles from the Euroseistest area.

Predicting the magnetospheric plasma of weather

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dawson, John M.

1986-01-01

The prediction of the plasma environment in time, the plasma weather, is discussed. It is important to be able to predict when large magnetic storms will produce auroras, which will affect the space station operating in low orbit, and what precautions to take both for personnel and sensitive control (computer) equipment onboard. It is also important to start to establish a set of plasma weather records and a record of the ability to predict this weather. A successful forecasting system requires a set of satellite weather stations to provide data from which predictions can be made and a set of plasma weather codes capable of accurately forecasting the status of the Earth's magnetosphere. A numerical magnetohydrodynamic fluid model which is used to model the flow in the magnetosphere, the currents flowing into and out of the auroral regions, the magnetopause, the bow shock location and the magnetotail of the Earth is discussed.

A method for obtaining distributed surface flux measurements in complex terrain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daniels, M. H.; Pardyjak, E.; Nadeau, D. F.; Barrenetxea, G.; Brutsaert, W. H.; Parlange, M. B.

2011-12-01

Sonic anemometers and gas analyzers can be used to measure fluxes of momentum, heat, and moisture over flat terrain, and with the proper corrections, over sloping terrain as well. While this method of obtaining fluxes is currently the most accurate available, the instruments themselves are costly, making installation of many stations impossible for most campaign budgets. Small, commercial automatic weather stations (Sensorscope) are available at a fraction of the cost of sonic anemometers or gas analyzers. Sensorscope stations use slow-response instruments to measure standard meteorological variables, including wind speed and direction, air temperature, humidity, surface skin temperature, and incoming solar radiation. The method presented here makes use of one sonic anemometer and one gas analyzer along with a dozen Sensorscope stations installed throughout the Val Ferret catchment in southern Switzerland in the summers of 2009, 2010 and 2011. Daytime fluxes are calculated using Monin-Obukhov similarity theory in conjunction with the surface energy balance at each Sensorscope station as well as at the location of the sonic anemometer and gas analyzer, where a suite of additional slow-response instruments were co-located. Corrections related to slope angle were made for wind speeds and incoming shortwave radiation measured by the horizontally-mounted cup anemometers and incoming solar radiation sensors respectively. A temperature correction was also applied to account for daytime heating inside the radiation shield on the slow-response temperature/humidity sensors. With these corrections, we find a correlation coefficient of 0.77 between u* derived using Monin-Obukhov similarity theory and that of the sonic anemometer. Calculated versus measured heat fluxes also compare well and local patterns of latent heat flux and measured surface soil moisture are correlated.

Forecasting Cool Season Daily Peak Winds at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barrett, Joe, III; Short, David; Roeder, William

2008-01-01

The expected peak wind speed for the day is an important element in the daily 24-Hour and Weekly Planning Forecasts issued by the 45th Weather Squadron (45 WS) for planning operations at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). The morning outlook for peak speeds also begins the warning decision process for gusts ^ 35 kt, ^ 50 kt, and ^ 60 kt from the surface to 300 ft. The 45 WS forecasters have indicated that peak wind speeds are a challenging parameter to forecast during the cool season (October-April). The 45 WS requested that the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) develop a tool to help them forecast the speed and timing of the daily peak and average wind, from the surface to 300 ft on KSC/CCAFS during the cool season. The tool must only use data available by 1200 UTC to support the issue time of the Planning Forecasts. Based on observations from the KSC/CCAFS wind tower network, surface observations from the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), and CCAFS upper-air soundings from the cool season months of October 2002 to February 2007, the AMU created multiple linear regression equations to predict the timing and speed of the daily peak wind speed, as well as the background average wind speed. Several possible predictors were evaluated, including persistence, the temperature inversion depth, strength, and wind speed at the top of the inversion, wind gust factor (ratio of peak wind speed to average wind speed), synoptic weather pattern, occurrence of precipitation at the SLF, and strongest wind in the lowest 3000 ft, 4000 ft, or 5000 ft. Six synoptic patterns were identified: 1) surface high near or over FL, 2) surface high north or east of FL, 3) surface high south or west of FL, 4) surface front approaching FL, 5) surface front across central FL, and 6) surface front across south FL. The following six predictors were selected: 1) inversion depth, 2) inversion strength, 3) wind gust factor, 4) synoptic weather pattern, 5) occurrence of precipitation at the SLF, and 6) strongest wind in the lowest 3000 ft. The forecast tool was developed as a graphical user interface with Microsoft Excel to help the forecaster enter the variables, and run the appropriate regression equations. Based on the forecaster's input and regression equations, a forecast of the day's peak and average wind is generated and displayed. The application also outputs the probability that the peak wind speed will be ^ 35 kt, 50 kt, and 60 kt.

The importance of accurate glacier albedo for estimates of surface mass balance on Vatnajökull: evaluating the surface energy budget in a regional climate model with automatic weather station observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steffensen Schmidt, Louise; Aðalgeirsdóttir, Guðfinna; Guðmundsson, Sverrir; Langen, Peter L.; Pálsson, Finnur; Mottram, Ruth; Gascoin, Simon; Björnsson, Helgi

2017-07-01

A simulation of the surface climate of Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland, carried out with the regional climate model HIRHAM5 for the period 1980-2014, is used to estimate the evolution of the glacier surface mass balance (SMB). This simulation uses a new snow albedo parameterization that allows albedo to exponentially decay with time and is surface temperature dependent. The albedo scheme utilizes a new background map of the ice albedo created from observed MODIS data. The simulation is evaluated against observed daily values of weather parameters from five automatic weather stations (AWSs) from the period 2001-2014, as well as in situ SMB measurements from the period 1995-2014. The model agrees well with observations at the AWS sites, albeit with a general underestimation of the net radiation. This is due to an underestimation of the incoming radiation and a general overestimation of the albedo. The average modelled albedo is overestimated in the ablation zone, which we attribute to an overestimation of the thickness of the snow layer and not taking the surface darkening from dirt and volcanic ash deposition during dust storms and volcanic eruptions into account. A comparison with the specific summer, winter, and net mass balance for the whole of Vatnajökull (1995-2014) shows a good overall fit during the summer, with a small mass balance underestimation of 0.04 m w.e. on average, whereas the winter mass balance is overestimated by on average 0.5 m w.e. due to too large precipitation at the highest areas of the ice cap. A simple correction of the accumulation at the highest points of the glacier reduces this to 0.15 m w.e. Here, we use HIRHAM5 to simulate the evolution of the SMB of Vatnajökull for the period 1981-2014 and show that the model provides a reasonable representation of the SMB for this period. However, a major source of uncertainty in the representation of the SMB is the representation of the albedo, and processes currently not accounted for in RCMs, such as dust storms, are an important source of uncertainty in estimates of snow melt rate.

The potential effect of global warming on the geographic and seasonal distribution of Phlebotomus papatasi in Southwest Asia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cross, E.R.; Hyams, K.C.

1996-07-01

The distribution of Phlebotomus papatasi in Southwest Asia is thought to be highly dependent on temperature and relative humidity. A discriminant analysis model based on weather data and reported vector surveys was developed to predict the seasonal and geographic distribution of P. papatasi in this region. To simulate global warming, temperature values for 115 weather stations were increased by 1 {degrees}C, 3{degrees}C, and 5{degrees}C, and the outcome variable coded as unknown in the model. Probability of occurrence values were then predicted for each location with a weather station. Stations with positive probability of occurrence values for May, June, July, andmore » August were considered locations where two or more life cycles of P. papatasi could occur and which could support endemic transmission of leishmaniasis and sandfly fever. Among 115 weather stations, 71 (62%) would be considered endemic with current temperature conditions; 14 (12%) additional station could become endemic with an increase of 1 {degrees}C; 17 (15%) more than a 3{degrees}C increase; and 12 (10%) more (all but one station) with a t{degrees}C increase. In addition to increased geographic distribution, seasonality of disease transmission could be extended throughout 12 months of the year in 7 (6%) locations with at least a 3{degrees}C rise in temperature and in 29 (25%) locations with a 5{degrees}C rise. 15 refs., 4 figs.« less

Exploring the correlation between annual precipitation and potential evaporation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, X.; Buchberger, S. G.

2017-12-01

The interdependence between precipitation and potential evaporation is closely related to the classic Budyko framework. In this study, a systematic investigation of the correlation between precipitation and potential evaporation at the annual time step is conducted at both point scale and watershed scale. The point scale precipitation and potential evaporation data over the period of 1984-2015 are collected from 259 weather stations across the United States. The watershed scale precipitation data of 203 watersheds across the United States are obtained from the Model Parameter Estimation Experiment (MOPEX) dataset from 1983 to 2002; and potential evaporation data of these 203 watersheds in the same period are obtained from a remote-sensing algorithm. The results show that majority of the weather stations (77%) and watersheds (79%) exhibit a statistically significant negative correlation between annual precipitation and annual potential evaporation. The aggregated data cloud of precipitation versus potential evaporation follows a curve based on the combination of the Budyko-type equation and Bouchet's complementary relationship. Our result suggests that annual precipitation and potential evaporation are not independent when both Budyko's hypothesis and Bouchet's hypothesis are valid. Furthermore, we find that the wet surface evaporation, which is controlled primarily by short wave radiation as defined in Bouchet's hypothesis, exhibits less dependence on precipitation than the potential evaporation. As a result, we suggest that wet surface evaporation is a better representation of energy supply than potential evaporation in the Budyko framework.

Introducing GFWED: The Global Fire Weather Database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Field, R. D.; Spessa, A. C.; Aziz, N. A.; Camia, A.; Cantin, A.; Carr, R.; de Groot, W. J.; Dowdy, A. J.; Flannigan, M. D.; Manomaiphiboon, K.;

Fire weather and large fire potential in the northern Sierra Nevada

Treesearch

Brandon M. Collins

2014-01-01

Fuels, weather, and topography all contribute to observed fire behavior. Of these, weather is not only the most dynamic factor, it is the most likely to be directly influenced by climate change. In this study 40 years of daily fire weather observations from five weather stations across the northern Sierra Nevada were analyzed to investigate potential changes or trends...

GPS IPW as a Meteorological Parameter and Climate Global Change Indicator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kruczyk, M.; Liwosz, T.

2011-12-01

Paper focuses on comprehensive investigation of the GPS derived IPW (Integrated Precipitable Water, also IWV) as a geophysical tool. GPS meteorology is now widely acknowledged indirect method of atmosphere sensing. First we demonstrate GPS IPW quality. Most thorough inter-technique comparisons of directly measured IPW are attainable only for some observatories (note modest percentage of GPS stations equipped with meteorological devices). Nonetheless we have managed to compare IPW series derived from GPS tropospheric solutions (ZTD mostly from IGS and EPN solutions) and some independent techniques. IPW values from meteorological sources we used are: radiosoundings, sun photometer and input fields of numerical weather prediction model. We can treat operational NWP models as meteorological database within which we can calculate IWV for all GPS stations independently from network of direct measurements (COSMO-LM model maintained by Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management was tried). Sunphotometer (CIMEL-318, Central Geophysical Observatory IGF PAS, Belsk, Poland) data seems the most genuine source - so we decided for direct collocation of GPS measurements and sunphotometer placing permanent GPS receiver on the roof of Belsk Observatory. Next we analyse IPW as geophysical parameter: IPW demonstrates some physical effects evoked by station location (height and series correlation coefficient as a function of distance) and weather patterns like dominant wind directions (in case of neighbouring stations). Deficiency of surface humidity data to model IPW is presented for different climates. This inadequacy and poor humidity data representation in NWP model extremely encourages investigating information exchange potential between Numerical Model and GPS network. The second and most important aspect of this study concerns long series of IPW (daily averaged) which can serve as climatological information indicator (water vapour role in climate system is hard to exaggerate). Especially intriguing are relatively unique shape of such series in different climates. Long lasting changes in weather conditions: 'dry' and 'wet' years are also visible. The longer and more uniform our series are the better chance to estimate the magnitude of climatological IWV changes. Homogenous ZTD solution during long period is great concern in this approach (problems with GPS strategy and reference system changes). In case of continental network (EUREF Permanent Network) reliable data we get only after reprocessing. Simple sinusoidal model has been adjusted to the IPW series (LS method) for selected stations (mainly Europe but also other continents - IGS stations), every year separately. Not only amplitudes but also phases of annual signal differ from year to year. Longer IPW series (up to 14 years) searched for some climatological signal sometimes reveal weak steady trend. Large number of GPS permanent stations, relative easiness of IPW derivation (only and surface meteo data needed apart from GPS solution) and water vapour significance in water cycle and global climate make this GPS IPW promising element of global environmental change monitoring.

Meteorological factors in the Quartz Creek forest fire

Treesearch

H. T. Gisborne

1927-01-01

It is not often that a large forest fire occurs conveniently near a weather station specially equipped for measuring forest-fire weather. The 13,000-acre Quartz Creek fire on the Kaniksu National Forest during the summer of 1936 was close enough to the Priest River Experimental Forest of the Northern Rocky Mountain Forest Experiment Station for the roar of the flumes...

A Comparison of Five Numerical Weather Prediction Analysis Climatologies in Southern High Latitudes.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Connolley, William M.; Harangozo, Stephen A.

2001-01-01

In this paper, numerical weather prediction analyses from four major centers are compared-the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR), and The Met. Office (UKMO). Two of the series-ECMWF reanalysis (ERA) and NCEP-NCAR reanalysis (NNR)-are `reanalyses'; that is, the data have recently been processed through a consistent, modern analysis system. The other three-ABM, ECMWF operational (EOP), and UKMO-are archived from operational analyses.The primary focus in this paper is on the period of 1979-93, the period used for the reanalyses, and on climatology. However, ABM and NNR are also compared for the period before 1979, for which the evidence tends to favor NNR. The authors are concerned with basic variables-mean sea level pressure, height of the 500-hPa surface, and near-surface temperature-that are available from the basic analysis step, rather than more derived quantities (such as precipitation), which are available only from the forecast step.Direct comparisons against station observations, intercomparisons of the spatial pattern of the analyses, and intercomparisons of the temporal variation indicate that ERA, EOP, and UKMO are best for sea level pressure;that UKMO and EOP are best for 500-hPa height; and that none of the analyses perform well for near-surface temperature.

Problems in evaluating regional and local trends in temperature: An example from eastern Colorado, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pielke, R.A.; Stohlgren, T.; Schell, L.; Parton, W.; Doesken, N.; Redmond, K.; Moeny, J.; McKee, T.; Kittel, T.G.F.

2002-01-01

We evaluated long-term trends in average maximum and minimum temperatures, threshold temperatures, and growing season in eastern Colorado, USA, to explore the potential shortcomings of many climate-change studies that either: (1) generalize regional patterns from single stations, single seasons, or a few parameters over short duration from averaging dissimilar stations: or (2) generalize an average regional pattern from coarse-scale general circulation models. Based on 11 weather stations, some trends were weakly regionally consistent with previous studies of night-time temperature warming. Long-term (80 + years) mean minimum temperatures increased significantly (P < 0.2) in about half the stations in winter, spring, and autumn and six stations had significant decreases in the number of days per year with temperatures ??? - 17.8 ??C (???0??F). However, spatial and temporal variation in the direction of change was enormous for all the other weather parameters tested, and, in the majority of tests, few stations showed significant trends (even at P < 0.2). In summer, four stations had significant increases and three stations had significant decreases in minimum temperatures, producing a strongly mixed regional signal. Trends in maximum temperature varied seasonally and geographically, as did trends in threshold temperature days ???32.2??C (???90??F) or days ???37.8??C (???100??F). There was evidence of a subregional cooling in autumn's maximum temperatures, with five stations showing significant decreasing trends. There were many geographic anomalies where neighbouring weather stations differed greatly in the magnitude of change or where they had significant and opposite trends. We conclude that sub-regional spatial and seasonal variation cannot be ignored when evaluating the direction and magnitude of climate change. It is unlikely that one or a few weather stations are representative of regional climate trends, and equally unlikely that regionally projected climate change from coarse-scale general circulation models will accurately portray trends at sub-regional scales. However, the assessment of a group of stations for consistent more qualitative trends (such as the number of days less than - 17.8??C, such as we found) provides a reasonably robust procedure to evaluate climate trends and variability. Copyright ?? 2002 Royal Meteorological Society.

Design of a Controllable Weather Balloon to Fly on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivie, Benjamin

As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) moves closer towards placing humans on Mars, prediction of the weather on the planet becomes more vital to ensure the safety of the astronauts. Currently on Mars NASA has land based weather stations on the rovers and a few satellites orbiting the planet that help to predict the weather. They also use Earth based telescopes to look at the Martian atmosphere similar to what an orbiting satellite would [1]. These resources provide information about what the weather is like on the surface and what the weather looks like from space but there is little information from inside the atmosphere. Having a device that can fly through the atmosphere and collect data would enable scientists to generate more accurate models of the weather on Mars. Another use for these devices could be to get aerial photographs of the planet, which could help to determine possible sites for future exploration. Also the Martian air could be collected and analyzed to determine its composition and whether there could be any airborne signs of life. The research presented in this thesis is a first step towards designing a device to fly on Mars and take weather data. A lifting type is selected and through test flights on Earth the design is modified until a workable platform for flight testing is achieved. Once it is determined, the design is scaled to be able to fly in the Martian atmosphere.

Development of an Open Source, Air-Deployable Weather Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krejci, A.; Lopez Alcala, J. M.; Nelke, M.; Wagner, J.; Udell, C.; Higgins, C. W.; Selker, J. S.

2017-12-01

We created a packaged weather station intended to be deployed in the air on tethered systems. The device incorporates lightweight sensors and parts and runs for up to 24 hours off of lithium polymer batteries, allowing the entire package to be supported by a thin fiber. As the fiber does not provide a stable platform, additional data (pitch and roll) from typical weather parameters (e.g. temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction) are determined using an embedded inertial motion unit. All designs are open sourced including electronics, CAD drawings, and descriptions of assembly and can be found on the OPEnS lab website at http://www.open-sensing.org/lowcost-weather-station/. The Openly Published Environmental Sensing Lab (OPEnS: Open-Sensing.org) expands the possibilities of scientific observation of our Earth, transforming the technology, methods, and culture by combining open-source development and cutting-edge technology. New OPEnS labs are now being established in India, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Ghana.

A Gridded Climatology of Clouds over Land (1971-1996) and Ocean (1954-2008) from Surface Observations Worldwide (NDP-026E)*

DOE Data Explorer

Hahn, C. J. [University of Arizona; Warren, S. G. [University of Washington

2007-01-01

Surface synoptic weather reports from ships and land stations worldwide were processed to produce a global cloud climatology which includes: total cloud cover, the amount and frequency of occurrence of nine cloud types within three levels of the troposphere, the frequency of occurrence of clear sky and of precipitation, the base heights of low clouds, and the non-overlapped amounts of middle and high clouds. Synoptic weather reports are made every three hours; the cloud information in a report is obtained visually by human observers. The reports used here cover the period 1971-96 for land and 1954-2008 for ocean. This digital archive provides multi-year monthly, seasonal, and annual averages in 5x5-degree grid boxes (or 10x10-degree boxes for some quantities over the ocean). Daytime and nighttime averages, as well as the diurnal average (average of day and night), are given. Nighttime averages were computed using only those reports that met an "illuminance criterion" (i.e., made under adequate moonlight or twilight), thus minimizing the "night-detection bias" and making possible the determination of diurnal cycles and nighttime trends for cloud types. The phase and amplitude of the first harmonic of both the diurnal cycle and the annual cycle are given for the various cloud types. Cloud averages for individual years are also given for the ocean for each of 4 seasons, and for each of the 12 months (daytime-only averages for the months). [Individual years for land are not gridded, but are given for individual stations in a companion data set, CDIAC's NDP-026D).] This analysis used 185 million reports from 5388 weather stations on continents and islands, and 50 million reports from ships; these reports passed a series of quality-control checks. This analysis updates (and in most ways supercedes) the previous cloud climatology constructed by the authors in the 1980s. Many of the long-term averages described here are mapped on the University of Washington, Department of Atmospheric Sciences Web site. The Online Cloud Atlas containing NDP-026E data is available via the University of Washington.

The Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory project; an overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hut, Rolf; van de Giesen, Nick

2010-05-01

With the TAHMO project we are "designing" / "building" / "proof of concepting" a 100 weather station for the tropics. The main goal of the TAHMO project is to understand better Africa's environment through participatory sensing, scientific modeling and education. We believe that the quality of measurement data is directly related to the value the measurement itself has to the one doing the measurement . Ideally, measurements are done by the farmers, watermanagers, etc that have a need for this data as well. For local stakeholders in Africa though, acquiring good modern measurement equipment is virtually impossible. Furthermore, local stakeholders not only need local (point) measurements: they also need spatial information: is it raining at my neighbor? Is this drizzle the start of the rainy season, or is it a small cloud passing over? Representing whole nations with just one weather station does not help answer these questions. Multiple, spatially distributed weather stations are needed to supply local stakeholders with the information needed to make vital decisions based on solid data. Both global circulation models and regional climate models need measured data. Firstly to calibrate parameters in the model and to validate the model structure. Secondly, in a data assimilation scheme, to update predictions with measurements to decrease the uncertainty in future predictions. For Africa the amount of measured data is so scarce that both the uncertainty in the calibrated parameters, as well as the uncertainty in future predictions is quite large. Because of the "motor of the climate" that Africa is, this has a large impact on the total uncertainty in climate models. Having more (ground truth) measurements with which to confront our models would decrease the uncertainty in current models and forecasts tremendously. Doing measurements is not a part of the standard curriculum in any African country, whilst it is, in our opinion, a vital part of any scientific education. This is not because a lack of interest, nor intelligence, but simply because the materials to conduct experiments are not available. Whilst any American or European primary school has a supply of thermometers, barometers, etc. this (relative) expensive equipment is not available in an African setting. This way Africans (future) scientist, but also its (future) politicians, watermanagers, farmers, etc. don't learn the importance (and not to forget: fun) of doing measurements. The 100 weather station is our answer to the issues mentioned above. The basic idea is to have 20.000 weather stations across Africa, at local schools. With the weather station we intend to: -give local people access to climate data on their own region, relevant to their daily lives. -provide climate scientists with a huge new amount of data: 20.000 new measuring station in Africa, recording real time data for them to incorporate in their models -train a new generation on how to do measurements and on the benefits those measurements have. As a first step, students at Delft university showed that it is possible to build an acoustic disdrometer that costs lest than 20 dollar to produce. To move this project into the next gear, we are following two parallel tracks: First, we are developing the weather station, together with a commercial partner. Secondly, we are going to do a pilot project in Africa: We want to have a student in education go to a specific region (probably Ghana, because of contacts we have from previous projects) armed with a weather station and give him/her the assignment to develop a curriculum around the station, to be used in local schools. The follow up of this is to send a group of students with weather stations (10-20) to a region and have them place the stations at all schools in the region. Timewise, we hope to have this first pilot project done within the next two years. Somewhere in the year after that, the extended pilot can take place. Since we hope to send this group out with a first prototypy of the station, we would also like to finish a first prototype in the next two years. Five years from now, we hope that the majority of the 20.000 stations have been installed.

Towards marine seismological Network: real time small aperture seismic array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ilinskiy, Dmitry

2017-04-01

Most powerful and dangerous seismic events are generated in underwater subduction zones. Existing seismological networks are based on land seismological stations. Increased demands for accuracy of location, magnitude, rupture process of coming earthquakes and at the same time reduction of data processing time require information from seabed seismic stations located near the earthquake generation area. Marine stations provide important contribution for clarification of the tectonic settings in most active subduction zones of the world. Early warning system for subduction zone area is based on marine seabed array which located near the area of most hazardous seismic zone in the region. Fast track processing for location of the earthquake hypocenter and energy takes place in buoy surface unit. Information about detected and located earthquake reaches the onshore seismological center earlier than the first break waves from the same earthquake will reach the nearest onshore seismological station. Implementation of small aperture array is based on existed and shown a good proven performance and costs effective solutions such as weather moored buoy and self-pop up autonomous seabed seismic nodes. Permanent seabed system for real-time operation has to be installed in deep sea waters far from the coast. Seabed array consists of several self-popup seismological stations which continuously acquire the data, detect the events of certain energy class and send detected event parameters to the surface buoy via acoustic link. Surface buoy unit determine the earthquake location by receiving the event parameters from seabed units and send such information in semi-real time to the onshore seismological center via narrow band satellite link. Upon the request from the cost the system could send wave form of events of certain energy class, bottom seismic station battery status and other environmental parameters. When the battery life of particular seabed unit is close to became empty, the seabed unit is switching into sleep mode and send that information to surface buoy and father to the onshore data center. Then seabed unit can wait for the vessel of opportunity for recovery of seabed unit to sea surface and replacing seabed station to another one with fresh batteries. All collected permanent seismic data by seabed unit could than downloaded for father processing and analysis. In our presentation we will demonstrate the several working prototypes of proposed system such as real time cable broad band seismological station and real time buoy seabed seismological station.

The 3D Mesonet Concept: Extending Networked Surface Meteorological Tower Observations Through Unmanned Aircraft Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chilson, P. B.; Fiebrich, C. A.; Huck, R.; Grimsley, J.; Salazar-Cerreno, J.; Carson, K.; Jacob, J.

2017-12-01

Fixed monitoring sites, such as those in the US National Weather Service Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) and the Oklahoma Mesonet provide valuable, high temporal resolution information about the atmosphere to forecasters and the general public. The Oklahoma Mesonet is comprised of a network of 120 surface sites providing a wide array of atmospheric measurements up to a height of 10 m with an update time of five minutes. The deployment of small unmanned aircraft to collect in-situ vertical measurements of the atmospheric state in conjunction with surface conditions has potential to significantly expand weather observation capabilities. This concept can enhance the safety of individuals and support commerce through improved observations and short-term forecasts of the weather and other environmental variables in the lower atmosphere. We report on a concept of adding the capability of collecting vertical atmospheric measurements (profiles) through the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) at remote Oklahoma sites deemed suitable for this application. While there are a number of other technologies currently available that can provide measurements of one or a few variables, the proposed UAS concept will be expandable and modular to accommodate several different sensor packages and provide accurate in-situ measurements in virtually all weather conditions. Such a system would facilitate off-site maintenance and calibration and would provide the ability to add new sensors as they are developed or as new requirements are identified. The small UAS must be capable of accommodating the weight of all sensor packages and have lighting, communication, and aircraft avoidance systems necessary to meet existing or future FAA regulations. The system must be able to operate unattended, which necessitates the inclusion of risk mitigation measures such as a detect and avoid radar and the ability to transmit and receive transponder signals. Moreover, the system should be able to assess local weather conditions (visibility, surface winds, and cloud height) and the integrity of the vehicle (system diagnostics, fuel level) before takeoff. We provide a notional concept of operations for a 3D Mesonet being considered, describe the technical configuration for one station in the network, and discuss plans for future development.

Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 2.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devarakonda, R.

2014-12-01

Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data and Climatological Summaries provides gridded estimates of daily weather parameters for North America, including daily continuous surfaces of minimum and maximum temperature, precipitation occurrence and amount, humidity, shortwave radiation, snow water equivalent, and day length. The current data product (Version 2) covers the period January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2013 [1]. Data are available on a daily time step at a 1-km x 1-km spatial resolution in Lambert Conformal Conic projection with a spatial extent that covers the North America as meteorological station density allows. Daymet data can be downloaded from 1) the ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) search and order tools (http://daac.ornl.gov/cgi-bin/cart/add2cart.pl?add=1219) or directly from the DAAC FTP site (http://daac.ornl.gov/cgi-bin/dsviewer.pl?ds_id=1219) and 2) the Single Pixel Tool (http://daymet.ornl.gov/singlepixel.html) and THREDDS (Thematic Real-time Environmental Data Services) Data Server (TDS) (http://daymet.ornl.gov/thredds_mosaics.html). The Single Pixel Data Extraction Tool [2] allows users to enter a single geographic point by latitude and longitude in decimal degrees. A routine is executed that translates the (lon, lat) coordinates into projected Daymet (x,y) coordinates. These coordinates are used to access the Daymet database of daily-interpolated surface weather variables. The Single Pixel Data Extraction Tool also provides the option to download multiple coordinates programmatically. The ORNL DAAC's TDS provides customized visualization and access to Daymet time series of North American mosaics. Users can subset and download Daymet data via a variety of community standards, including OPeNDAP, NetCDF Subset service, and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Map/Coverage Service. References: [1] Thornton, P. E., Thornton, M. M., Mayer, B. W., Wilhelmi, N., Wei, Y., Devarakonda, R., & Cook, R. (2012). "Daymet: Daily surface weather on a 1 km grid for North America, 1980-2008". Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center for Biogeochemical Dynamics (DAAC), 1. [2] Devarakonda R., et al. 2012. Daymet: Single Pixel Data Extraction Tool. Available [http://daymet.ornl.go/singlepixel.html].

Air Weather Service Master Station Catalog: USAFETAC Climatic Database Users Handbook No. 6

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-03-01

4) . ... .4 • FIELD NO. DESCRIPTION OF FIELD AND COMMENTS 01 STN NUM. A 6- digit number with the first 5 digits assigned to a particular weather...reporting location lAW WMO ,ules plus a sixth digit as follows: 0 = The first five digits are the actual block/station number (WMO number) assigned to...it is considered inactive for that hour. A digit (1-9) tells how many months it has been since a report was received from the station for that hour

The Heat Strain of Various Athletic Surfaces: A Comparison Between Observed and Modeled Wet-Bulb Globe Temperatures.

PubMed

Pryor, J Luke; Pryor, Riana R; Grundstein, Andrew; Casa, Douglas J

2017-11-01

  The National Athletic Trainers' Association recommends using onsite wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) measurement to determine whether to modify or cancel physical activity. However, not all practitioners do so and instead they may rely on the National Weather Service (NWS) to monitor weather conditions.   To compare regional NWS WBGT estimates with local athletic-surface readings and compare WBGT measurements among various local athletic surfaces.   Observational study.   Athletic fields.   Measurements from 2 identical WBGT devices were averaged on 10 athletic surfaces within an NWS station reporting radius. Athletic surfaces consisted of red and black all-weather tracks (track), blue and black hard tennis courts (tennis), nylon-knit artificial green turf, green synthetic turfgrass, volleyball sand, softball clay, natural grass (grass), and a natural lake (water). Measurements (n = 143 data pairs) were taken over 18 days (May through September) between 1 pm and 4:30 pm in direct sunlight 1.2 m above ground. The starting location was counterbalanced across surfaces. The NWS weather data were entered into an algorithm to model NWS WBGT.   Black tennis, black track, red track, and volleyball sand WBGT recordings were greater than NWS estimates ( P ≤ .05). When all athletic-surface measurements were combined, NWS (26.85°C ± 2.93°C) underestimated athletic-surface WBGT measurements (27.52°C ± 3.13°C; P < .001). The range of difference scores (-4.42°C to 6.14°C) and the absolute mean difference (1.71°C ± 1.32°C) were large. The difference between the onsite and NWS WBGT measurements resulted in misclassification of the heat-safety activity category 45% (65/143) of the time ([Formula: see text]= 3.857, P = .05). The WBGT of water was 1.4°C to 2.7°C lower than that of all other athletic surfaces ( P = .04). We observed no other differences among athletic surfaces but noted large WBGT measurement variability among athletic playing surfaces.   Clinicians should use an onsite WBGT device to determine environmental conditions and the need for modification of athletic events, especially as environmental conditions worsen. Given the large WBGT variability among athletic surfaces, WBGT measurements should be obtained from each athletic surface.

Newly Digitized Historical Climate Data of the German Bight and the Southern Baltic Sea Coasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Röhrbein, Dörte; Tinz, Birger; von Storch, Hans

2015-04-01

The detection of historical climate information plays an important role with regard to the discussion on climate change, particularly on storminess. The German Meteorological Service houses huge archives of historical handwritten journals of weather observations. A considerable number of original observation sheets from stations along the coast of the German Bight and the southern Baltic Sea exists which has been until recently almost unnoticed. These stations are called signal stations and are positioned close to the shore. However, for this region meteorological observation data of 128 stations exist from 1877 to 1999 and are partly digitized. In this study we show an analysis of firstly newly digitized wind and surface air pressure data of 15 stations from 1877 to 1939 and we also present a case study of the storm surge at the coast of the southern Baltic Sea in December 1913. The data are quality controlled by formal, climatological, temporal and consistency checks. It is shown that these historical climate data are usable in consistency and quality for further investigations on climate change, e.g. as input for regional and global reanalysis.

Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) Signal over Kototabang, West Sumatera Based on the Mini Automatic Weather Station (MAWS) Data Analysis Using the Wavelet Technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hermawan, E.

2018-04-01

This study is mainly concerned an application of Mini Automatic Weather Station (MAWS) at Kototabang, West Sumatera nearby the location of an Equatorial Atmosphere Radar (EAR) side. We are interest to use this data to investigate the propagation of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). We examined of daily MAWS data for 3 years observations started from January 2001 to Mei 2004. By applying wavelet analysis, we found the MJO at Kototabang have 32 days oscillations as shown in Fig.1 below. In this study, we concentrate just for local mechanis only. We will show in this paper that at the phase of the MJO with a dipole structure to the convection anomalies, there is enhanced tropical convection over the eastern Indian Ocean and reduced convection over the western Pacific. Over the equatorial western Indian Ocean, the equatorial Rossby wave response to the west of the enhanced convection includes a region of anomalous surface divergence associated with the anomalous surface westerlies and pressure ridge. This tends to suppress ascent in the boundary layer and shuts off the deep convection, eventually leading to a convective anomaly of the opposite sign. Over the Indonesian sector, the equatorial Kelvin wave response to the east of the enhanced convection includes a region of anomalous surface convergence into the anomalous equatorial surface easterlies and pressure trough, which will tend to favour convection in this region. The Indonesian sector is also influenced by an equatorial Rossby wave response (of opposite sign) to the west of the reduced convection over the western Pacific, which also has a region of anomalous surface convergence associated with its anomalous equatorial surface easterlies and pressure trough. Hence, convective anomalies of either sign tend to erode themselves from the west and initiate a convective anomaly of opposite sign via their equatorial Rossby wave response, and expand to the east via their equatorial Kelvin wave response.

Utilization of Live Localized Weather Information for Sustainable Agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, J.; Usher, J.

2010-09-01

Authors: Jim Anderson VP, Global Network and Business Development WeatherBug® Professional Jeremy Usher Managing Director, Europe WeatherBug® Professional Localized, real-time weather information is vital for day-to-day agronomic management of all crops. The challenge for agriculture is twofold in that local and timely weather data is not often available for producers and farmers, and it is not integrated into decision-support tools they require. Many of the traditional sources of weather information are not sufficient for agricultural applications because of the long distances between weather stations, meaning the data is not always applicable for on-farm decision making processes. The second constraint with traditional weather information is the timeliness of the data. Most delivery systems are designed on a one-hour time step, whereas many decisions in agriculture are based on minute-by-minute weather conditions. This is especially true for decisions surrounding chemical and fertilizer application and frost events. This presentation will outline how the creation of an agricultural mesonet (weather network) can enable producers and farmers with live, local weather information from weather stations installed in farm/field locations. The live weather information collected from each weather station is integrated into a web-enabled decision support tool, supporting numerous on-farm agronomic activities such as pest management, or dealing with heavy rainfall and frost events. Agronomic models can be used to assess the potential of disease pressure, enhance the farmer's abilities to time pesticide applications, or assess conditions contributing to yield and quality fluctuations. Farmers and industry stakeholders may also view quality-assured historical weather variables at any location. This serves as a record-management tool for viewing previously uncharted agronomic weather events in graph or table form. This set of weather tools is unique and provides a significant enhancement to the agronomic decision-support process. Direct benefits to growers can take the form of increased yield and grade potential, as well as savings in money and time. Pest management strategies become more efficient due to timely and localized disease and pest modelling, and increased efficacy of pest and weed control. Examples from the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) WeatherFarm weather network will be utilized to illustrate the processes, decision tools and benefits to producers and farmers.

EFRs in the Rocky Mountain Research Station: Understanding patterns of forest growth, weather and disturbance [Chapter 2.8

Treesearch

G. Sam Foster; Todd Mower; Russell Graham; Theresa B. Jain

2014-01-01

How does forest growth integrate weather, insect and disease attach, management actions, and natural disturbance? Which of these has the most impact on forest growth, composition, structure, and change? These questions have animated the activities of scientists of the Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) since its earliest days, and continue to animate our research...

Weather Instruments.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brantley, L. Reed, Sr.; Demanche, Edna L.; Klemm, E. Barbara; Kyselka, Will; Phillips, Edwin A.; Pottenger, Francis M.; Yamamoto, Karen N.; Young, Donald B.

This booklet presents some activities to measure various weather phenomena. Directions for constructing a weather station are included. Instruments including rain gauges, thermometers, wind vanes, wind speed devices, humidity devices, barometers, atmospheric observations, a dustfall jar, sticky-tape can, detection of gases in the air, and pH of…

Forecast and virtual weather driven plant disease risk modeling system

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

We describe a system in use and development that leverages public weather station data, several spatialized weather forecast types, leaf wetness estimation, generic plant disease models, and online statistical evaluation. Convergent technological developments in all these areas allow, with funding f...

Cloud Climatology for Land Stations Worldwide, 1971-2009 (NDP-026D)

DOE Data Explorer

Hahn, C. J. [University of Arizona; Warren, S. G. [University of Washington; Eastman, R. [University of Washington

2012-08-01

Surface synoptic weather reports for 39 years have been processed to provide a climatology of clouds for each of over 5000 land-based weather stations with long periods of record both day and night. For each station, this digital archive includes: multi-year annual, seasonal and monthly averages for day and night separately; seasonal and monthly averages by year; averages for eight times per day; and analyses of the first harmonic for the annual and diurnal cycles. Averages are given for total cloud cover, clear-sky frequency, and 9 cloud types: 5 in the low level (fog, St, Sc, Cu, Cb), 3 in the middle level (Ns, As, Ac) and one in the high level (all cirriform clouds combined). Cloud amounts and frequencies of occurrence are given for all types. In addition, non-overlapped amounts are given for middle and high cloud types, and average base heights are given for low cloud types. Nighttime averages were obtained by using only those reports that met an "illuminance criterion" (i.e., made under adequate moonlight or twilight), thus making possible the determination of diurnal cycles and nighttime trends for cloud types.The authors have also produced an online, gridded atlas of the cloud observations contained in NDP-026D. The Online Cloud Atlas containing NDP-026D data is available via the University of Washington.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guo, Jianping; Deng, Minjun; Fan, Jiwen

We analyzed 40 year data sets of daily average visibility (a proxy for surface aerosol concentration) and hourly precipitation at seven weather stations, including three stations located on the Taihang Mountains, during the summertime in northern China. There was no significant trend in summertime total precipitation at almost all stations. However, light rain decreased, whereas heavy rain increased as visibility decreased over the period studied. The decrease in light rain was seen in both orographic-forced shallow clouds and mesoscale stratiform clouds. The consistent trends in observed changes in visibility, precipitation, and orographic factor appear to be a testimony to themore » effects of aerosols. The potential impact of large-scale environmental factors, such as precipitable water, convective available potential energy, and vertical wind shear, on precipitation was investigated. No direct links were found. To validate our observational hypothesis about aerosol effects, Weather Research and Forecasting model simulations with spectral-bin microphysics at the cloud-resolving scale were conducted. Model results confirmed the role of aerosol indirect effects in reducing the light rain amount and frequency in the mountainous area for both orographic-forced shallow clouds and mesoscale stratiform clouds and in eliciting a different response in the neighboring plains. The opposite response of light rain to the increase in pollution when there is no terrain included in the model suggests that orography is likely a significant factor contributing to the opposite trends in light rain seen in mountainous and plain areas.« less

In Brief: NASA's Phoenix spacecraft lands on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Showstack, Randy; Kumar, Mohi

2008-06-01

After a 9.5-month, 679-million-kilometer flight from Florida, NASA's Phoenix spacecraft made a soft landing in Vastitas Borealis in Mars's northern polar region on 25 May. The lander, whose camera already has returned some spectacular images, is on a 3-month mission to examine the area and dig into the soil of this site-chosen for its likelihood of having frozen water near the surface-and analyze samples. In addition to a robotic arm and robotic arm camera, the lander's instruments include a surface stereo imager; thermal and evolved-gas analyzer; microscopy, electrochemistry, and conductivity analyzer; and a meteorological station that is tracking daily weather and seasonal changes.

Assimilation of Satellite Data in Regional Air Quality Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcnider, Richard T.; Norris, William B.; Casey, Daniel; Pleim, Jonathan E.; Roselle, Shawn J.; Lapenta, William M.

1997-01-01

In terms of important uncertainty in regional-scale air-pollution models, probably no other aspect ranks any higher than the current ability to specify clouds and soil moisture on the regional scale. Because clouds in models are highly parameterized, the ability of models to predict the correct spatial and radiative characteristics is highly suspect and subject to large error. The poor representation of cloud fields from point measurements at National Weather Services stations and the almost total absence of surface moisture availability observations has made assimilation of these variables difficult to impossible. Yet, the correct inclusion of clouds and surface moisture are of first-order importance in regional-scale photochemistry.

Pegasus XL CYGNSS Prelaunch News Conference

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-12-10

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, NASA and industry leaders speak to members of the media during a prelaunch news conference for the agency’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. From left are: John Scherrer, CYGNSS project manager for the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas; and Mike Rehbein, launch weather officer for the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The eight CYGNSS satellites will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data will help scientists probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a crucial role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.

Soc Trang City Apt., Vietnam. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1971-03-25

FROM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS) 40001 .SC TRANG VIETNAM/CITY AIRPORT 57,59j6. ,70 HARSTATION STATION ANe ytafts NONIN C ALL WEATHER O300-0500| C LA~SS...90 9,1 ow690 9590 989089o,00OO,0OO, > 200 1 8906 9501 905 98o3 98#6 190t 9/905 9905 99,8! $90 99. 00 00 00,0o0090 00 6.oI 906 950]’ 9605_98910 986...7 9 8 00006 _> 400 9293 9590 9697 91.4 98,4 99.4 99,4 994 99.7 99.7 99.7 99. 99. 00.000.0 2300 �’ "@%1 -W, 11f917 ŝ 4f7 9994 990 9WI 99# 998 999

Hoengsong, ROK AFS K46, Korea. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1968-04-10

N-4t 51-53956-65,67 JILLStAtION STATION AME ANTOS NON N PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE Or (FROM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS) I C VISIBILITY STATUTE...34 .: .: .5 .1 . 񓺟 372. 174 46 ’ - 4q .3 .6 I.C. 1.’ .9 .3 4 55 45 324 117 - ~47 .1I . 2 I A .1 . .4 . 565 5 46’ 1a3 46/ 45 .7 i . 1.6 .9 .2 .2, 712

Weather Extremes Around the World

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-04-01

the lowest temperature has been recorded at Ust’Shchiigor in the Soviet Union at about 55°N, 50°E.4S This station, located near the Siberian border... Siberian taiga (northern coniferous forest). It is an area of extreme eontinentality, lying near the eastern end of the world’s largest landmass and...HO hours per year Mouse I’ciik Lighthouse, Mistake Island. Maine l"\\ig is a cloud al the surface of Ihe earth, eonsislinj» of a nti’ltilude of

Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-12-01

SERVICk:/.AC 4 L’ 4 .1 LHAHAN SAUDI ARABIA 4A6-6? MA STA~N STATION HANW YCA*IS MONTH PACE __9__-_)__ NOIS IL. S. T.) WET BULB TEMPERATURE DEPRESION (F...TEMPERATURE DEPRESION (F) TOTAL TOTAL (F) 0 2 3 4 .- 7. 9.0- I213 4 -1S. 1.jl7 - 16j19 .20121.22123-24i2S.2 272 292 I 0 *. w.a. 0 P.... 0’ 1 0 1 1TJ- / 4

Creating an Atmosphere for STEM Literacy in the Rural South through Student-Collected Weather Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Lynn; Majumdar, Saswati; Bhattacharjee, Joydeep; Hanks, Anne Case

2015-01-01

This paper is an examination of a teacher professional development program in northeast Louisiana, that provided 30 teachers and their students with the technology, skills, and content knowledge to collect data and explore weather trends. Data were collected from both continuous monitoring weather stations and simple school-based weather stations…

Groundwater recharge to the Gulf Coast aquifer system in Montgomery and Adjacent Counties, Texas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oden, Timothy D.; Delin, Geoffrey N.

2013-01-01

Simply stated, groundwater recharge is the addition of water to the groundwater system. Most of the water that is potentially available for recharging the groundwater system in Montgomery and adjacent counties in southeast Texas moves relatively rapidly from land surface to surface-water bodies and sustains streamflow, lake levels, and wetlands. Recharge in southeast Texas is generally balanced by evapotranspiration, discharge to surface waters, and the downward movement of water into deeper parts of the groundwater system; however, this balance can be altered locally by groundwater withdrawals, impervious surfaces, land use, precipitation variability, or climate, resulting in increased or decreased rates of recharge. Recharge rates were compared to the 1971–2000 normal annual precipitation measured Cooperative Weather Station 411956, Conroe, Tex.

Development of a Global Fire Weather Database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Field, R. D.; Spessa, A. C.; Aziz, N. A.; Camia, A.; Cantin, A.; Carr, R.; de Groot, W. J.; Dowdy, A. J.; Flannigan, M. D.; Manomaiphiboon, K.;

Cloud Masking and Surface Temperature Distribution in the Polar Regions Using AVHRR and other Satellite Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Comiso, Joey C.

1995-01-01

Surface temperature is one of the key variables associated with weather and climate. Accurate measurements of surface air temperatures are routinely made in meteorological stations around the world. Also, satellite data have been used to produce synoptic global temperature distributions. However, not much attention has been paid on temperature distributions in the polar regions. In the polar regions, the number of stations is very sparse. Because of adverse weather conditions and general inaccessibility, surface field measurements are also limited. Furthermore, accurate retrievals from satellite data in the region have been difficult to make because of persistent cloudiness and ambiguities in the discrimination of clouds from snow or ice. Surface temperature observations are required in the polar regions for air-sea-ice interaction studies, especially in the calculation of heat, salinity, and humidity fluxes. They are also useful in identifying areas of melt or meltponding within the sea ice pack and the ice sheets and in the calculation of emissivities of these surfaces. Moreover, the polar regions are unique in that they are the sites of temperature extremes, the location of which is difficult to identify without a global monitoring system. Furthermore, the regions may provide an early signal to a potential climate change because such signal is expected to be amplified in the region due to feedback effects. In cloud free areas, the thermal channels from infrared systems provide surface temperatures at relatively good accuracies. Previous capabilities include the use of the Temperature Humidity Infrared Radiometer (THIR) onboard the Nimbus-7 satellite which was launched in 1978. Current capabilities include the use of the Advance Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) aboard NOAA satellites. Together, these two systems cover a span of 16 years of thermal infrared data. Techniques for retrieving surface temperatures with these sensors in the polar regions have been developed. Errors have been estimated to range from 1K to 5K mainly due to cloud masking problems. With many additional channels available, it is expected that the EOS-Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) will provide an improved characterization of clouds and a good discrimination of clouds from snow or ice surfaces.

KSC Weather and Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maier, Launa; Huddleston, Lisa; Smith, Kristin

2016-01-01

This briefing outlines the history of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Weather organization, past research sponsored or performed, current organization, responsibilities, and activities, the evolution of weather support, future technologies, and an update on the status of the buoys located offshore of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and KSC.

Different Patterns of the Urban Heat Island Intensity from Cluster Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, F. B.; Longo, K.

2014-12-01

This study analyzes the different variability patterns of the Urban Heat Island intensity (UHII) in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro (MARJ), one of the largest urban agglomerations in Brazil. The UHII is defined as the difference in the surface air temperature between the urban/suburban and rural/vegetated areas. To choose one or more stations that represent those areas we used the technique of cluster analysis on the air temperature observations from 14 surface weather stations in the MARJ. The cluster analysis aims to classify objects based on their characteristics, gathering similar groups. The results show homogeneity patterns between air temperature observations, with 6 homogeneous groups being defined. Among those groups, one might be a natural choice for the representative urban area (Central station); one corresponds to suburban area (Afonsos station); and another group referred as rural area is compound of three stations (Ecologia, Santa Cruz and Xerém) that are located in vegetated regions. The arithmetic mean of temperature from the three rural stations is taken to represent the rural station temperature. The UHII is determined from these homogeneous groups. The first UHII is estimated from urban and rural temperature areas (Case 1), whilst the second UHII is obtained from suburban and rural temperature areas (Case 2). In Case 1, the maximum UHII occurs in two periods, one in the early morning and the other at night, while the minimum UHII occurs in the afternoon. In Case 2, the maximum UHII is observed during afternoon/night and the minimum during dawn/early morning. This study demonstrates that the stations choice reflects different UHII patterns, evidencing that distinct behaviors of this phenomenon can be identified.

The impact of Surface Wind Velocity Data Assimilation on the Predictability of Plume Advection in the Lower Troposphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sekiyama, Thomas; Kajino, Mizuo; Kunii, Masaru

2017-04-01

The authors investigated the impact of surface wind velocity data assimilation on the predictability of plume advection in the lower troposphere exploiting the radioactive cesium emitted by the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011 as an atmospheric tracer. It was because the radioactive cesium plume was dispersed from the sole point source exactly placed at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and its surface concentration was measured at many locations with a high frequency and high accuracy. We used a non-hydrostatic regional weather prediction model with a horizontal resolution of 3 km, which was coupled with an ensemble Kalman filter data assimilation system in this study, to simulate the wind velocity and plume advection. The main module of this weather prediction model has been developed and used operationally by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) since before March 2011. The weather observation data assimilated into the model simulation were provided from two data resources; [#1] the JMA observation archives collected for numerical weather predictions (NWPs) and [#2] the land-surface wind velocity data archived by the JMA surface weather observation network. The former dataset [#1] does not contain land-surface wind velocity observations because their spatial representativeness is relatively small and therefore the land-surface wind velocity data assimilation normally deteriorates the more than one day NWP performance. The latter dataset [#2] is usually used for real-time weather monitoring and never used for the data assimilation of more than one day NWPs. We conducted two experiments (STD and TEST) to reproduce the radioactive cesium plume behavior for 48 hours from 12UTC 14 March to 12UTC 16 March 2011 over the land area of western Japan. The STD experiment was performed to replicate the operational NWP using only the #1 dataset, not assimilating land-surface wind observations. In contrast, the TEST experiment was performed assimilating both the #1 dataset and the #2 dataset including land-surface wind observations measured at more than 200 stations in the model domain. The meteorological boundary conditions for both the experiments were imported from the JMA operational global NWP model results. The modeled radioactive cesium concentrations were examined for plume arrival timing at each observatory comparing with the hourly-measured "suspended particulate matter" filter tape's cesium concentrations retrieved by Tsuruta et al. at more than 40 observatories. The averaged difference of the plume arrival times at 40 observatories between the observational reality and the STD experiment was 82.0 minutes; at this time, the forecast period was 13 hours on average. Meanwhile, The averaged difference of the TEST experiment was 72.8 minutes, which was smaller than that of the STD experiment with a statistical significance of 99.2 %. In summary, the land-surface wind velocity data assimilation improves the predictability of plume advection in the lower troposphere at least in the case of wintertime air pollution over complex terrain. We need more investigation into the data assimilation impact of land-surface weather observations on the predictability of pollutant dispersion especially in the planetary boundary layer.

Estimating the urban bias of surface shelter temperatures using upper-air and satellite data. Part 2: Estimation of the urban bias

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Epperson, David L.; Davis, Jerry M.; Bloomfield, Peter; Karl, Thomas R.; Mcnab, Alan L.; Gallo, Kevin P.

1995-01-01

A methodology is presented for estimating the urban bias of surface shelter temperatures due to the effect of the urban heat island. Multiple regression techniques were used to predict surface shelter temperatures based on the time period 1986-89 using upper-air data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) to represent the background climate, site-specific data to represent the local landscape, and satellite-derived data -- the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) nighttime brightness data -- to represent the urban and rural landscape. Local NDVI and DMSP values were calculated for each station using the mean NDVI and DMSP values from a 3 km x 3 km area centered over the given station. Regional NDVI and DMSP values were calculated to represent a typical rural value for each station using the mean NDVI and DMSP values from a 1 deg x 1 deg latitude-longitude area in which the given station was located. Models for the United States were then developed for monthly maximum, mean, and minimum temperatures using data from over 1000 stations in the U.S. Cooperative (COOP) Network and for monthly mean temperatures with data from over 1150 stations in the Global Historical Climate Network (GHCN). Local biases, or the differences between the model predictions using the observed NDVI and DMSP values, and the predictions using the background regional values were calculated and compared with the results of other research. The local or urban bias of U.S. temperatures, as derived from all U.S. stations (urban and rural) used in the models, averaged near 0.40 C for monthly minimum temperatures, near 0.25 C for monthly mean temperatures, and near 0.10 C for monthly maximum temperatures. The biases of monthly minimum temperatures for individual stations ranged from near -1.1 C for rural stations to 2.4 C for stations from the largest urban areas. The results of this study indicate minimal problems for global application once global NDVI and DMSP data become available.

Waterspout Forecasting Method Over the Eastern Adriatic Using a High-Resolution Numerical Weather Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renko, Tanja; Ivušić, Sarah; Telišman Prtenjak, Maja; Šoljan, Vinko; Horvat, Igor

2018-03-01

In this study, a synoptic and mesoscale analysis was performed and Szilagyi's waterspout forecasting method was tested on ten waterspout events in the period of 2013-2016. Data regarding waterspout occurrences were collected from weather stations, an online survey at the official website of the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service of Croatia and eyewitness reports from newspapers and the internet. Synoptic weather conditions were analyzed using surface pressure fields, 500 hPa level synoptic charts, SYNOP reports and atmospheric soundings. For all observed waterspout events, a synoptic type was determined using the 500 hPa geopotential height chart. The occurrence of lightning activity was determined from the LINET lightning database, and waterspouts were divided into thunderstorm-related and "fair weather" ones. Mesoscale characteristics (with a focus on thermodynamic instability indices) were determined using the high-resolution (500 m grid length) mesoscale numerical weather model and model results were compared with the available observations. Because thermodynamic instability indices are usually insufficient for forecasting waterspout activity, the performance of the Szilagyi Waterspout Index (SWI) was tested using vertical atmospheric profiles provided by the mesoscale numerical model. The SWI successfully forecasted all waterspout events, even the winter events. This indicates that the Szilagyi's waterspout prognostic method could be used as a valid prognostic tool for the eastern Adriatic.

Big Creek Flood Control Project, Cleveland, Ohio. Phase II. General Design Memorandum. Appendix A. Soils, Geology, and Construction Materials.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-02-01

maximum thickness of about 4 feet of shale excavation will be required. The upper 1 foot of shale is weathered and easily rippable . A44. From Station...weathered and easily rippable . AS0. From Station 75+60M to 83+50M, maximum excavation in shale is about 3 feet. Most of the excavation in this section will be

Post-Colonization Interval Estimates Using Multi-Species Calliphoridae Larval Masses and Spatially Distinct Temperature Data Sets: A Case Study

PubMed Central

Weatherbee, Courtney R.; Pechal, Jennifer L.; Stamper, Trevor; Benbow, M. Eric

2017-01-01

Common forensic entomology practice has been to collect the largest Diptera larvae from a scene and use published developmental data, with temperature data from the nearest weather station, to estimate larval development time and post-colonization intervals (PCIs). To evaluate the accuracy of PCI estimates among Calliphoridae species and spatially distinct temperature sources, larval communities and ambient air temperature were collected at replicate swine carcasses (N = 6) throughout decomposition. Expected accumulated degree hours (ADH) associated with Cochliomyia macellaria and Phormia regina third instars (presence and length) were calculated using published developmental data sets. Actual ADH ranges were calculated using temperatures recorded from multiple sources at varying distances (0.90 m–7.61 km) from the study carcasses: individual temperature loggers at each carcass, a local weather station, and a regional weather station. Third instars greatly varied in length and abundance. The expected ADH range for each species successfully encompassed the average actual ADH for each temperature source, but overall under-represented the range. For both calliphorid species, weather station data were associated with more accurate PCI estimates than temperature loggers associated with each carcass. These results provide an important step towards improving entomological evidence collection and analysis techniques, and developing forensic error rates. PMID:28375172

Estimation of Remote Microclimates from Weather Station Data with Applications to Landscape Architecture.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Robert Douglas

Several components of a system for quantitative application of climatic statistics to landscape planning and design (CLIMACS) have been developed. One component model (MICROSIM) estimated the microclimate at the top of a remote crop using physically-based models and inputs of weather station data. Temperatures at the top of unstressed, uniform crops on flat terrain within 1600 m of a recording weather station were estimated within 1.0 C 96% of the time for a corn crop and 92% of the time for a soybean crop. Crop top winds were estimated within 0.4 m/s 92% of the time for corn and 100% of the time for soybean. This is of sufficient accuracy for application in landscape planning and design models. A physically-based model (COMFA) was developed for the determination of outdoor human thermal comfort from microclimate inputs. Estimated versus measured comfort levels in a wide range of environments agreed with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.91. Using these components, the CLIMACS concept has been applied to a typical planning example. Microclimate data were generated from weather station information using MICROSIM, then input to COMFA and to a house energy consumption model called HOTCAN to derive quantitative climatic justification for design decisions.

New York Urban Hydro-Meteorological Testbed (NY-uHMT)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norouzi, H.; Bah, A.

2017-12-01

It is well known that heat waves kill more persons, on average, than any other extreme weather event in the United States. New York City experiences much adversity due to inclement weather. Exploring climate variation in New Yorker City will help scientists and local government to detect and forecast extreme weather hazards and gather more localized temperature data within the five boroughs. Ground based weather stations are widely used to provide real time data to the public to prevent disasters. The New York urban Hydro-meteorological Testbed (NY-uHMT) is a hydro meteorological network that is used to investigate climate change in the New York City area. It is composed of twenty autonomous weather stations that will gather information on air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall and soil moisture properties around the densely populated NYC area. For each station, the data is stored on a Campbell Scientific CR200x data logger and can be accessed remotely using the LoggerNet software, or by direct connection using an RS-232 cable. Real-time weather data is acquired every fifteen minutes. The data is then periodically sampled and graphed through MATLAB code to be broadcasted on the uHMT website and is available at no charge to the public. We anticipate the results will show that the temperature, humidity, precipitation and soil moisture will vary from location to location depending on the magnitude of urbanization to the area.

SpaceX CRS-14 Prelaunch News Conference

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-01

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, NASA and industry leaders speak to members of the media during a prelaunch news conference for the SpaceX CRS-14 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Mike McAleenan, weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, participates in the news conference. A Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to be launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 4:30 p.m. EST, on April 2, 2018. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will lift off on the company's 14th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the space station.

Using fire-weather forecasts and local weather observations in predicting burning index for individual fire-danger stations.

Treesearch

Owen P. Cramer

1958-01-01

Any agency engaged in forest-fire control needs accurate weather forecasts and systematic procedures for making the best use of predicted and reported weather information. This study explores the practicability of using several tabular and graphical aids for converting area forecasts and local observations of relative humidity and wind speed into predicted values for...

Surface energy balance and turbulence measurements on Warszawa Icefield, King George Island, West Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falk, U.; Sala, H.; Braun, M.

2012-12-01

The Antarctic Peninsula is amongst the fastest warming places on Earth and further temperature increase is to be expected. It has undergone rapid environmental changes in the past decades. Exceptional rates of surface air temperature increases (2.5K in 50 years) are concurrent with retreating glacier fronts, an increase in melt areas, surface lowering and rapid retreat of glaciers, break-up and disintegration of ice shelves. The South Shetland Islands are located on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and are especially vulnerable to climate change due to their maritime climate. For King George Island we have compiled a unique data set comprising direct measurements of evaporation and sensible heat flux by eddy covariance on the Warszawa Icefield over 1.5 years from November 2010 to 2012 in combination with a fully equipped automated weather station measuring long- and short-wave radiation components, profiles of temperature, humidity and wind velocities as well as glacier ice temperatures. The combination with the eddy covariance data allows for analysis of variability and seasonality of surface energy balance components on a glacier for one and a half years. Repeat measurements of snow accumulation and surface lowering along transects on the glacier and at different locations on King George Island are used for analysis of multi-sensor satellite data to identify melt patterns and bare ice areas during summer within the source area of the ground measurements. In combination with long-term time series of weather data, these data give indication of the sensitivity of the ice cap to the ongoing changes. This research is part of the ESF project IMCOAST funded by BMBF. Field work was carried out at the Dallmann laboratory (Carlini station, King George Island/Isla 25 de Mayo) in cooperation of the Instituto Antartico Argentino (Argentina) and the Alfred-Wegener Institute of Marine and Polar Research (Germany).

Efficacy of wax matrix bait stations for Mediterranean Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Tests were conducted that evaluated efficacy of wax matrix bait stations for Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) adults in Guatemala. Bait stations were exposed to outdoor conditions to determine effect of weathering on longevity as indicated by bait station age. Results of laboratory tests found that ba...

The Origin of the "Seasons" in Space Weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dikpati, Mausumi; Cally, Paul S.; McIntosh, Scott W.; Heifetz, Eyal

2017-11-01

Powerful `space weather' events caused by solar activity pose serious risks to human health, safety, economic activity and national security. Spikes in deaths due to heart attacks, strokes and other diseases occurred during prolonged power outages. Currently it is hard to prepare for and mitigate the impact of space weather because it is impossible to forecast the solar eruptions that can cause these terrestrial events until they are seen on the Sun. However, as recently reported in Nature, eruptive events like coronal mass ejections and solar flares, are organized into quasi-periodic "seasons", which include enhanced bursts of eruptions for several months, followed by quiet periods. We explored the dynamics of sunspot-producing magnetic fields and discovered for the first time that bursty and quiet seasons, manifested in surface magnetic structures, can be caused by quasi-periodic energy-exchange among magnetic fields, Rossby waves and differential rotation of the solar interior shear-layer (called tachocline). Our results for the first time provide a quantitative physical mechanism for forecasting the strength and duration of bursty seasons several months in advance, which can greatly enhance our ability to warn humans about dangerous solar bursts and prevent damage to satellites and power stations from space weather events.

The Origin of the "Seasons" in Space Weather.

PubMed

Dikpati, Mausumi; Cally, Paul S; McIntosh, Scott W; Heifetz, Eyal

2017-11-07

Powerful 'space weather' events caused by solar activity pose serious risks to human health, safety, economic activity and national security. Spikes in deaths due to heart attacks, strokes and other diseases occurred during prolonged power outages. Currently it is hard to prepare for and mitigate the impact of space weather because it is impossible to forecast the solar eruptions that can cause these terrestrial events until they are seen on the Sun. However, as recently reported in Nature, eruptive events like coronal mass ejections and solar flares, are organized into quasi-periodic "seasons", which include enhanced bursts of eruptions for several months, followed by quiet periods. We explored the dynamics of sunspot-producing magnetic fields and discovered for the first time that bursty and quiet seasons, manifested in surface magnetic structures, can be caused by quasi-periodic energy-exchange among magnetic fields, Rossby waves and differential rotation of the solar interior shear-layer (called tachocline). Our results for the first time provide a quantitative physical mechanism for forecasting the strength and duration of bursty seasons several months in advance, which can greatly enhance our ability to warn humans about dangerous solar bursts and prevent damage to satellites and power stations from space weather events.

46 CFR 154.320 - Cargo control stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Arrangements § 154.320 Cargo control stations. (a) Cargo control stations must be above the weather deck. (b) If a cargo control station is in accommodation, service, or control spaces or has access to such a space, the station must: (1) Be a gas safe space; (2) Have an access to the space that meets § 154.330...

46 CFR 154.320 - Cargo control stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Arrangements § 154.320 Cargo control stations. (a) Cargo control stations must be above the weather deck. (b) If a cargo control station is in accommodation, service, or control spaces or has access to such a space, the station must: (1) Be a gas safe space; (2) Have an access to the space that meets § 154.330...

46 CFR 154.320 - Cargo control stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Arrangements § 154.320 Cargo control stations. (a) Cargo control stations must be above the weather deck. (b) If a cargo control station is in accommodation, service, or control spaces or has access to such a space, the station must: (1) Be a gas safe space; (2) Have an access to the space that meets § 154.330...

NOAA Weather Radio - All Hazards

Science.gov Websites

Station Search Coverage Maps Outages View Outages Report Outages Information General Information Receiver Information Reception Problems NWR Alarms Automated Voices FIPS Codes NWR - Special Needs SAME USING SAME SAME Weather Service (NWS) warnings, watches, forecasts and other non-weather related hazard information 24

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARINE PRODUCTS VIA NOAA WEATHER RADIO

Science.gov Websites

! Boating Safety Beach Hazards Rip Currents Hypothermia Hurricanes Thunderstorms Lightning Coastal Flooding Radio network provides voice broadcasts of local and coastal marine forecasts on a continuous cycle. The forecasts are produced by local National Weather Service Forecast Offices. Coastal stations also broadcast

LeRoy Meisinger, Part I: Biographical Tribute with an Assessment of His Contributions to Meteorology.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, John M.

1995-01-01

LeRoy Meisinger was a U.S. Weather Bureau meteorologist and aeronaut who worked vigorously to bring meteorology to the aid of aviation in the post-World War 1 period. He was killed at the age of 29 in a scientific ballooning accident that has been detailed in a companion paper by Lewis and Moore. Meisinger's personality and scientific profile are reconstructed by examination of his oeuvre, which contains research contributions augmented by popular articles in the magazines of the period.Meisinger's personal characteristics were those of a quiet, scholarly man with strong interests in science, music, and art. His experiences as a Signal Corps weather officer during World War 1 inclined him toward a career in meteorology. While stationed at the Fort Omaha Balloon School, he became intrigued with the possibilities of using the tree balloon as a platform for tracking air currents.As a research meteorologist with the U.S. Weather Bureau after the war, Meisinger melded adventurous scientific ballooning with the more painstaking and arduous task of scrutinizing data from the limited upper-air network of kite stations. His principal research contribution was a form of differential analysis that extrapolated surface data to the 1- and 2-km levels by using climatological statistics from the upper-air network. The impressive line of research he pioneered at the bureau came to an immediate and abrupt end with his accidental death in 1924.

REAL-TIME high-resolution urban surface water flood mapping to support flood emergency management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, M.; Yu, D.; Wilby, R.

2016-12-01

Strong evidence has shown that urban flood risks will substantially increase because of urbanisation, economic growth, and more frequent weather extremes. To effectively manage these risks require not only traditional grey engineering solutions, but also a green management solution. Surface water flood risk maps based on return period are useful for planning purposes, but are limited for application in flood emergencies, because of the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of rainfall and complex urban topography. Therefore, a REAL-TIME urban surface water mapping system is highly beneficial to increasing urban resilience to surface water flooding. This study integrated numerical weather forecast and high-resolution urban surface water modelling into a real-time multi-level surface water mapping system for Leicester City in the UK. For rainfall forecast, the 1km composite rain radar from the Met Office was used, and we used the advanced rainfall-runoff model - FloodMap to predict urban surface water at both city-level (10m-20m) and street-level (2m-5m). The system is capable of projecting 3-hour urban surface water flood, driven by rainfall derived from UK Met Office radar. Moreover, this system includes real-time accessibility mapping to assist the decision-making of emergency responders. This will allow accessibility (e.g. time to travel) from individual emergency service stations (e.g. Fire & Rescue; Ambulance) to vulnerable places to be evaluated. The mapping results will support contingency planning by emergency responders ahead of potential flood events.

Earth Observations taken by the Expedition 18 Crew

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-01-06

ISS018-E-018110 (6 Jan. 2009) --- Kerguelen Kelp Beds in the Southern Indian Ocean are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 18 crewmember on the International Space Station. MacMurdo and Howe Islands are two of the 300 islands of the Kerguelen Archipelago, a remote place located in the Southern Indian Ocean that belongs to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. The Kerguelen Archipelago is also known as the "Desolation Islands". The coastal regions of the islands support low vegetation (mainly genus Acaena), while elevations above 50 meters are rocky. There are no permanent inhabitants of the islands, but there is a permanent settlement (Port aux Francais) that hosts scientists mainly interested in biology, oceanography and earth sciences ? in addition, the settlement maintains a weather station and satellite/rocket tracking station. Latitudinal weather conditions are typical from the ?roaring forties? through the ?furious fifties? - on the day this image was taken, the mean daily temperature was 4.5 degrees Celsius with mean westerly winds of 9 meters per second. A substantial proportion of the coastlines of sub-Antarctic islands, like the Kerguelen Islands, are occupied by highly productive giant kelp beds (Macrocystis pyrifera). One of the largest marine macroalgaes, the species can grow up to 50 meters in length, forming undersea forests in hard-bottom subtidal areas. Fronds can spread out to form a canopy which can totally cover the water surface ? we interpret that the black patches surrounding coastal areas in this astronaut photograph are the offshore kelp beds. These forests serve as a habitat for marine fauna, and due to their large biomass and relatively long turnover act as an efficient sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide. The surface wave pattern traveling southeastward along the gray-blue ocean surface, and through the kelp beds, are visible due to the sunglint from the water surface. This also improves the identification of the kelp beds by creating a different water texture (and therefore a contrast) between the dark vegetation and the ocean surface. Kerguelen Archipelago hosts thousands of marine birds (penguins, albatrosses, and petrels among others) and seals (elephant and Antarctic fur species). Whales (humpback) and dolphins (killer whales and Commerson's dolphin) are very common in the area. Fishing boats also frequent the Archipelago ? including unlicensed, so-called ?pirate? fishing vessels.

Continuous Estimates of Precipitable Water Vapor Within and Around Hurricane Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braun, J. J.; Iwabuchi, T.; van Hove, T.

2008-12-01

This study investigates how estimates of precipitable water vapor (PW) from Global Positioning System (GPS) stations can be used to quantify how atmospheric moisture influences the intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes. The motivation for this study is based on the fact that hurricanes derive their strength through water vapor that is both evaporated from warm ocean surfaces and the existing moisture in the surrounding atmospheric environment. Observationally, there are relatively few instruments that can accurately measure water vapor in the presence of clouds and rain. Retrievals of PW using GPS stations may be the most reliable way to continuously monitor column integrated water vapor. Using storm information from the National Hurricane Center (www.nhc.noaa.gov), we have compared storm intensity to PW estimates for all tropical storms and hurricanes making landfall within 100-km of a GPS station between 2003 and 2008. We find that PW is inversely correlated (r**2 < -0.7) to the drop in surface pressure observed at that station. We have also begun to relate atmospheric PW at a station to the local sea surface temperature (SST). This comparison can be used to measure how strongly atmospheric water vapor and SST are coupled. It can also be used to measure how quickly the atmosphere responds to changes in SST. Finally we have compared the estimated PW to the Global Forecast System (GFS) analysis fields that are used to initialize numerical weather prediction models. This comparison indicates that the GFS analysis fields have significantly larger errors in atmospheric moisture in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico when compared to differences over the continental United States. These results illustrate that estimates of PW are an important data set for atmospheric scientists and forecasters attempting to improve the prediction of hurricane intensity.

Introducing the Global Fire WEather Database (GFWED)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Field, R. D.

2015-12-01

The Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) System is the mostly widely used fire danger rating system in the world. We have developed a global database of daily FWI System calculations beginning in 1980 called the Global Fire WEather Database (GFWED) gridded to a spatial resolution of 0.5° latitude by 2/3° longitude. Input weather data were obtained from the NASA Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research (MERRA), and two different estimates of daily precipitation from rain gauges over land. FWI System Drought Code calculations from the gridded datasets were compared to calculations from individual weather station data for a representative set of 48 stations in North, Central and South America, Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia and Australia. Agreement between gridded calculations and the station-based calculations tended to be most different at low latitudes for strictly MERRA-based calculations. Strong biases could be seen in either direction: MERRA DC over the Mato Grosso in Brazil reached unrealistically high values exceeding DC=1500 during the dry season but was too low over Southeast Asia during the dry season. These biases are consistent with those previously-identified in MERRA's precipitation and reinforce the need to consider alternative sources of precipitation data. GFWED is being used by researchers around the world for analyzing historical relationships between fire weather and fire activity at large scales, in identifying large-scale atmosphere-ocean controls on fire weather, and calibration of FWI-based fire prediction models. These applications will be discussed. More information on GFWED can be found at http://data.giss.nasa.gov/impacts/gfwed/

Low Cloud Type over the Ocean from Surface Observations. Part III: Relationship to Vertical Motion and the Regional Surface Synoptic Environment.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norris, Joel R.; Klein, Stephen A.

2000-01-01

Composite large-scale dynamical fields contemporaneous with low cloud types observed at midlatitude Ocean Weather Station (OWS) C and eastern subtropical OWS N are used to establish representative relationships between low cloud type and the synoptic environment. The composites are constructed by averaging meteorological observations of surface wind and sea level pressure from volunteering observing ships (VOS) and analyses of sea level pressure, 1000-mb wind, and 700-mb pressure vertical velocity from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR) reanalysis project on those dates and times of day when a particular low cloud type was reported at the OWS.VOS and NCEP results for OWS C during summer show that bad-weather stratus occurs with strong convergence and ascent slightly ahead of a surface low center and trough. Cumulus-under-stratocumulus and moderate and large cumulus occur with divergence and subsidence in the cold sector of an extratropical cyclone. Both sky-obscuring fog and no-low-cloud typically occur with southwesterly flow from regions of warmer sea surface temperature and differ primarily according to slight surface convergence and stronger warm advection in the case of sky-obscuring fog or surface divergence and weaker warm advection in the case of no-low-cloud. Fair-weather stratus and ordinary stratocumulus are associated with a mixture of meteorological conditions, but differ with respect to vertical motion in the environment. Fair-weather stratus occurs most commonly in the presence of slight convergence and ascent, while stratocumulus often occurs in the presence of divergence and subsidence.Surface divergence and estimated subsidence at the top of the boundary layer are calculated from VOS observations. At both OWS C and OWS N during summer and winter these values are large for ordinary stratocumulus, less for cumulus-under-stratocumulus, and least (and sometimes slightly negative) for moderate and large cumulus. Subsidence interpolated from NCEP analyses to the top of the boundary layer does not exhibit such variation, but the discrepancy may be due to deficiencies in the analysis procedure or the boundary layer parameterization of the NCEP model. The VOS results suggest that decreasing divergence and subsidence in addition to increasing sea surface temperature may promote the transition from stratocumulus to trade cumulus observed over low-latitude oceans.

Road Weather and Connected Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pisano, P.; Boyce, B. C.

2015-12-01

On average, there are over 5.8 M vehicle crashes each year of which 23% are weather-related. Weather-related crashes are defined as those crashes that occur in adverse weather or on slick pavement. The vast majority of weather-related crashes happen on wet pavement (74%) and during rainfall (46%). Connected vehicle technologies hold the promise to transform road-weather management by providing improved road weather data in real time with greater temporal and geographic accuracy. This will dramatically expand the amount of data that can be used to assess, forecast, and address the impacts that weather has on roads, vehicles, and travelers. The use of vehicle-based measurements of the road and surrounding atmosphere with other, more traditional weather data sources, and create road and atmospheric hazard products for a variety of users. The broad availability of road weather data from mobile sources will vastly improve the ability to detect and forecast weather and road conditions, and will provide the capability to manage road-weather response on specific roadway links. The RWMP is currently demonstrating how weather, road conditions, and related vehicle data can be used for decision making through an innovative Integrated Mobile Observations project. FHWA is partnering with 3 DOTs (MN, MI, & NV) to pilot these applications. One is a mobile alerts application called the Motorists Advisories and Warnings (MAW) and a maintenance decision support application. These applications blend traditional weather information (e.g., radar, surface stations) with mobile vehicle data (e.g., temperature, brake status, wiper status) to determine current weather conditions. These weather conditions, and other road-travel-relevant information, are provided to users via web and phone applications. The MAW provides nowcasts and short-term forecasts out to 24 hours while the EMDSS application can provide forecasts up to 72 hours in advance. The three DOTs have placed readers and external road weather sensors on their maintenance fleet vehicles to collect vehicular and meteorological data. Data from all three states is sent to a processing system called the Pikalert® Vehicle Data Translator (VDT) that quality checks and uses the data to infer current and forecasted weather conditions.

Comparison of Weather Shows in Eastern Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Najman, M.

2009-09-01

Comparison of Weather Shows in Eastern Europe Television weather shows in Eastern Europe have in most cases in the high graphical standard. There is though a wast difference in duration and information content in the weather shows. There are few signs and regularities by which we can see the character of the weather show. The main differences are mainly caused by the income structure of the TV station. Either it is a fully privately funded TV relying on the TV commercials income. Or it is a public service TV station funded mainly by the national budget or fixed fee structure/tax. There are wast differences in duration and even a graphical presentation of the weather. Next important aspect is a supplier of the weather information and /or the processor. Shortly we can say, that when the TV show is produced by the national met office, the TV show consists of more scientific terms, synoptic maps, satellite imagery, etc. If the supplier is the private meteorological company, the weather show is more user-friendly, laical with less scientific terms. We are experiencing a massive shift in public weather knowledge and demand for information. In the past, weather shows consisted only of maps with weather icons. In todaýs world, even the laic weather shows consist partly of numerical weather model outputs - they are of course designed to be understandable and graphically attractive. Outputs of the numerical weather models used to be only a part of daily life of a professional meteorologist, today they are common part of life of regular people. Video samples are a part of this presentation.

Seasonal variation of air temperature at the Mendel Station, James Ross Island in the period of 2006-2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laska, Kamil; Prošek, Pavel; Budík, Ladislav

2010-05-01

Key words: air temperature, seasonal variation, James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula Recently, significant role of the atmospheric and oceanic circulation variation on positive trend of near surface air temperature along the Antarctic Peninsula has been reported by many authors. However, small number of the permanent meteorological stations located on the Peninsula coast embarrasses a detail analysis. It comprises analysis of spatiotemporal variability of climatic conditions and validation of regional atmospheric climate models. However, geographical location of the Czech Johann Gregor Mendel Station (hereafter Mendel Station) newly established on the northern ice-free part of the James Ross Island provides an opportunity to fill the gap. There are recorded important meteorological characteristics which allow to evaluate specific climatic regime of the region and their impact on the ice-shelf disintegration and glacier retreat. Mendel Station (63°48'S, 57°53'W) is located on marine terrace at the altitude of 7 m. In 2006, a monitoring network of several automatic weather stations was installed at different altitudes ranging from the seashore level up to mesas and tops of glaciers (514 m a.s.l.). In this contribution, a seasonal variation of near surface air temperature at the Mendel Station in the period of 2006-2009 is presented. Annual mean air temperature was -7.2 °C. Seasonal mean temperature ranged from +1.4 °C (December-February) to -17.7 °C (June-August). Frequently, the highest temperature occurred in the second half of January. It reached maximum of +8.1 °C. Sudden changes of atmospheric circulation pattern during winter caused a large interdiurnal variability of air temperature with the amplitude of 30 °C.

A Method for Estimating Meteorite Fall Mass from Weather Radar Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laird, C.; Fries, M.; Matson, R.

2017-01-01

Techniques such as weather RADAR, seismometers, and all-sky cameras allow new insights concerning the physics of meteorite fall dynamics and fragmentation during "dark flight", the period of time between the end of the meteor's luminous flight and the concluding impact on the Earth's surface. Understanding dark flight dynamics enables us to rapidly analyze the characteristics of new meteorite falls. This analysis will provide essential information to meteorite hunters to optimize recovery, increasing the frequency and total mass of scientifically important freshly-fallen meteorites available to the scientific community. We have developed a mathematical method to estimate meteorite fall mass using reflectivity data as recorded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Next Generation RADAR (NEXRAD) stations. This study analyzed eleven official and one unofficial meteorite falls in the United States and Canada to achieve this purpose.

A Sounding-based Severe Weather Tool to Support Daily Operations at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauman, William H.; Roeder, William P.

2014-01-01

People and property at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) are at risk when severe weather occurs. Strong winds, hail and tornadoes can injure individuals and cause costly damage to structures if not properly protected. NASA's Launch Services Program and Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and other KSC programs use the daily and weekly severe weather forecasts issued by the 45th Weather Squadron (45 WS) to determine if they need to limit an activity such as working on gantries, or protect property such as a vehicle on a pad. The 45 WS requested the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) develop a warm season (May-September) severe weather tool for use in the Meteorological Interactive Data Display System (MIDDS) based on the late morning, 1500 UTC (1100 local time), CCAFS (XMR) sounding. The 45 WS frequently makes decisions to issue a severe weather watch and other severe weather warning support products to NASA and the 45th Space Wing in the late morning, after the 1500 UTC sounding. The results of this work indicate that certain stability indices based on the late morning XMR soundings can depict differences between days with reported severe weather and days with no reported severe weather. The AMU determined a frequency of reported severe weather for the stability indices and implemented an operational tool in MIDDS.

Severe Weather Tool using 1500 UTC Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Soundings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauman, William H., III

2013-01-01

People and property at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) are at risk when severe weather occurs. Strong winds, hail and tornadoes can injure individuals and cause costly damage to structures if not properly protected. NASA's Launch Services Program and Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and other KSC programs use the daily and weekly severe weather forecasts issued by the 45th Weather Squadron (45 WS) to determine if they need to limit an activity such as working on gantries, or protect property such as a vehicle on a pad. The 45 WS requested the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) develop a warm season (May-September) severe weather tool for use in the Meteorological Interactive Data Display System (MIDDS) based on the late morning, 1500 UTC (1100 local time), CCAFS (XMR) sounding. The 45 WS frequently makes decisions to issue a severe weather watch and other severe weather warning support products to NASA and the 45th Space Wing in the late morning, after the 1500 UTC sounding. The results of this work indicate that certain stability indices based on the late morning XMR soundings can depict differences between days with reported severe weather and days with no reported severe weather. The AMU determined a frequency of reported severe weather for the stability indices and implemented an operational tool in MIDDS.

Evaluating The Reliability of Point Estimates of Wetland Evaporation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gavin, H.; Agnew, C. T.

The Penman-Monteith formulation of evaporation has been criticised for its reliance upon point estimates raising concerns that areal estimates of wetland evaporation based upon single weather stations can be misleading. Typically wetlands are composed of a complex mosaic of land cover types each of which can produce different evaporative rates. The need to account for wetland patches when monitoring hydrological fluxes has been noted, while Morton (1983) has long argued for a fundamentally different approach to the calculation of regional evaporation. This paper presents the work carried out at wet grassland in Southern England that was monitored with several automatic weather stations (AWS) and a bowen ratio station to investigate microclimate variations. The significance of fetch was examined using the approach adopted by Gash (1986) based upon surface roughness to estimate the fraction of evaporation sensed from a specific distance upwind of the monitoring station. This theoretical analysis reveals that the fraction of evaporation contributed by the surrounding area steadily increases to a value of 77% at a distance of 224m and thereafter declines rapidly, under stable atmospheric conditions. Thus point climate observations may not reflect surface conditions at greater distances. This result was tested through the deployment offour AWS around the wetland. The data yielded a different response, suggesting that homogeneous conditions prevailed and the central AWS did provide reliable areal estimates of evaporation. The apparent contradiction is a result of not accounting for wind speeds found in wetlands that lead to widespread atmospheric mixing. These findings are typical of moist conditions whereas for example Guo and Scheupp (1994) found that a patchwork of dry fields and wet ditches, characteristic of the study site in summer, could produce differences of up to 50% in evaporation. The paper will also present the initial results of an investigation of the role of dry patches upon wetland evaporation estimates. Morton, F.I. 1983 Operational estimates of evapotranspiration and their significance to the science and practice of hydrology. Journal of Hydrology 66 1:76. Gash, J.H.C. 1986 A note on estimating the effect of limited fetch on micrometeorological evaporation measurements. Boundary Layer Meteorology 35: 409-413. Guo, Y. Schuepp, P.H. 1994a On surface energy balance over the northern wetlands 1. The effects of small-scale temperature and wetness heterogeneity. Journal of Geophysical Research 99 (D1) 1601-1612.

Orbital ATK CRS-7 Prelaunch News Conference

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-04-17

A prelaunch status briefing for Orbital ATK's seventh commercial resupply mission, CRS-7, to the International Space Station, is held at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Press Site in Florida. Participating in the briefing are, from left, Tara Ruttley, Johnson Space Center Program Science Office; and David Craft, weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron. Orbital ATK's Cygnus pressurized cargo module is set to launch atop the ULA Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 18. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Liftoff is scheduled for 11:11 a.m. EDT.

Spatial Estimation of Sub-Hour Global Horizontal Irradiance Based on Official Observations and Remote Sensors

PubMed Central

Gutierrez-Corea, Federico-Vladimir; Manso-Callejo, Miguel-Angel; Moreno-Regidor, María-Pilar; Velasco-Gómez, Jesús

2014-01-01

This study was motivated by the need to improve densification of Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) observations, increasing the number of surface weather stations that observe it, using sensors with a sub-hour periodicity and examining the methods of spatial GHI estimation (by interpolation) with that periodicity in other locations. The aim of the present research project is to analyze the goodness of 15-minute GHI spatial estimations for five methods in the territory of Spain (three geo-statistical interpolation methods, one deterministic method and the HelioSat2 method, which is based on satellite images). The research concludes that, when the work area has adequate station density, the best method for estimating GHI every 15 min is Regression Kriging interpolation using GHI estimated from satellite images as one of the input variables. On the contrary, when station density is low, the best method is estimating GHI directly from satellite images. A comparison between the GHI observed by volunteer stations and the estimation model applied concludes that 67% of the volunteer stations analyzed present values within the margin of error (average of ±2 standard deviations). PMID:24732102

Spatial estimation of sub-hour Global Horizontal Irradiance based on official observations and remote sensors.

PubMed

Gutierrez-Corea, Federico-Vladimir; Manso-Callejo, Miguel-Angel; Moreno-Regidor, María-Pilar; Velasco-Gómez, Jesús

2014-04-11

This study was motivated by the need to improve densification of Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) observations, increasing the number of surface weather stations that observe it, using sensors with a sub-hour periodicity and examining the methods of spatial GHI estimation (by interpolation) with that periodicity in other locations. The aim of the present research project is to analyze the goodness of 15-minute GHI spatial estimations for five methods in the territory of Spain (three geo-statistical interpolation methods, one deterministic method and the HelioSat2 method, which is based on satellite images). The research concludes that, when the work area has adequate station density, the best method for estimating GHI every 15 min is Regression Kriging interpolation using GHI estimated from satellite images as one of the input variables. On the contrary, when station density is low, the best method is estimating GHI directly from satellite images. A comparison between the GHI observed by volunteer stations and the estimation model applied concludes that 67% of the volunteer stations analyzed present values within the margin of error (average of ±2 standard deviations).

Performance Assessment of a Solar powered Air Quality and Weather Station Placed on a School Rooftop in Hong Kong

EPA Science Inventory

Summary of compact, roof version of a Village Green Project station installed on a secondary school rooftop in Hong Kong. Preliminary comparison of the station's data against nearby regulatory monitors are summarized.

Space-to-Ground: Tracking a Monster: 09/08/2017

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-09-07

Three crew members said farewell to the station...the station had eyes on a monstrous storm...and what kind of weather can you have in space? NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station.

Evaluation of surface layer flux parameterizations using in-situ observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katz, Jeremy; Zhu, Ping

2017-09-01

Appropriate calculation of surface turbulent fluxes between the atmosphere and the underlying ocean/land surface is one of the major challenges in geosciences. In practice, the surface turbulent fluxes are estimated from the mean surface meteorological variables based on the bulk transfer model combined with the Monnin-Obukhov Similarity (MOS) theory. Few studies have been done to examine the extent to which such a flux parameterization can be applied to different weather and surface conditions. A novel validation method is developed in this study to evaluate the surface flux parameterization using in-situ observations collected at a station off the coast of Gulf of Mexico. The main findings are: (a) the theoretical prediction that uses MOS theory does not match well with those directly computed from the observations. (b) The largest spread in exchange coefficients is shown in strong stable conditions with calm winds. (c) Large turbulent eddies, which depend strongly on the mean flow pattern and surface conditions, tend to break the constant flux assumption in the surface layer.

CPC - Monitoring & Data: Pacific Island Climate Data

Science.gov Websites

Weather Service NWS logo - Click to go to the NWS home page Climate Prediction Center Home Site Map News Web resources and services. HOME > Monitoring and Data > Pacific Islands Climate Data & Maps island stations. NOAA/ National Weather Service NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction Climate

Prognostic Aspects of Sub-seasonal Rainfall Characteristics using the Outputs of General Circulation Model: An Application of Statistical Downscaling and Temporal Disaggregation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, A.; Mohanty, U. C.; Ghosh, K.

2015-12-01

Most regions of India experience varied rainfall duration during the southwest monsoon, changes in which exhibit major impact not only agriculture, but also other sectors like hydrology, agriculture, food and fodder storage etc. In addition, changes in sub-seasonal rainfall characteristics highly impact the rice production. As part of the endeavor seasonal climate outlook, as well as information for weather within climate may be helpful for advance planning and risk management in agriculture. The General Circulation Model (GCM) provide an alternative to gather information for weather within climate but variability is very low in comparison to observation. On the other hand, the spatial resolution of GCM predicted rainfall is not found at the observed station/grid point. To tackle the problem, initially a statistical downscaling over 19 station of Odisha state is undertaken using the atmospheric parameters predicted by a GCM (NCEP-CFSv2). For the purpose, an extended domain is taken for analyzing the significant zone for the atmospheric parameters like zonal wind at 850hPa, Sea Surface Temperature (SST), geopotential height. A statistical model using the pattern projection method is further developed based on empirical orthogonal function. The downscaled rainfall is found better in association with station observation in comparison to raw GCM prediction in view of deterministic and probabilistic skill measure. Further, the sub-seasonal and seasonal forecast from the GCMs can be used at different time steps for risk management. Therefore, downscaled seasonal/monthly rainfall is further converted to sub-seasonal/daily time scale using a non-homogeneous markov model. The simulated weather sequences are further compared with the observed sequence in view of categorical rainfall events. The outcomes suggest that the rainfall amount are overestimated for excess rainfall and henceforth larger excess rainfall events can be realized. The skill for prediction of rainfall events corresponding to lower thresholds is found higher. A detail discussion regarding skill of spatial downscale rainfall at observed stations and its further representation of sub-seasonal characteristics (spells, less rainfall, heavy rainfall, and moderate rainfall events) of rainfall for disaggregated outputs will be presented.

Analysis of biases from parallel observations of co-located manual and automatic weather stations in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sopaheluwakan, Ardhasena; Fajariana, Yuaning; Satyaningsih, Ratna; Aprilina, Kharisma; Astuti Nuraini, Tri; Ummiyatul Badriyah, Imelda; Lukita Sari, Dyah; Haryoko, Urip

2017-04-01

Inhomogeneities are often found in long records of climate data. These can occur because of various reasons, among others such as relocation of observation site, changes in observation method, and the transition to automated instruments. Changes to these automated systems are inevitable, and it is taking place worldwide in many of the National Meteorological Services. However this shift of observational practice must be done cautiously and a sufficient period of parallel observation of co-located manual and automated systems should take place as suggested by the World Meteorological Organization. With a sufficient parallel observation period, biases between the two systems can be analyzed. In this study we analyze the biases of a yearlong parallel observation of manual and automatic weather stations in 30 locations in Indonesia. The location of the sites spans from east to west of approximately 45 longitudinal degrees covering different climate characteristics and geographical settings. We study measurements taken by both sensors for temperature and rainfall parameters. We found that the biases from both systems vary from place to place and are more dependent to the setting of the instrument rather than to the climatic and geographical factors. For instance, daytime observations of the automatic weather stations are found to be consistently higher than the manual observation, and vice versa night time observations of the automatic weather stations are lower than the manual observation.

Solar Weather Ice Monitoring Station (SWIMS). A low cost, extreme/harsh environment, solar powered, autonomous sensor data gathering and transmission system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chetty, S.; Field, L. A.

2013-12-01

The Arctic ocean's continuing decrease of summer-time ice is related to rapidly diminishing multi-year ice due to the effects of climate change. Ice911 Research aims to develop environmentally respectful materials that when deployed will increase the albedo, enhancing the formation and/preservation of multi-year ice. Small scale deployments using various materials have been done in Canada, California's Sierra Nevada Mountains and a pond in Minnesota to test the albedo performance and environmental characteristics of these materials. SWIMS is a sophisticated autonomous sensor system being developed to measure the albedo, weather, water temperature and other environmental parameters. The system (SWIMS) employs low cost, high accuracy/precision sensors, high resolution cameras, and an extreme environment command and data handling computer system using satellite and terrestrial wireless communication. The entire system is solar powered with redundant battery backup on a floating buoy platform engineered for low temperature (-40C) and high wind conditions. The system also incorporates tilt sensors, sonar based ice thickness sensors and a weather station. To keep the costs low, each SWIMS unit measures incoming and reflected radiation from the four quadrants around the buoy. This allows data from four sets of sensors, cameras, weather station, water temperature probe to be collected and transmitted by a single on-board solar powered computer. This presentation covers the technical, logistical and cost challenges in designing, developing and deploying these stations in remote, extreme environments. Image captured by camera #3 of setting sun on the SWIMS station One of the images captured by SWIMS Camera #4

KSC-2011-2976

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-04-07

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station forecast facility in Florida, a member of the weather team demonstrates the effectiveness of the new weather radar display recently installed. The facility is operated by the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron and will generate a launch weather forecast for the scheduled July 8 lift off of space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-135 mission. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

KSC-2011-2975

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-04-07

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station forecast facility in Florida, a member of the weather team demonstrates the effectiveness of the new weather radar display recently installed. The facility is operated by the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron and will generate a launch weather forecast for the scheduled July 8 lift off of space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-135 mission. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

SpaceX CRS-11 Prelaunch News Conference

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-05-31

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, agency and industry leaders speak to members of the media during a prelaunch news conference for the SpaceX CRS-11 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. From left are: Mike Curie of NASA Communications, Kirk Shireman, NASA's International Space Station Program manager, Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of Flight Reliability for SpaceX, Camille Alleyne, associate program scientist for the International Space Station at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and Mike McAleenan, launch weather officer for the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron. A Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to be launched from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A on June 1 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the company's 11th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the space station.

SpaceX CRS-14 Prelaunch News Conference

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-01

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, agency and industry leaders speak to members of the media during a prelaunch news conference for the SpaceX CRS-14 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Stephanie Schierholz of NASA Communications; Joel Montalbano, NASA Deputy Manager of the International Space Station Program; Jessica Jensen, Director of Dragon Mission Management for SpaceX; Pete Hasbrook, Associate Program Scientist for the ISS Program Science Office; and Mike McAleenan the Launch Weather Officer from the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron. A Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to be launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the company's 14th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the space station.

SpaceX CRS-13 Prelaunch News Conference

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-11

In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, agency and industry leaders speak to members of the media during a prelaunch news conference for the SpaceX CRS-13 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Cheryl Warner of NASA Communications; Kirk Shireman, NASA Manager of the International Space Station Program; Jessica Jensen, Director of Dragon Mission Management for SpaceX; Kirt Costello, Deputy Chief Scientist for the ISS Program Science Office; and David Myers the Launch Weather Officer from the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron. A Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to be launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the company's 13th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the space station.

Peak Wind Tool for General Forecasting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barrett, Joe H., III; Short, David

2008-01-01

This report describes work done by the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) in predicting peak winds at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). The 45th Weather Squadron requested the AMU develop a tool to help them forecast the speed and timing of the daily peak and average wind, from the surface to 300 ft on KSC/CCAFS during the cool season. Based on observations from the KSC/CCAFS wind tower network , Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) surface observations, and CCAFS sounding s from the cool season months of October 2002 to February 2007, the AMU created mul tiple linear regression equations to predict the timing and speed of the daily peak wind speed, as well as the background average wind speed. Several possible predictors were evaluated, including persistence , the temperature inversion depth and strength, wind speed at the top of the inversion, wind gust factor (ratio of peak wind speed to average wind speed), synoptic weather pattern, occurrence of precipitation at the SLF, and strongest wind in the lowest 3000 ft, 4000 ft, or 5000 ft.

Detection of heat wave using Kalpana-1 VHRR land surface temperature product over India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shah, Dhiraj; Pandya, Mehul R.; Pathak, Vishal N.; Darji, Nikunj P.; Trivedi, Himanshu J.

2016-05-01

Heat Waves can have notable impacts on human mortality, ecosystem, economics and energy supply. The effect of heat wave is much more intense during summer than the other seasons. During the period of April to June, spells of very hot weather occur over certain regions of India and global warming scenario may result in further increases of such temperature anomalies and corresponding heat waves conditions. In this paper, satellite observations have been used to detect the heat wave conditions prevailing over India for the period of May-June 2015. The Kalpana-1 VHRR derived land surface temperature (LST) products have been used in the analysis to detect the heat wave affected regions over India. Results from the analysis shows the detection of heat wave affected pixels over Indian land mass. It can be seen that during the study period the parts of the west India, Indo-gangetic plane, Telangana and part of Vidarbh was under severe heat wave conditions which is also confirmed with Automatic Weather Station (AWS) air temperature observations.

Mars Micro-Meteorology Station Electronic Design, Assembly and Test Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Twiggs, Robert J.; Merrihew, Seven; Engberg, Brian; Hicks, Michael; Tillier, Clemens

1996-01-01

The Micro-Met mission is a micro-meteorological experiment for Mars designed to take globally distributed pressure measurements for at least one martian year. A series of 16 landers equally spaced over the planet's surface will take pressure and temperature data and relay it to investigators on Earth. Measurements will be logged once every hour and transmitted to an orbiter once every thirty days using Mars Balloon Relay protocol. Micro-Met data will aid tremendously in the development and refinement of a global model of Martian weather.

Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO) for Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-01-31

determine the percentage frequency of A’ occurroncr for any given limit of celling or vislb lty separately, or In omablastion of ceiling and vi- bility. The...January 1949 will be modif d to lit celling ’to 1,000 feet. Short periods of record prior to 1949 for these stations will be elsimiLtod from ’he stm.t...For Air Toroe Qtatio%%, the "no ceiling" cateaory Includes clear and scattered conditions, and cellings above 20,000 feet for period through June 194

Continuous atmospheric monitoring of the injected CO2 behavior over geological storage sites using flux stations: latest technologies and resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burba, George; Madsen, Rodney; Feese, Kristin

2014-05-01

Flux stations have been widely used to monitor emission rates of CO2 from various ecosystems for climate research for over 30 years [1]. The stations provide accurate and continuous measurements of CO2 emissions with high temporal resolution. Time scales range from 20 times per second for gas concentrations, to 15-minute, hourly, daily, and multi-year periods. The emissions are measured from the upwind area ranging from thousands of square meters to multiple square kilometers, depending on the measurement height. The stations can nearly instantaneously detect rapid changes in emissions due to weather events, as well as changes caused by variations in human-triggered events (pressure leaks, control releases, etc.). Stations can also detect any slow changes related to seasonal dynamics and human-triggered low-frequency processes (leakage diffusion, etc.). In the past, station configuration, data collection and processing were highly-customized, site-specific and greatly dependent on "school-of-thought" practiced by a particular research group. In the last 3-5 years, due to significant efforts of global and regional CO2 monitoring networks (e.g., FluxNet, Ameriflux, Carbo-Europe, ICOS, etc.) and technological developments, the flux station methodology became fairly standardized and processing protocols became quite uniform [1]. A majority of current stations compute CO2 emission rates using the eddy covariance method, one of the most direct and defensible micrometeorological techniques [1]. Presently, over 600 such flux stations are in operation in over 120 countries, using permanent and mobile towers or moving platforms (e.g., automobiles, helicopters, and airplanes). Atmospheric monitoring of emission rates using such stations is now recognized as an effective method in regulatory and industrial applications, including carbon storage [2-8]. Emerging projects utilize flux stations to continuously monitor large areas before and after the injections, to locate and quantify leakages from the subsurface, to improve storage efficiency, and for other storage characterizations [5-8]. In this presentation, the latest regulatory and methodological updates are provided regarding atmospheric monitoring of the injected CO2 behavior using flux stations. These include 2013 improvements in methodology, as well as the latest literature, including regulatory documents for using the method and step-by-step instructions on implementing it in the field. Updates also include 2013 development of a fully automated remote unattended flux station capable of processing data on-the-go to continuously output final CO2 emission rates in a similar manner as a standard weather station outputs weather parameters. References: [1] Burba G. Eddy Covariance Method for Scientific, Industrial, Agricultural and Regulatory Applications. LI-COR Biosciences; 2013. [2] International Energy Agency. Quantification techniques for CO2 leakage. IEA-GHG; 2012. [3] US Department of Energy. Best Practices for Monitoring, Verification, and Accounting of CO2 Stored in Deep Geologic Formations. US DOE; 2012. [4] Liu G. (Ed.). Greenhouse Gases: Capturing, Utilization and Reduction. Intech; 2012. [5] Finley R. et al. An Assessment of Geological Carbon Sequestration Options in the Illinois Basin - Phase III. DOE-MGSC; DE-FC26-05NT42588; 2012. [6] LI-COR Biosciences. Surface Monitoring for Geologic Carbon Sequestration. LI-COR, 980-11916, 2011. [7] Eggleston H., et al. (Eds). IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, IPCC NGGI P, WMO/UNEP; 2006-2011. [8] Burba G., Madsen R., Feese K. Eddy Covariance Method for CO2 Emission Measurements in CCUS Applications: Principles, Instrumentation and Software. Energy Procedia, 40C: 329-336; 2013.

One Hundred Years of New York City's "Urban Heat Island": Temperature Trends and Public Health Impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenthal, J. E.; Knowlton, K. M.; Rosenzweig, C.; Goldberg, R.; Kinney, P. L.

2003-12-01

In this paper, we examine the relationship between the historical development of New York City and its effect on the urban climate. Urban "heat islands" (UHI) are created principally by man-made surfaces, including concrete, dark roofs, asphalt lots and roads, which absorb most of the sunlight falling on them and reradiate that energy as heat. Many urban streets have fewer trees and other vegetation to shade buildings, block solar radiation and cool the air by evapotranspiration. The historical development of the NYC heat island effect was assessed in terms of average temperature differences of the city center relative to its surrounding 31-county metropolitan region, comprised of parts of New York State, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Monthly maximum and minimum temperatures for 1900-1997 were obtained from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, the NASA-Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University for 24 weather stations within the region that are part of the U.S. Historical Climatology Network. Analysis of annual mean temperatures shows an increasing difference between NYC (Central Park weather station) and its surrounding region over the twentieth century. Analysis of the temperature differences over time between NY Central Park (NYCP) station and 23 regional weather stations classified according to distance and level of urbanization show a heat island effect existing in NYC, with mean temperatures in the NYCP Station generally higher than the surrounding stations, ranging from 1.20\\deg C to 3.02\\deg C. A difference of at least 1\\deg C already existed at the beginning of the 20th century between the mean temperature in NYC and its surrounding rural areas, and this difference increased over the twentieth century. There was a significant decrease in the monthly and seasonal variability of the UHI effect over the century. Temperature extremes and summertime heat can create heat stress and other health consequences for urban residents. Public health impacts are assessed as the proportion of heat-related regional mortality estimated to be attributable to New York City's heat island effect during an average 1990's summer. Concentration-response functions describing the temperature-mortality relationship in NYC derived from the epidemiological literature are used to estimate numbers of deaths in a typical 1990s summer and those attributable to the city's heat island effect. The techniques and potential public health benefits of a pilot project to mitigate the heat island effect in NYC will be discussed.

Incorporating the Campus Radio Station into Your Emergency Communications Plan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Thomas C.

2008-01-01

Radio stations have been a mainstay of American life since the 1920s. Broadcasting primarily over AM and FM frequencies, American radio stations have been used to provide entertainment, news, weather, and advertising to the public. Beginning in 1963 and continuing until 1997, local radio stations were part of the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS)…

Effects of silicate weathering on water chemistry in forested, upland, felsic terrane of the USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stauffer, Robert E.; Wittchen, Bruce D.

1991-11-01

We use data from the US EPA National Surface Water Survey (NSWS), the USGS Bench-Mark Station monitoring program, and the National Acid Deposition Program (NADP) to evaluate the role of weathering in supplying base cations to surface waters in forested, upland, felsic terrane of the northeastern, northcentral, and northwestern (Idaho batholith) United States. Multivariate regression reveals differential effects of discharge on individual base cations and silica, but no secular trend in the Ca/Na denudation rate over 24 yr (1965-1988) for the Wild River catchment in the White Mountains. Because the turn-over time for Na in the soil-exchange complex is only ca. 1.5 yr, the long-term behavior of the ratios Ca/Na and Si/Na in waters leaving this catchment indicates that weathering is compensating for base cation export. In every subregion, Ca and Mg concentrations in lakes are statistically linked to nonmarine Na, but the median Ca/Na ratio is greater than the ratio in local plagioclase. We attribute this inequality to nonstoichiometric weathering of calcium in juvenile (formerly glaciated) terrane, not to leaching of exchangeable cations by SO 4, because intraregional and cross-regional statistical analysis reveals no effect of atmospherically derived sulfate ion. The median base cation denudation rates (meq m -2 yr -1) for these American lake regions are: Maine granites (108); western Adirondack felsic gneiss (85); Vermilion batholith (42); Idaho batholith (52). The regional rates are high enough to compensate for present wet deposition of acidifying anions except in some vulnerable lake watersheds in the western Adirondacks.

Community Dynamics and Soil Seed Bank Ecology of Lane Mountain Milkvetch (Astragalus jaegerianus Munz)

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-01

concentrated in four geographic areas (Coolgardie Mesa, Paradise Valley, Brinkman Wash-Montana Mine , and the Gemini Conservation Area; Fig. 1) that total...data for 2003, and from 2007 through 2009 were generated by the remote automated weather station (RAWS) at Opal Mountain CA (35°09´N; 117°10´W; 980...m.). This weather station is approximately 30 km SW of UCLA’s milkvetch study sites. Opal Mountain and Goldstone monthly precipitation from 1992

VHF downline communication system for SLAR data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schertler, R. J.; Chase, T. L.; Mueller, R. A.; Kramarchuk, I.; Jirberg, R. J.; Gedney, R. T.

1979-01-01

A real time VHF downlink communication system is described for transmitting side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) data directly from an aircraft to a portable ground/shipboard receiving station. Use of this receiving station aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Mackinaw for generating real-time photographic quality radar images is discussed. The system was developed and demonstrated in conjunction with the U.S Coast Guard and NOAA National Weather Service as part of the Project Icewarn all weather ice information system for the Great Lakes Winter Navigation Program.

A Conceptual Model of the Severe-Storm Environment for Inclusion into Air Weather Service Severe-Storm Analysis and Forecast Procedures.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-11-16

thunderstorm forecasting , Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 34:250-252. 19. Galway , J.G. (1956) The lifted index as a prediction of latent instability, Bull...downwind, which are geographically related and can be traced through time by a forecaster . In fact, a typical Great Plains severe-storm situation has...weather station setting, only one sounding can be plotted and anal- yzed because of time constraints. Appendix C contains two single-station forecast

Probabilistic Forecasting of Surface Ozone with a Novel Statistical Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Balashov, Nikolay V.; Thompson, Anne M.; Young, George S.

2017-01-01

The recent change in the Environmental Protection Agency's surface ozone regulation, lowering the surface ozone daily maximum 8-h average (MDA8) exceedance threshold from 75 to 70 ppbv, poses significant challenges to U.S. air quality (AQ) forecasters responsible for ozone MDA8 forecasts. The forecasters, supplied by only a few AQ model products, end up relying heavily on self-developed tools. To help U.S. AQ forecasters, this study explores a surface ozone MDA8 forecasting tool that is based solely on statistical methods and standard meteorological variables from the numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. The model combines the self-organizing map (SOM), which is a clustering technique, with a step wise weighted quadratic regression using meteorological variables as predictors for ozone MDA8. The SOM method identifies different weather regimes, to distinguish between various modes of ozone variability, and groups them according to similarity. In this way, when a regression is developed for a specific regime, data from the other regimes are also used, with weights that are based on their similarity to this specific regime. This approach, regression in SOM (REGiS), yields a distinct model for each regime taking into account both the training cases for that regime and other similar training cases. To produce probabilistic MDA8 ozone forecasts, REGiS weighs and combines all of the developed regression models on the basis of the weather patterns predicted by an NWP model. REGiS is evaluated over the San Joaquin Valley in California and the northeastern plains of Colorado. The results suggest that the model performs best when trained and adjusted separately for an individual AQ station and its corresponding meteorological site.

2007 Weather and Aeolian Sand-Transport Data from the Colorado River Corridor, Grand Canyon, Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Draut, Amy E.; Andrews, Timothy; Fairley, Helen C.; Brown, Christopher R.

2009-01-01

Weather data constitute an integral part of ecosystem monitoring in the Colorado River corridor and are particularly valuable for understanding processes of landscape change that contribute to the stability of archeological sites. Data collected in 2007 are reported from nine weather stations in the Colorado River corridor through Grand Canyon, Ariz. The stations were deployed in February and March 2007 to measure wind speed and direction, rainfall, air temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure. Sand traps near each weather station collect windblown sand, from which daily aeolian sand-transport rates are calculated. The data reported here were collected as part of an ongoing study to test and evaluate methods for quantifying processes that affect the physical integrity of archeological sites along the river corridor; as such, these data can be used to identify rainfall events capable of causing gully incision and to predict likely transport pathways for aeolian sand, two landscape processes integral to the preservation of archeological sites. Weather data also have widespread applications to other studies of physical, cultural, and biological resources in Grand Canyon. Aeolian sand-transport data reported here, collected in the year before the March 2008 High-Flow Experiment (HFE) at Glen Canyon Dam, represent baseline data against which the effects of the 2008 HFE on windblown sand will be compared in future reports.

Construction of Gridded Daily Weather Data and its Use in Central-European Agroclimatic Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubrovsky, M.; Trnka, M.; Skalak, P.

2013-12-01

The regional-scale simulations of weather-sensitive processes (e.g. hydrology, agriculture and forestry) for the present and/or future climate often require high resolution meteorological inputs in terms of the time series of selected surface weather characteristics (typically temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, humidity, wind) for a set of stations or on a regular grid. As even the latest Global and Regional Climate Models (GCMs and RCMs) do not provide realistic representation of statistical structure of the surface weather, the model outputs must be postprocessed (downscaled) to achieve the desired statistical structure of the weather data before being used as an input to the follow-up simulation models. One of the downscaling approaches, which is employed also here, is based on a weather generator (WG), which is calibrated using the observed weather series, interpolated, and then modified according to the GCM- or RCM-based climate change scenarios. The present contribution, in which the parametric daily weather generator M&Rfi is linked to the high-resolution RCM output (ALADIN-Climate/CZ model) and GCM-based climate change scenarios, consists of two parts: The first part focuses on a methodology. Firstly, the gridded WG representing the baseline climate is created by merging information from observations and high resolution RCM outputs. In this procedure, WG is calibrated with RCM-simulated multi-variate weather series, and the grid specific WG parameters are then de-biased by spatially interpolated correction factors based on comparison of WG parameters calibrated with RCM-simulated weather series vs. spatially scarcer observations. To represent the future climate, the WG parameters are modified according to the 'WG-friendly' climate change scenarios. These scenarios are defined in terms of changes in WG parameters and include - apart from changes in the means - changes in WG parameters, which represent the additional characteristics of the weather series (e.g. probability of wet day occurrence and lag-1 autocorrelation of daily mean temperature). The WG-friendly scenarios for the present experiment are based on comparison of future vs baseline surface weather series simulated by GCMs from a CMIP3 database. The second part will present results of climate change impact study based on an above methodology applied to Central Europe. The changes in selected climatic (focusing on the extreme precipitation and temperature characteristics) and agroclimatic (including number of days during vegetation season with heat and drought stresses) characteristics will be analysed. In discussing the results, the emphasis will be put on 'added value' of various aspects of above methodology (e.g. inclusion of changes in 'advanced' WG parameters into the climate change scenarios). Acknowledgements: The present experiment is made within the frame of projects WG4VALUE (project LD12029 sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of CR), ALARO-Climate (project P209/11/2405 sponsored by the Czech Science Foundation), and VALUE (COST ES 1102 action).

International Space Station (ISS)

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-08-13

Back dropped by the blue and white Earth is a Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) on the exterior of the Station. The photograph was taken during the second bout of STS-118 Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA). MISSE collects information on how different materials weather in the environment of space.

An analysis of the synoptic and climatological applicability of circulation type classifications for Ireland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Broderick, Ciaran; Fealy, Rowan

2013-04-01

Circulation type classifications (CTCs) compiled as part of the COST733 Action, entitled 'Harmonisation and Application of Weather Type Classifications for European Regions', are examined for their synoptic and climatological applicability to Ireland based on their ability to characterise surface temperature and precipitation. In all 16 different objective classification schemes, representative of four different methodological approaches to circulation typing (optimization algorithms, threshold based methods, eigenvector techniques and leader algorithms) are considered. Several statistical metrics which variously quantify the ability of CTCs to discretize daily data into well-defined homogeneous groups are used to evaluate and compare different approaches to synoptic typing. The records from 14 meteorological stations located across the island of Ireland are used in the study. The results indicate that while it was not possible to identify a single optimum classification or approach to circulation typing - conditional on the location and surface variables considered - a number of general assertions regarding the performance of different schemes can be made. The findings for surface temperature indicate that that those classifications based on predefined thresholds (e.g. Litynski, GrossWetterTypes and original Lamb Weather Type) perform well, as do the Kruizinga and Lund classification schemes. Similarly for precipitation predefined type classifications return high skill scores, as do those classifications derived using some optimization procedure (e.g. SANDRA, Self Organizing Maps and K-Means clustering). For both temperature and precipitation the results generally indicate that the classifications perform best for the winter season - reflecting the closer coupling between large-scale circulation and surface conditions during this period. In contrast to the findings for temperature, spatial patterns in the performance of classifications were more evident for precipitation. In the case of this variable those more westerly synoptic stations open to zonal airflow and less influenced by regional scale forcings generally exhibited a stronger link with large-scale circulation.

Metapopulation Structure and Dynamics of an Endangered Butterfly

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

the yearly variation of between-generation population change. We utilized weather data from the closest accessible NOAA weather station (43◦56′N/90◦49...patterns in the population dynamic, and tested for density-dependent growth and weather factors as potential explanatory factors of the yearly variation...followed a standard protocol including avoiding inclement weather con- ditions (Wilder 1999) and about 95% of the survey data were collected by a single

Forecast skill of a high-resolution real-time mesoscale model designed for weather support of operations at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, Gregory E.; Zack, John W.; Manobianco, John

1994-01-01

NASA funded Mesoscale Environmental Simulations and Operations (MESO), Inc. to develop a version of the Mesoscale Atmospheric Simulation System (MASS). The model has been modified specifically for short-range forecasting in the vicinity of KSC/CCAS. To accomplish this, the model domain has been limited to increase the number of horizontal grid points (and therefore grid resolution) and the model' s treatment of precipitation, radiation, and surface hydrology physics has been enhanced to predict convection forced by local variations in surface heat, moisture fluxes, and cloud shading. The objective of this paper is to (1) provide an overview of MASS including the real-time initialization and configuration for running the data pre-processor and model, and (2) to summarize the preliminary evaluation of the model's forecasts of temperature, moisture, and wind at selected rawinsonde station locations during February 1994 and July 1994. MASS is a hydrostatic, three-dimensional modeling system which includes schemes to represent planetary boundary layer processes, surface energy and moisture budgets, free atmospheric long and short wave radiation, cloud microphysics, and sub-grid scale moist convection.

Improving highway advisory radio predictability and performance

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-01-01

Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) stations, sometimes referred to as Travelers Information Stations (TIS), : allow highway agencies to broadcast important messages about traffic, weather and roadway conditions to : motorists. Caltrans has deployed HAR ...

The Potential of Tropospheric Gradients for Regional Precipitation Prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boisits, Janina; Möller, Gregor; Wittmann, Christoph; Weber, Robert

2017-04-01

Changes of temperature and humidity in the neutral atmosphere cause variations in tropospheric path delays and tropospheric gradients. By estimating zenith wet delays (ZWD) and gradients using a GNSS reference station network the obtained time series provide information about spatial and temporal variations of water vapour in the atmosphere. Thus, GNSS-based tropospheric parameters can contribute to the forecast of regional precipitation events. In a recently finalized master thesis at TU Wien the potential of tropospheric gradients for weather prediction was investigated. Therefore, ZWD and gradient time series at selected GNSS reference stations were compared to precipitation data over a period of six months (April to September 2014). The selected GNSS stations form two test areas within Austria. All required meteorological data was provided by the Central Institution for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG). Two characteristics in ZWD and gradient time series can be anticipated in case of an approaching weather front. First, an induced asymmetry in tropospheric delays results in both, an increased magnitude of the gradient and in gradients pointing towards the weather front. Second, an increase in ZWD reflects the increased water vapour concentration right before a precipitation event. To investigate these characteristics exemplary test events were processed. On the one hand, the sequence of the anticipated increase in ZWD at each GNSS station obtained by cross correlation of the time series indicates the direction of the approaching weather front. On the other hand, the corresponding peak in gradient time series allows the deduction of the direction of movement as well. To verify the results precipitation data from ZAMG was used. It can be deduced, that tropospheric gradients show high potential for predicting precipitation events. While ZWD time series rather indicate the orientation of the air mass boundary, gradients rather indicate the direction of movement of an approaching weather front. Additionally our investigations have shown that gradients are able to capture the characteristics of an approaching weather front twenty to thirty hours before the precipitation event, which allows a first indication well in advance. Thus in conclusion, the utilization of GNSS tropospheric parameters, in particular tropospheric gradients, has the potential to contribute substantially to weather forecasting models.

Summary of surface-water hydrologic data for the Houston metropolitan area, Texas, water years 1964-89

USGS Publications Warehouse

Liscum, Fred; Brown, D.W.; Kasmarek, M.C.

1997-01-01

The study area, a metropolitan area in southeast Texas about 45 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico, has been undergoing extensive urban development since the 1950s. The Houston Urban Runoff Program was begun by the U.S. Geological Survey in water year 1964 to define the magnitude and frequency of flood peaks, to determine the impact of continuing urban development on surface-water hydrologic responses, and to determine variations in stream water quality for different flow conditions, seasons, and urban development. An extensive data base has been developed.During water years 1964-89, the Houston Urban Runoff Program collected information from a total of 54 U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations, 30 U.S. Geological Survey water-quality sampling sites, and 102 rain gages (operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Weather Service, and local agencies). In addition, basin characteristics were developed to aid in understanding the effects of urban development on surface-water hydrologic responses.Surface-water hydrologic data on diskettes describe the 54 U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations, list annual peaks (and where available, peaks above an arbitrary base) for 50 streamflow sites, tabulate 1,125 storm hydrographs from 43 sites, and document 102 waterquality parameters determined from 3,242 available samples.

Establishment and performance of an experimental green roof under extreme climatic conditions.

PubMed

Klein, Petra M; Coffman, Reid

2015-04-15

Green roofs alter the surface energy balance and can help in mitigating urban heat islands. However, the cooling of green roofs due to evapotranspiration strongly depends on the climatic conditions, and vegetation type and density. In the Southern Central Plains of the United States, extreme weather events, such as high winds, heat waves and drought conditions pose challenges for successful implementation of green roofs, and likely alter their standard performance. The National Weather Center Experimental Green Roof, an interdisciplinary research site established in 2010 in Norman, OK, aimed to investigate the ecological performance and surface energy balance of green roof systems. Starting in May 2010, 26 months of vegetation studies were conducted and the radiation balance, air temperature, relative humidity, and buoyancy fluxes were monitored at two meteorological stations during April-October 2011. The establishment of a vegetative community trended towards prairie plant dominance. High mortality of succulents and low germination of grasses and herbaceous plants contributed to low vegetative coverage. In this condition succulent diversity declined. Bouteloua gracilis and Delosperma cooperi showed typological dominance in harsh climatic conditions, while Sedum species experienced high mortality. The plant community diversified through volunteers such as Euphorbia maculate and Portulaca maculate. Net radiation measured at a green-roof meteorological station was higher than at a control station over the original, light-colored roofing material. These findings indicate that the albedo of the green roof was lower than the albedo of the original roofing material. The low vegetative coverage during the heat and drought conditions in 2011, which resulted in the dark substrate used in the green roof containers being exposed, likely contributed to the low albedo values. Nevertheless, air temperatures and buoyancy fluxes were often lower over the green roof indicating that higher evapotranspiration rates compensated for the higher net radiation at the green roof. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Design and realization of an automatic weather station at island

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yong-hua; Li, Si-ren

2011-10-01

In this paper, the design and development of an automatic weather station monitoring is described. The proposed system consists of a set of sensors for measuring meteorological parameters (temperature, wind speed & direction, rain fall, visibility, etc.). To increase the reliability of the system, wind speed & direction are measured redundantly with duplicate sensors. The sensor signals are collected by the data logger CR1000 at several analog and digital inputs. The CR1000 and the sensors form a completely autonomous system which works with the other systems installed in the container. Communication with the master PC is accomplished over the method of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) with the Compact Caimore6550P CDMA DTU. The data are finally stored in tables on the CPU as well as on the CF-Card. The weather station was built as an efficient autonomous system which operates with the other systems to provide the required data for a fully automatic measurement system.

STA Flying Weather Reconnaissance / STS-134 Mission

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-06-01

STS134-S-067 (1 June 2011) --- Astronaut Rick Sturckow flies weather reconnaissance in a Shuttle Training Aircraft over NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to assess conditions before space shuttle Endeavour returns to Earth for the final time. Weather was observed "go" and Endeavour glided to a stop on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at 2:35 a.m. EDT, bringing an end to the STS-134 mission. STS-134 delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) and the Express Logistics Carrier-3 (ELC-3) to the International Space Station. AMS will help researchers understand the origin of the universe and search for evidence of dark matter, strange matter and antimatter from the station. ELC-3 carried spare parts that will sustain station operations once the shuttles are retired from service. STS-134 was the 25th and final flight for Endeavour, which has spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles. Photo credit: NASA

Orbital ATK CRS-7 Prelaunch News Conference

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-04-17

A prelaunch status briefing for Orbital ATK's seventh commercial resupply mission, CRS-7, to the International Space Station, is held at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Press Site in Florida. Participating in the briefing are, from left, George Diller, NASA Kennedy Public Affairs; Joel Montalbano, deputy manager, NASA International Space Station Program; Vern Thorp, program manager, commercial missions, United Launch Alliance; Frank Culbertson, Space Systems Group president, Orbital ATK; Tara Ruttley, Johnson Space Center Program Science Office; and David Craft, weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron. Orbital ATK's Cygnus pressurized cargo module is set to launch atop the ULA Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 18. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Liftoff is scheduled for 11:11 a.m. EDT.

Urban-rural fog differences in Belgrade area, Serbia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vujović, Dragana; Todorović, Nedeljko

2018-02-01

Urban/rural fog appearance during the last 27 years in the Belgrade region is analysed using hourly meteorological records from two meteorological stations: an urban station at Belgrade-Vračar (BV) and a rural station at Belgrade-Airport (BA). The effects of urban development on fog formation are discussed through analysis of fog frequency trends and comparison with a number of meteorological parameters. The mean annual and the mean annual minimum temperatures were greater at the urban BV station than at the rural BA station. The mean monthly relative humidity and the mean monthly water vapour pressure were greater at the rural than urban station. During the period of research (1988-2014), BA experiences 425 more days with fog than BV, which means that BV experiences fog for 62.68% of foggy days at BA. Trends in the number of days with fog were statistically non-significant. We analysed the fog occurrence during different types of weather. Fog in urban BV occurred more frequently during cyclonal circulation (in 52.75% of cases). In rural BA, the trend was the opposite and fog appeared more frequently during anticyclonic circulation (in 53.58% of cases). Fog at BV occurred most frequently in stable anticyclonic weather with light wind, when a temperature inversion existed (21.86% of cases). Most frequently, fog at BA occurred in the morning and only lasted a short time, followed by clearer skies during the anticyclonic warm and dry weather (22.55% of cases).

Developing Snow Model Forcing Data From WRF Model Output to Aid in Water Resource Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Havens, S.; Marks, D. G.; Watson, K. A.; Masarik, M.; Flores, A. N.; Kormos, P.; Hedrick, A. R.

2015-12-01

Traditional operational modeling tools used by water managers in the west are challenged by more frequently occurring uncharacteristic stream flow patterns caused by climate change. Water managers are now turning to new models based on the physical processes within a watershed to combat the increasing number of events that do not follow the historical patterns. The USDA-ARS has provided near real time snow water equivalent (SWE) maps using iSnobal since WY2012 for the Boise River Basin in southwest Idaho and since WY2013 for the Tuolumne Basin in California that feeds the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. The goal of these projects is to not only provide current snowpack estimates but to use the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to drive iSnobal in order to produce a forecasted stream flow when coupled to a hydrology model. The first step is to develop methods on how to create snow model forcing data from WRF outputs. Using a reanalysis 1km WRF dataset from WY2009 over the Boise River Basin, WRF model results like surface air temperature, relative humidity, wind, precipitation, cloud cover, and incoming long wave radiation must be downscaled for use in iSnobal. iSnobal results forced with WRF output are validated at point locations throughout the basin, as well as compared with iSnobal results forced with traditional weather station data. The presentation will explore the differences in forcing data derived from WRF outputs and weather stations and how this affects the snowpack distribution.

Heat and Humidity in the City: Neighborhood Heat Index Variability in a Mid-Sized City in the Southeastern United States

PubMed Central

Hass, Alisa L.; Ellis, Kelsey N.; Reyes Mason, Lisa; Hathaway, Jon M.; Howe, David A.

2016-01-01

Daily weather conditions for an entire city are usually represented by a single weather station, often located at a nearby airport. This resolution of atmospheric data fails to recognize the microscale climatic variability associated with land use decisions across and within urban neighborhoods. This study uses heat index, a measure of the combined effects of temperature and humidity, to assess the variability of heat exposure from ten weather stations across four urban neighborhoods and two control locations (downtown and in a nearby nature center) in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Results suggest that trees may negate a portion of excess urban heat, but are also associated with greater humidity. As a result, the heat index of locations with more trees is significantly higher than downtown and areas with fewer trees. Trees may also reduce heat stress by shading individuals from incoming radiation, though this is not considered in this study. Greater amounts of impervious surfaces correspond with reduced evapotranspiration and greater runoff, in terms of overall mass balance, leading to a higher temperature, but lower relative humidity. Heat index and relative humidity were found to significantly vary between locations with different tree cover and neighborhood characteristics for the full study time period as well as for the top 10% of heat index days. This work demonstrates the need for high-resolution climate data and the use of additional measures beyond temperature to understand urban neighborhood exposure to extreme heat, and expresses the importance of considering vulnerability differences among residents when analyzing neighborhood-scale impacts. PMID:26761021

Heat and Humidity in the City: Neighborhood Heat Index Variability in a Mid-Sized City in the Southeastern United States.

PubMed

Hass, Alisa L; Ellis, Kelsey N; Reyes Mason, Lisa; Hathaway, Jon M; Howe, David A

2016-01-11

Daily weather conditions for an entire city are usually represented by a single weather station, often located at a nearby airport. This resolution of atmospheric data fails to recognize the microscale climatic variability associated with land use decisions across and within urban neighborhoods. This study uses heat index, a measure of the combined effects of temperature and humidity, to assess the variability of heat exposure from ten weather stations across four urban neighborhoods and two control locations (downtown and in a nearby nature center) in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Results suggest that trees may negate a portion of excess urban heat, but are also associated with greater humidity. As a result, the heat index of locations with more trees is significantly higher than downtown and areas with fewer trees. Trees may also reduce heat stress by shading individuals from incoming radiation, though this is not considered in this study. Greater amounts of impervious surfaces correspond with reduced evapotranspiration and greater runoff, in terms of overall mass balance, leading to a higher temperature, but lower relative humidity. Heat index and relative humidity were found to significantly vary between locations with different tree cover and neighborhood characteristics for the full study time period as well as for the top 10% of heat index days. This work demonstrates the need for high-resolution climate data and the use of additional measures beyond temperature to understand urban neighborhood exposure to extreme heat, and expresses the importance of considering vulnerability differences among residents when analyzing neighborhood-scale impacts.

An Updated Global Grid Point Surface Air Temperature Anomaly Data Set: 1851-1990 (revised 1991) (NDP-020)

DOE Data Explorer

Jones, P. D. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Raper, S. C.B. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Cherry, B. S.G. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Goodess, C. M. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Wigley, T. M. L. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Santer, B. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Kelly, P. M. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Bradley, R. S. [University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts (USA); Diaz, H. F. [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Environmental Research Laboratories, Boulder, CO (United States).

1991-01-01

This NDP presents land-based monthly surface-air-temperature anomalies (departures from a 1951-1970 reference period mean) on a 5° latitude by 10° longitude global grid. Monthly surface-air-temperature anomalies (departures from a 1957-1975 reference period mean) for the Antarctic (grid points from 65°S to 85°S) are presented in a similar way as a separate data set. The data were derived primarily from the World Weather Records and from the archives of the United Kingdom Meteorological Office. This long-term record of temperature anomalies may be used in studies addressing possible greenhouse-gas-induced climate changes. To date, the data have been employed in producing regional, hemispheric, and global time series for determining whether recent (i.e., post-1900) warming trends have taken place. The present updated version of this data set is identical to the earlier version for all records from 1851-1978 except for the addition of the Antarctic surface-air-temperature anomalies beginning in 1957. Beginning with the 1979 data, this package differs from the earlier version in several ways. Erroneous data for some sites have been corrected after a review of the actual station temperature data, and inconsistencies in the representation of missing values have been removed. For some grid locations, data have been added from stations that had not contributed to the original set. Data from satellites have also been used to correct station records where large discrepancies were evident. The present package also extends the record by adding monthly surface-air-temperature anomalies for the Northern (grid points from 85°N to 0°) and Southern (grid points from 5°S to 60°S) Hemispheres for 1985-1990. In addition, this updated package presents the monthly-mean-temperature records for the individual stations that were used to produce the set of gridded anomalies. The periods of record vary by station. Northern Hemisphere data have been corrected for inhomogeneities, while Southern Hemisphere data are presented in uncorrected form.

Integration of nitrogen dynamics into the Noah-MP land surface model v1.1 for climate and environmental predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, X.; Yang, Z.-L.; Fisher, J. B.; Zhang, X.; Barlage, M.; Chen, F.

2016-01-01

Climate and terrestrial biosphere models consider nitrogen an important factor in limiting plant carbon uptake, while operational environmental models view nitrogen as the leading pollutant causing eutrophication in water bodies. The community Noah land surface model with multi-parameterization options (Noah-MP) is unique in that it is the next-generation land surface model for the Weather Research and Forecasting meteorological model and for the operational weather/climate models in the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. In this study, we add a capability to Noah-MP to simulate nitrogen dynamics by coupling the Fixation and Uptake of Nitrogen (FUN) plant model and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) soil nitrogen dynamics. This model development incorporates FUN's state-of-the-art concept of carbon cost theory and SWAT's strength in representing the impacts of agricultural management on the nitrogen cycle. Parameterizations for direct root and mycorrhizal-associated nitrogen uptake, leaf retranslocation, and symbiotic biological nitrogen fixation are employed from FUN, while parameterizations for nitrogen mineralization, nitrification, immobilization, volatilization, atmospheric deposition, and leaching are based on SWAT. The coupled model is then evaluated at the Kellogg Biological Station - a Long Term Ecological Research site within the US Corn Belt. Results show that the model performs well in capturing the major nitrogen state/flux variables (e.g., soil nitrate and nitrate leaching). Furthermore, the addition of nitrogen dynamics improves the modeling of net primary productivity and evapotranspiration. The model improvement is expected to advance the capability of Noah-MP to simultaneously predict weather and water quality in fully coupled Earth system models.

Sensitivity Analysis on Remote Sensing Evapotranspiration Algorithm of Surface Energy Balance for Land

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, J.; Samms, T.; Meier, C.; Simmons, L.; Miller, D.; Bathke, D.

2005-12-01

Spatial evapotranspiration (ET) is usually estimated by Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land. The average accuracy of the algorithm is 85% on daily basis and 95% on seasonable basis. However, the accuracy of the algorithm varies from 67% to 95% on instantaneous ET estimates and, as reported in 18 studies, 70% to 98% on 1 to 10-day ET estimates. There is a need to understand the sensitivity of the ET calculation with respect to the algorithm variables and equations. With an increased understanding, information can be developed to improve the algorithm, and to better identify the key variables and equations. A Modified Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (MSEBAL) was developed and validated with data from a pecan orchard and an alfalfa field. The MSEBAL uses ground reflectance and temperature data from ASTER sensors along with humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation data from a local weather station. MSEBAL outputs hourly and daily ET with 90 m by 90 m resolution. A sensitivity analysis was conducted for MSEBAL on ET calculation. In order to observe the sensitivity of the calculation to a particular variable, the value of that variable was changed while holding the magnitudes of the other variables. The key variables and equations to which the ET calculation most sensitive were determined in this study. href='http://weather.nmsu.edu/pecans/SEBALFolder/San%20Francisco%20AGU%20meeting/ASensitivityAnalysisonMSE">http://weather.nmsu.edu/pecans/SEBALFolder/San%20Francisco%20AGU%20meeting/ASensitivityAnalysisonMSE

A Stabilizing Feedback Between Cloud Radiative Effects and Greenland Surface Melt: Verification From Multi-year Automatic Weather Station Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zender, C. S.; Wang, W.; van As, D.

2017-12-01

Clouds have strong impacts on Greenland's surface melt through the interaction with the dry atmosphere and reflective surfaces. However, their effects are uncertain due to the lack of in situ observations. To better quantify cloud radiative effects (CRE) in Greenland, we analyze and interpret multi-year radiation measurements from 30 automatic weather stations encompassing a broad range of climatological and topographical conditions. During melt season, clouds warm surface over most of Greenland, meaning the longwave greenhouse effect outweighs the shortwave shading effect; on the other hand, the spatial variability of net (longwave and shortwave) CRE is dominated by shortwave CRE and in turn by surface albedo, which controls the potential absorption of solar radiation when clouds are absent. The net warming effect decreases with shortwave CRE from high to low altitudes and from north to south (Fig. 1). The spatial correlation between albedo and net CRE is strong (r=0.93, p<<0.01). In the accumulation zone, the net CRE seasonal trend is controlled by longwave CRE associated with cloud fraction and liquid water content. It becomes stronger from May to July and stays constant in August. In the ablation zone, albedo determines the net CRE seasonal trend, which decreases from May to July and increases afterwards. On an hourly timescale, we find two distinct radiative states in Greenland (Fig. 2). The clear state is characterized by clear-sky conditions or thin clouds, when albedo and solar zenith angle (SZA) weakly correlates with CRE. The cloudy state is characterized by opaque clouds, when the combination of albedo and SZA strongly correlates with CRE (r=0.85, p<0.01). Although cloud properties intrinsically affect CRE, the large melt-season variability of these two non-cloud factors, albedo and solar zenith angle, explains the majority of the CRE variation in spatial distribution, seasonal trend in the ablation zone, and in hourly variability in the cloudy radiative state. Clouds warm the brighter and colder surfaces of Greenland, enhance snow melt, and tend to lower the albedo. Clouds cool the darker and warmer surfaces, inhibiting snow melt, which increases albedo, and thus stabilizes surface melt. This stabilizing mechanism may also occur over sea ice, helping to forestall surface melt as the Arctic becomes dimmer.

Commercial Earth Observation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

Through the Earth Observation Commercial Applications Program (EOCAP) at Stennis Space Center, Applied Analysis, Inc. developed a new tool for analyzing remotely sensed data. The Applied Analysis Spectral Analytical Process (AASAP) detects or classifies objects smaller than a pixel and removes the background. This significantly enhances the discrimination among surface features in imagery. ERDAS, Inc. offers the system as a modular addition to its ERDAS IMAGINE software package for remote sensing applications. EOCAP is a government/industry cooperative program designed to encourage commercial applications of remote sensing. Projects can run three years or more and funding is shared by NASA and the private sector participant. Through the Earth Observation Commercial Applications Program (EOCAP), Ocean and Coastal Environmental Sensing (OCENS) developed SeaStation for marine users. SeaStation is a low-cost, portable, shipboard satellite groundstation integrated with vessel catch and product monitoring software. Linked to the Global Positioning System, SeaStation provides real time relationships between vessel position and data such as sea surface temperature, weather conditions and ice edge location. This allows the user to increase fishing productivity and improve vessel safety. EOCAP is a government/industry cooperative program designed to encourage commercial applications of remote sensing. Projects can run three years or more and funding is shared by NASA and the private sector participant.

Project report : road weather information system phase I

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-11-01

The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) initiated the first eight environmental sensor stations (ESS) in the Anchorage area, called the Road Weather Information System (RWIS) Phase I. The ESS are used to detect road weat...

78 FR 50340 - Travelers' Information Stations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-19

... information systems, and satellite radio. While motorists should not access weather information from cell... weather and traffic information beyond traditional AM and FM broadcast sources, including cell phone, mobile internet, automobile based information systems, and satellite radio. Therefore, due to...

GOES-R Prelaunch News Conference

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-11-17

Clay Flinn, launch weather officer, 4th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, speaks to members of the news media during a Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) prelaunch news conference in the Kennedy Space Center's Press Site auditorium in Florida.

Novel method for water vapour monitoring using wireless communication networks measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

David, N.; Alpert, P.; Messer, H.

2010-09-01

We propose a new technique for monitoring near-surface water vapour, by estimating humidity from data collected through existing wireless communication networks. Weather conditions and atmospheric phenomena affect the electromagnetic channel, causing attenuations to the radio signals. Thus, wireless communication networks are in effect built-in environmental monitoring facilities. The wireless microwave links, used in these networks, are widely deployed by cellular providers for backhaul communication between base stations, a few tens of meters above ground level. As a result, if all available measurements are used, the proposed method can provide moisture observations with high spatial resolution and potentially high temporal resolution. Further, the implementation cost is minimal, since the data used are already collected and saved by the cellular operators. In addition - many of these links are installed in areas where access is difficult such as orographic terrain and complex topography. As such, our method enables measurements in places that have been hard to measure in the past, or have never been measured before. The technique is restricted to weather conditions which exclude rain, fog or clouds along the propagation path. Strong winds that may cause movement of the link transmitter or receiver (or both) may also interfere with the ability to conduct accurate measurements. We present results from real-data measurements taken from microwave links used in a backhaul cellular network that show very good correlation with surface station humidity measurements (comparisons were performed for several links, found at different locations, during different time periods, showing correlations in the range of 0.5-0.9).

The Importance of Biologically Relevant Microclimates in Habitat Suitability Assessments

PubMed Central

Varner, Johanna; Dearing, M. Denise

2014-01-01

Predicting habitat suitability under climate change is vital to conserving biodiversity. However, current species distribution models rely on coarse scale climate data, whereas fine scale microclimate data may be necessary to assess habitat suitability and generate predictive models. Here, we evaluate disparities between temperature data at the coarse scale from weather stations versus fine-scale data measured in microhabitats required for a climate-sensitive mammal, the American pika (Ochotona princeps). We collected two years of temperature data in occupied talus habitats predicted to be suitable (high elevation) and unsuitable (low elevation) by the bioclimatic envelope approach. At low elevations, talus surface and interstitial microclimates drastically differed from ambient temperatures measured on-site and at a nearby weather station. Interstitial talus temperatures were frequently decoupled from high ambient temperatures, resulting in instantaneous disparities of over 30°C between these two measurements. Microhabitat temperatures were also highly heterogeneous, such that temperature measurements within the same patch of talus were not more correlated than measurements at distant patches. An experimental manipulation revealed that vegetation cover may cool the talus surface by up to 10°C during the summer, which may contribute to this spatial heterogeneity. Finally, low elevation microclimates were milder and less variable than typical alpine habitat, suggesting that, counter to species distribution model predictions, these seemingly unsuitable habitats may actually be better refugia for this species under climate change. These results highlight the importance of fine-scale microhabitat data in habitat assessments and underscore the notion that some critical refugia may be counterintuitive. PMID:25115894

The importance of biologically relevant microclimates in habitat suitability assessments.

PubMed

Varner, Johanna; Dearing, M Denise

2014-01-01

Predicting habitat suitability under climate change is vital to conserving biodiversity. However, current species distribution models rely on coarse scale climate data, whereas fine scale microclimate data may be necessary to assess habitat suitability and generate predictive models. Here, we evaluate disparities between temperature data at the coarse scale from weather stations versus fine-scale data measured in microhabitats required for a climate-sensitive mammal, the American pika (Ochotona princeps). We collected two years of temperature data in occupied talus habitats predicted to be suitable (high elevation) and unsuitable (low elevation) by the bioclimatic envelope approach. At low elevations, talus surface and interstitial microclimates drastically differed from ambient temperatures measured on-site and at a nearby weather station. Interstitial talus temperatures were frequently decoupled from high ambient temperatures, resulting in instantaneous disparities of over 30 °C between these two measurements. Microhabitat temperatures were also highly heterogeneous, such that temperature measurements within the same patch of talus were not more correlated than measurements at distant patches. An experimental manipulation revealed that vegetation cover may cool the talus surface by up to 10 °C during the summer, which may contribute to this spatial heterogeneity. Finally, low elevation microclimates were milder and less variable than typical alpine habitat, suggesting that, counter to species distribution model predictions, these seemingly unsuitable habitats may actually be better refugia for this species under climate change. These results highlight the importance of fine-scale microhabitat data in habitat assessments and underscore the notion that some critical refugia may be counterintuitive.

Space Weather Forecasting at NOAA with Michigan's Geospace Model: Results from the First Year in Real-Time Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cash, M. D.; Singer, H. J.; Millward, G. H.; Balch, C. C.; Toth, G.; Welling, D. T.

2017-12-01

In October 2016, the first version of the Geospace model was transitioned into real-time operations at NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). The Geospace model is a part of the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF) developed at the University of Michigan, and the model simulates the full time-dependent 3D Geospace environment (Earth's magnetosphere, ring current and ionosphere) and predicts global space weather parameters such as induced magnetic perturbations in space and on Earth's surface. The current version of the Geospace model uses three coupled components of SWMF: the BATS-R-US global magnetosphere model, the Rice Convection Model (RCM) of the inner magnetosphere, and the Ridley Ionosphere electrodynamics Model (RIM). In the operational mode, SWMF/Geospace runs continually in real-time as long as there is new solar wind data arriving from a satellite at L1, either DSCOVR or ACE. We present an analysis of the overall performance of the Geospace model during the first year of real-time operations. Evaluation metrics include Kp, Dst, as well as regional magnetometer stations. We will also present initial results from new products, such as the AE index, available with the recent upgrade to the Geospace model.

Observations by Mid-continent Magnetoseismic Chain (McMAC) and their use in space weather research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chi, P. J.; McMac Team

The Mid-continent Magnetoseismic Chain McMAC consists of nine magnetometer stations that line up across the U S and Mexico along the 330th magnetic meridian These systems sample at 2 Hz and monitor the fluctuations of the geomagnetic field caused by space weather phenomena and they are always on the Internet to allow rapid access of data The McMAC stations can connect to the Fort Churchill Line of the CARISMA Array and two IGPP-LANL stations at the same longitude and form a long magnetometer chain that spans the L-value range from 1 3 to 11 7 the greatest latitudinal coverage in all meridians One of the main advantages of this magnetometer chain is its close separation between adjacent stations enabling the use of the gradient technique to identify field line resonance FLR frequencies and to further estimate the plasma mass density in the magnetosphere The observations of FLR and the derived density can always be collected in the daytime and occasionally in the nighttime as well In this paper we present the observations by the newly completed McMAC and jointly by the CARISMA and IGPP-LANL Arrays The observed plasma density and its wide coverage in L-value can benefit space weather studies such as on magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling and on the wave-particle interaction for modeling the radiation belts Also discussed are other applications of the McMAC observations in space weather research including possible joint observations with satellite missions

Impacts of the land-lake breeze of the Volta reservoir on the diurnal cycle of cloudiness and precipitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buchholz, Marcel; Fink, Andreas H.; Knippertz, Peter; Yorke, Charles

2017-04-01

Lake Volta in Ghana is the artificial lake on Earth with the largest surface area (8502 km2). It has been constructed in the early 1960s, with the lake being filled around 1966. Land-lake breezes and their effects on the diurnal cycle of local wind systems, cloudiness, and precipitation have been studied for several tropical lakes, among which studies on the effects of Lake Victoria in East Africa are one of the most perceived ones. To date, no studies on the strengths and effects of the land-lake breeze of the Volta reservoir are known to the authors. Using surface station data, a variety of satellite data on clouds and precipitation, and a convection-resolving regional model, the land-lake breeze and its impacts were studied for Lake Volta between 1998 and 2015. The observational data sets confirm a significant land-lake circulation. The only manned weather station operated by the Ghana Meteorological Service that is situated at the lake is Kete Krachi. Hourly observations for 2006 and 2014 show on several days a clearing of skies in the afternoon associated with a shift in the surface winds from southwest to southeast, the latter potentially indicating a lake breeze effect. Cloud occurrence frequency derived from the CLARA-A2, MODIS, and CLAAS2 cloud masks and the cloud physical properties from CLAAS2 clearly show the development of clouds at the lake breeze front in the course of the morning and around mid-day. This effect is most pronounced in March when also the difference between the surface temperatures of the lake and the desiccated land surface is strongest. During the peak of the wet season in July, the lake breeze cloudiness is masked by a high background cloudiness and likely also weaker due to the strong southwesterly monsoon flow that tends to weaken the land-lake circulation. However, the precipitation signal was found to be strongest in July, most probably due to the fact that in boreal fall, winter and spring, the lake breeze cloudiness often fails to develop into afternoon showers or thunderstorms, or if, they are short-lived with substantial below-cloud evaporation. Two cases in 2007 and 2014 were synoptically analyzed with weather charts and modeled using the COSMO model, the current regional operational weather forecasting model of the German Weather Service (DWD). The COSMO experiments with and without the lake were integrated for 48 hours at convection-resolving resolution of 2.8 km. Initial and boundary conditions were taken from ECWMF operational analysis. Model results confirm the development of the daytime lake breeze and suggest that the existence of the lake has substantially changed the local circulation, cloudiness and precipitation regime. Our results imply a significant impact of the artificial lake on the local climate and ecosystems that warrants further study.

Pilot Weather Advisor System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lindamood, Glenn; Martzaklis, Konstantinos Gus; Hoffler, Keith; Hill, Damon; Mehrotra, Sudhir C.; White, E. Richard; Fisher, Bruce D.; Crabill, Norman L.; Tucholski, Allen D.

2006-01-01

The Pilot Weather Advisor (PWA) system is an automated satellite radio-broadcasting system that provides nearly real-time weather data to pilots of aircraft in flight anywhere in the continental United States. The system was designed to enhance safety in two distinct ways: First, the automated receipt of information would relieve the pilot of the time-consuming and distracting task of obtaining weather information via voice communication with ground stations. Second, the presentation of the information would be centered around a map format, thereby making the spatial and temporal relationships in the surrounding weather situation much easier to understand

Predicting Ascospore Release of Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi of Blueberry with Machine Learning.

PubMed

Harteveld, Dalphy O C; Grant, Michael R; Pscheidt, Jay W; Peever, Tobin L

2017-11-01

Mummy berry, caused by Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi, causes economic losses of highbush blueberry in the U.S. Pacific Northwest (PNW). Apothecia develop from mummified berries overwintering on soil surfaces and produce ascospores that infect tissue emerging from floral and vegetative buds. Disease control currently relies on fungicides applied on a calendar basis rather than inoculum availability. To establish a prediction model for ascospore release, apothecial development was tracked in three fields, one in western Oregon and two in northwestern Washington in 2015 and 2016. Air and soil temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, leaf wetness, relative humidity and solar radiation were monitored using in-field weather stations and Washington State University's AgWeatherNet stations. Four modeling approaches were compared: logistic regression, multivariate adaptive regression splines, artificial neural networks, and random forest. A supervised learning approach was used to train the models on two data sets: training (70%) and testing (30%). The importance of environmental factors was calculated for each model separately. Soil temperature, soil moisture, and solar radiation were identified as the most important factors influencing ascospore release. Random forest models, with 78% accuracy, showed the best performance compared with the other models. Results of this research helps PNW blueberry growers to optimize fungicide use and reduce production costs.

The oasis effect and summer temperature rise in arid regions - case study in Tarim Basin

PubMed Central

Hao, Xingming; Li, Weihong; Deng, Haijun

2016-01-01

This study revealed the influence of the oasis effect on summer temperatures based on MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST) and meteorological data. The results showed that the oasis effect occurs primarily in the summer. For a single oasis, the maximum oasis cold island intensity based on LST (OCILST) was 3.82 °C and the minimum value was 2.32 °C. In terms of the annual change in OCILST, the mean value of all oases ranged from 2.47 °C to 3.56 °C from 2001 to 2013. Net radiation (Rn) can be used as a key predictor of OCILST and OCItemperature (OCI based on air temperature). On this basis, we reconstructed a long time series (1961–2014) of OCItemperature and Tbase(air temperature without the disturbance of oasis effect). Our results indicated that the reason for the increase in the observed temperatures was the significant decrease in the OCItemperature over the past 50 years. In arid regions, the data recorded in weather stations not only underestimated the mean temperature of the entire study area but also overestimated the increasing trend of the temperature. These discrepancies are due to the limitations in the spatial distribution of weather stations and the disturbance caused by the oasis effect. PMID:27739500

Comparative ratings of 1951 forest fire weather in western Oregon.

Treesearch

Owen P. Cramer; Robert Kirkpatrick

1951-01-01

The 1951 forest fire weather in western Oregon is generally conceded to have been unusually severe. In order to compare this season with others, this report uses a scheme for rating fire seasons recently developed by the Fire Research section of the Experiment Station, The rating is based on indices of three weather characteristics which generally control burning...

Space Weather Monitoring for ISS Space Environments Engineering and Crew Auroral Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Minow, Joseph; Pettit, Donald R.; Hartman, William A.

2012-01-01

Today s presentation describes how real time space weather data is used by the International Space Station (ISS) space environments team to obtain data on auroral charging of the ISS vehicle and support ISS crew efforts to obtain auroral images from orbit. Topics covered include: Floating Potential Measurement Unit (FPMU), . Auroral charging of ISS, . Real ]time space weather monitoring resources, . Examples of ISS auroral charging captured from space weather events, . ISS crew observations of aurora.

NextGen Weather Plan, Version 1.1

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-17

values of weather parameters at a station or over an area. In this paper, we often refer to aeronautical climatology, which is the application of the data...Joint Planning and Development Office NEXTGEN Weather Plan Version 1.1 Version 1.1 i September 17, 2009 Report Documentation Page Form...COVERED 00-00-2009 to 00-00-2009 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE NextGen Weather Plan 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6

Evaluating meteorological data from weather stations, and from satellites and global models for a multi-site epidemiological study.

PubMed

Colston, Josh M; Ahmed, Tahmeed; Mahopo, Cloupas; Kang, Gagandeep; Kosek, Margaret; de Sousa Junior, Francisco; Shrestha, Prakash Sunder; Svensen, Erling; Turab, Ali; Zaitchik, Benjamin

2018-04-21

Longitudinal and time series analyses are needed to characterize the associations between hydrometeorological parameters and health outcomes. Earth Observation (EO) climate data products derived from satellites and global model-based reanalysis have the potential to be used as surrogates in situations and locations where weather-station based observations are inadequate or incomplete. However, these products often lack direct evaluation at specific sites of epidemiological interest. Standard evaluation metrics of correlation, agreement, bias and error were applied to a set of ten hydrometeorological variables extracted from two quasi-global, commonly used climate data products - the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) and Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) - to evaluate their performance relative to weather-station derived estimates at the specific geographic locations of the eight sites in a multi-site cohort study. These metrics were calculated for both daily estimates and 7-day averages and for a rotavirus-peak-season subset. Then the variables from the two sources were each used as predictors in longitudinal regression models to test their association with rotavirus infection in the cohort after adjusting for covariates. The availability and completeness of station-based validation data varied depending on the variable and study site. The performance of the two gridded climate models varied considerably within the same location and for the same variable across locations, according to different evaluation criteria and for the peak-season compared to the full dataset in ways that showed no obvious pattern. They also differed in the statistical significance of their association with the rotavirus outcome. For some variables, the station-based records showed a strong association while the EO-derived estimates showed none, while for others, the opposite was true. Researchers wishing to utilize publicly available climate data - whether EO-derived or station based - are advised to recognize their specific limitations both in the analysis and the interpretation of the results. Epidemiologists engaged in prospective research into environmentally driven diseases should install their own weather monitoring stations at their study sites whenever possible, in order to circumvent the constraints of choosing between distant or incomplete station data or unverified EO estimates. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of future and base precipitation anomalies by SimCLIM statistical projection through ensemble approach in Pakistan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amin, Asad; Nasim, Wajid; Mubeen, Muhammad; Kazmi, Dildar Hussain; Lin, Zhaohui; Wahid, Abdul; Sultana, Syeda Refat; Gibbs, Jim; Fahad, Shah

2017-09-01

Unpredictable precipitation trends have largely influenced by climate change which prolonged droughts or floods in South Asia. Statistical analysis of monthly, seasonal, and annual precipitation trend carried out for different temporal (1996-2015 and 2041-2060) and spatial scale (39 meteorological stations) in Pakistan. Statistical downscaling model (SimCLIM) was used for future precipitation projection (2041-2060) and analyzed by statistical approach. Ensemble approach combined with representative concentration pathways (RCPs) at medium level used for future projections. The magnitude and slop of trends were derived by applying Mann-Kendal and Sen's slop statistical approaches. Geo-statistical application used to generate precipitation trend maps. Comparison of base and projected precipitation by statistical analysis represented by maps and graphical visualization which facilitate to detect trends. Results of this study projects that precipitation trend was increasing more than 70% of weather stations for February, March, April, August, and September represented as base years. Precipitation trend was decreased in February to April but increase in July to October in projected years. Highest decreasing trend was reported in January for base years which was also decreased in projected years. Greater variation in precipitation trends for projected and base years was reported in February to April. Variations in projected precipitation trend for Punjab and Baluchistan highly accredited in March and April. Seasonal analysis shows large variation in winter, which shows increasing trend for more than 30% of weather stations and this increased trend approaches 40% for projected precipitation. High risk was reported in base year pre-monsoon season where 90% of weather station shows increasing trend but in projected years this trend decreased up to 33%. Finally, the annual precipitation trend has increased for more than 90% of meteorological stations in base (1996-2015) which has decreased for projected year (2041-2060) up to 76%. These result revealed that overall precipitation trend is decreasing in future year which may prolonged the drought in 14% of weather stations under study.

Ozone maxima over Southern Africa: A mid-latitude link

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barsby, Jane; Diab, Roseanne D.

1994-01-01

The relationship between patterns of total ozone and day-to-day weather was explored over South Africa for the period 1987 to 1988. Generally, there was a fairly poor relationship (variance less than 20 percent) between total ozone and the heights of the 100, 300 and 500 hPa geopotential heights at 5 South African stations. However, over a shorter period, October to December 1988, fluctuations in the height of the 300 hPa surface accounted for 53 percent of the variance in total ozone at Cape Town. High ozone amounts are associated with the lowering of the 300 hPa surface in the presence of an upper-air trough. The role of the mid-latitude westerly waves in this respect is discussed.

Predicting Salmonella populations from biological, chemical, and physical indicators in Florida surface waters.

PubMed

McEgan, Rachel; Mootian, Gabriel; Goodridge, Lawrence D; Schaffner, Donald W; Danyluk, Michelle D

2013-07-01

Coliforms, Escherichia coli, and various physicochemical water characteristics have been suggested as indicators of microbial water quality or index organisms for pathogen populations. The relationship between the presence and/or concentration of Salmonella and biological, physical, or chemical indicators in Central Florida surface water samples over 12 consecutive months was explored. Samples were taken monthly for 12 months from 18 locations throughout Central Florida (n = 202). Air and water temperature, pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), turbidity, and conductivity were measured. Weather data were obtained from nearby weather stations. Aerobic plate counts and most probable numbers (MPN) for Salmonella, E. coli, and coliforms were performed. Weak linear relationships existed between biological indicators (E. coli/coliforms) and Salmonella levels (R(2) < 0.1) and between physicochemical indicators and Salmonella levels (R(2) < 0.1). The average rainfall (previous day, week, and month) before sampling did not correlate well with bacterial levels. Logistic regression analysis showed that E. coli concentration can predict the probability of enumerating selected Salmonella levels. The lack of good correlations between biological indicators and Salmonella levels and between physicochemical indicators and Salmonella levels shows that the relationship between pathogens and indicators is complex. However, Escherichia coli provides a reasonable way to predict Salmonella levels in Central Florida surface water through logistic regression.

Predicting Salmonella Populations from Biological, Chemical, and Physical Indicators in Florida Surface Waters

PubMed Central

McEgan, Rachel; Mootian, Gabriel; Goodridge, Lawrence D.; Schaffner, Donald W.

2013-01-01

Coliforms, Escherichia coli, and various physicochemical water characteristics have been suggested as indicators of microbial water quality or index organisms for pathogen populations. The relationship between the presence and/or concentration of Salmonella and biological, physical, or chemical indicators in Central Florida surface water samples over 12 consecutive months was explored. Samples were taken monthly for 12 months from 18 locations throughout Central Florida (n = 202). Air and water temperature, pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), turbidity, and conductivity were measured. Weather data were obtained from nearby weather stations. Aerobic plate counts and most probable numbers (MPN) for Salmonella, E. coli, and coliforms were performed. Weak linear relationships existed between biological indicators (E. coli/coliforms) and Salmonella levels (R2 < 0.1) and between physicochemical indicators and Salmonella levels (R2 < 0.1). The average rainfall (previous day, week, and month) before sampling did not correlate well with bacterial levels. Logistic regression analysis showed that E. coli concentration can predict the probability of enumerating selected Salmonella levels. The lack of good correlations between biological indicators and Salmonella levels and between physicochemical indicators and Salmonella levels shows that the relationship between pathogens and indicators is complex. However, Escherichia coli provides a reasonable way to predict Salmonella levels in Central Florida surface water through logistic regression. PMID:23624476

Final report on the portable weather station.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-01

This station was required to have air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, and : pavement temperature sensors of similar quality to the traditional RWIS sensors, have an integrated solar : powered battery system, and be trailer...

Predicting Malaria occurrence in Southwest and North central Nigeria using Meteorological parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akinbobola, A.; Omotosho, J. Bayo

2013-09-01

Malaria is a major public health problem especially in the tropics with the potential to significantly increase in response to changing weather and climate. This study explored the impact of weather and climate and its variability on the occurrence and transmission of malaria in Akure, the tropical rain forest area of southwest and Kaduna, in the savanna area of Nigeria. We investigate this supposition by looking at the relationship between rainfall, relative humidity, minimum and maximum temperature, and malaria at the two stations. This study uses monthly data of 7 years (2001-2007) for both meteorological data and record of reported cases of malaria infection. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models were used to evaluate the relationship between weather factors and malaria incidence. Of all the models tested, the ARIMA (1, 0, 1) model fits the malaria incidence data best for Akure and Kaduna according to normalized Bayesian information criterion (BIC) and goodness-of-fit criteria. Humidity and rainfall have almost the same trend of association in all the stations while maximum temperature share the same negative association at southwestern stations and positive in the northern station. Rainfall and humidity have a positive association with malaria incidence at lag of 1 month. In all, we found that minimum temperature is not a limiting factor for malaria transmission in Akure but otherwise in the other stations.

Lidar Measurements of Tropospheric Ozone in the Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seabrook, Jeffrey; Whiteway, James

2016-06-01

This paper reports on differential absorption lidar (DIAL) measurements of tropospheric ozone in the Canadian Arctic during springtime. Measurements at Eureka Weather Station revealed that mountains have a significant effect on the vertical structure of ozone above Ellesmere Island. Ozone depletion events were observed when air that had spent significant time near to the frozen surface of the Arctic Ocean reached Eureka. This air arrived at Eureka by flowing over the surrounding mountains. Surface level ozone depletions were not observed during periods when the flow of air from over the sea ice was blocked by mountains. In the case of blocking there was an enhancement in the amount of ozone near the surface as air from the mid troposphere descended in the lee of the mountains. Three case studies will be shown in the presentation, while one is described in this paper.

Hygrothermal Simulation of Wood Exposed To the Effect of External Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dohnal, Jakub; Hradil, Petr; Pencik, Jan

2017-10-01

The article is focused on simulation of moisture transfer in wood of norway spruce (Picea abies L.). Experimental specimen was exposed to the northern climatic conditions in Lund University, Sweden. The moisture content of wood was measured 10 mm from the surface for nearly three years. The ABAQUS program was used for numerical modelling of moisture transfer simulation in 3D. The surface sorption of wood was simulated using user defined subroutine DFLUX developed by VTT Research Centre of Finland Ltd. for the needs of European Project Durable Timber Bridges. Climate data for the analysis was used from insitu measurement nearby realized by weather station. The temperature, relative humidity of the air and precipitation data was record each hour. Numerical analysis took into account influence of rain effect on different parts of specimen surface.

Environmental Suitability of Weathering Steel Structures in Florida - Material Selection, Phase 2.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-08-01

For the purpose of establishing guidelines for selection of weathering steel material for bridges in Florida, data were collected to help establish appropriate guidelines. There were 30 monitoring stations set up for direct (weight loss) measurements...

Identifying crash-prone traffic conditions under different weather on freeways.

PubMed

Xu, Chengcheng; Wang, Wei; Liu, Pan

2013-09-01

Understanding the relationships between traffic flow characteristics and crash risk under adverse weather conditions will help highway agencies develop proactive safety management strategies to improve traffic safety in adverse weather conditions. The primary objective is to develop separate crash risk prediction models for different weather conditions. The crash data, weather data, and traffic data used in this study were collected on the I-880N freeway in California in 2008 and 2010. This study considered three different weather conditions: clear weather, rainy weather, and reduced visibility weather. The preliminary analysis showed that there was some heterogeneity in the risk estimates for traffic flow characteristics by weather conditions, and that the crash risk prediction model for all weather conditions cannot capture the impacts of the traffic flow variables on crash risk under adverse weather conditions. The Bayesian random intercept logistic regression models were applied to link the likelihood of crash occurrence with various traffic flow characteristics under different weather conditions. The crash risk prediction models were compared to their corresponding logistic regression model. It was found that the random intercept model improved the goodness-of-fit of the crash risk prediction models. The model estimation results showed that the traffic flow characteristics contributing to crash risk were different across different weather conditions. The speed difference between upstream and downstream stations was found to be significant in each crash risk prediction model. Speed difference between upstream and downstream stations had the largest impact on crash risk in reduced visibility weather, followed by that in rainy weather. The ROC curves were further developed to evaluate the predictive performance of the crash risk prediction models under different weather conditions. The predictive performance of the crash risk model for clear weather was better than those of the crash risk models for adverse weather conditions. The research results could promote a better understanding of the impacts of traffic flow characteristics on crash risk under adverse weather conditions, which will help transportation professionals to develop better crash prevention strategies in adverse weather. Copyright © 2013 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Technical issues in the conduct of large space platform experiments in plasma physics and geoplasma sciences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Szuszczewicz, Edward P.

1986-01-01

Large, permanently-manned space platforms can provide exciting opportunities for discoveries in basic plasma and geoplasma sciences. The potential for these discoveries will depend very critically on the properties of the platform, its subsystems, and their abilities to fulfill a spectrum of scientific requirements. With this in mind, the planning of space station research initiatives and the development of attendant platform engineering should allow for the identification of critical science and technology issues that must be clarified far in advance of space station program implementation. An attempt is made to contribute to that process, with a perspective that looks to the development of the space station as a permanently-manned Spaceborne Ionospheric Weather Station. The development of this concept requires a synergism of science and technology which leads to several critical design issues. To explore the identification of these issues, the development of the concept of an Ionospheric Weather Station will necessarily touch upon a number of diverse areas. These areas are discussed.

Mesoscale surface equivalent temperature (T E) for East Central USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Younger, Keri; Mahmood, Rezaul; Goodrich, Gregory; Pielke, Roger A.; Durkee, Joshua

2018-04-01

The purpose of this research is to investigate near surface mesoscale equivalent temperatures (T E) in Kentucky (located in east central USA) and potential land cover influences. T E is a measure of the moist enthalpy composed of the dry bulb temperature, T, and absolute humidity. Kentucky presents a unique opportunity to perform a study of this kind because of the observational infrastructure provided by the Kentucky Mesonet (www.kymesonet.org). This network maintains 69 research-grade, in-situ weather and climate observing stations across the Commonwealth. Equivalent temperatures were calculated utilizing high-quality observations from 33 of these stations. In addition, the Kentucky Mesonet offers higher spatial and temporal resolution than previous research on this topic. As expected, the differences (T E - T) were greatest in the summer (smallest in the winter), with an average of 35 °C (5 °C). In general, the differences were found to be the largest in the western climate division. This is attributed to agricultural land use and poorly drained land. These differences are smaller during periods of drought, signifying less influence of moisture.

Micromorphological features of the fine earth and skeletal fractions of soils of West Antarctica in the areas of Russian Antarctic stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abakumov, E. V.; Gagarina, E. I.; Sapega, V. F.; Vlasov, D. Yu.

2013-12-01

Micromorphological features of the fine earth and skeletal fractions of soils of West Antarctica forming under different conditions of pedogenesis have been studied in the areas of Russian Antarctic stations. The processes of mineral weathering and alteration of rock fragments are more pronounced in the Subantarctic soils with better developed humification and immobilization of iron compounds under conditions of surface overmoistening. The biogenic accumulative processes in the soils of King George Island result in the appearance of initial forms of humic plasma that have not been detected in the Antarctic soils in the areas of the Russkaya and Leningradskaya stations. Humus films on mineral grains are present in the soils of King George Island, and organic plasmic material is present in the ornithogenic soils under penguin guano on Lindsey Island. High-latitude Antarctic soils may contain surface concentrations of organic matter; rock fragments are covered by iron oxides and soluble salts. The formation of amorphous organic plasma takes place in the ornithogenic soils of Lindsey Island. The microprobe analysis indicates the presence of local concentrations of organic matter and pedogenic compounds not only on the surface of rock fragments but also in the fissures inside them. This analysis has also proved the translocation of guano-derived organic substances inside rock fragments through a system of fissures in the soils of Lindsey Island and the development of a network of pores inside rock fragments in the soils of King George Island.

An evaluation of SAO sites for laser operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thorp, J. M.; Bush, M. A.; Pearlman, M. R.

1974-01-01

Operational criteria are provided for the selection of laser tracking sites for the Earth and Ocean Physics Applications Program. A compilation of data is given concerning the effect of weather conditions on laser and Baker-Nunn camera operations. These data have been gathered from the Smithsonian astrophysical observing station sites occupied since the inception of the satellite tracking program. Also given is a brief description of each site, including its characteristic weather conditions, comments on communications and logistics, and a summary of the terms of agreement under which the station is or was operated.

Evaluating climate models: Should we use weather or climate observations?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oglesby, Robert J; Erickson III, David J

2009-12-01

Calling the numerical models that we use for simulations of climate change 'climate models' is a bit of a misnomer. These 'general circulation models' (GCMs, AKA global climate models) and their cousins the 'regional climate models' (RCMs) are actually physically-based weather simulators. That is, these models simulate, either globally or locally, daily weather patterns in response to some change in forcing or boundary condition. These simulated weather patterns are then aggregated into climate statistics, very much as we aggregate observations into 'real climate statistics'. Traditionally, the output of GCMs has been evaluated using climate statistics, as opposed to their abilitymore » to simulate realistic daily weather observations. At the coarse global scale this may be a reasonable approach, however, as RCM's downscale to increasingly higher resolutions, the conjunction between weather and climate becomes more problematic. We present results from a series of present-day climate simulations using the WRF ARW for domains that cover North America, much of Latin America, and South Asia. The basic domains are at a 12 km resolution, but several inner domains at 4 km have also been simulated. These include regions of complex topography in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Sri Lanka, as well as a region of low topography and fairly homogeneous land surface type (the U.S. Great Plains). Model evaluations are performed using standard climate analyses (e.g., reanalyses; NCDC data) but also using time series of daily station observations. Preliminary results suggest little difference in the assessment of long-term mean quantities, but the variability on seasonal and interannual timescales is better described. Furthermore, the value-added by using daily weather observations as an evaluation tool increases with the model resolution.« less

On the interest of combining an analog model to a regression model for the adaptation of the downscaling link. Application to probabilistic prediction of precipitation over France.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chardon, Jérémy; Hingray, Benoit; Favre, Anne-Catherine

2016-04-01

Scenarios of surface weather required for the impact studies have to be unbiased and adapted to the space and time scales of the considered hydro-systems. Hence, surface weather scenarios obtained from global climate models and/or numerical weather prediction models are not really appropriated. Outputs of these models have to be post-processed, which is often carried out thanks to Statistical Downscaling Methods (SDMs). Among those SDMs, approaches based on regression are often applied. For a given station, a regression link can be established between a set of large scale atmospheric predictors and the surface weather variable. These links are then used for the prediction of the latter. However, physical processes generating surface weather vary in time. This is well known for precipitation for instance. The most relevant predictors and the regression link are also likely to vary in time. A better prediction skill is thus classically obtained with a seasonal stratification of the data. Another strategy is to identify the most relevant predictor set and establish the regression link from dates that are similar - or analog - to the target date. In practice, these dates can be selected thanks to an analog model. In this study, we explore the possibility of improving the local performance of an analog model - where the analogy is applied to the geopotential heights 1000 and 500 hPa - using additional local scale predictors for the probabilistic prediction of the Safran precipitation over France. For each prediction day, the prediction is obtained from two GLM regression models - for both the occurrence and the quantity of precipitation - for which predictors and parameters are estimated from the analog dates. Firstly, the resulting combined model noticeably allows increasing the prediction performance by adapting the downscaling link for each prediction day. Secondly, the selected predictors for a given prediction depend on the large scale situation and on the considered region. Finally, even with such an adaptive predictor identification, the downscaling link appears to be robust: for a same prediction day, predictors selected for different locations of a given region are similar and the regression parameters are consistent within the region of interest.

High-Speed Monitoring of Multiple Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Array Configurations and Supplementary Weather Station.

PubMed

Boyd, Matthew T

2017-06-01

Three grid-connected monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic arrays have been instrumented with research-grade sensors on the Gaithersburg, MD campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These arrays range from 73 kW to 271 kW and have different tilts, orientations, and configurations. Irradiance, temperature, wind, and electrical measurements at the arrays are recorded, and images are taken of the arrays to monitor shading and capture any anomalies. A weather station has also been constructed that includes research-grade instrumentation to measure all standard meteorological quantities plus additional solar irradiance spectral bands, full spectrum curves, and directional components using multiple irradiance sensor technologies. Reference photovoltaic (PV) modules are also monitored to provide comprehensive baseline measurements for the PV arrays. Images of the whole sky are captured, along with images of the instrumentation and reference modules to document any obstructions or anomalies. Nearly, all measurements at the arrays and weather station are sampled and saved every 1s, with monitoring having started on Aug. 1, 2014. This report describes the instrumentation approach used to monitor the performance of these photovoltaic systems, measure the meteorological quantities, and acquire the images for use in PV performance and weather monitoring and computer model validation.

High-Speed Monitoring of Multiple Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Array Configurations and Supplementary Weather Station

PubMed Central

Boyd, Matthew T.

2017-01-01

Three grid-connected monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic arrays have been instrumented with research-grade sensors on the Gaithersburg, MD campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These arrays range from 73 kW to 271 kW and have different tilts, orientations, and configurations. Irradiance, temperature, wind, and electrical measurements at the arrays are recorded, and images are taken of the arrays to monitor shading and capture any anomalies. A weather station has also been constructed that includes research-grade instrumentation to measure all standard meteorological quantities plus additional solar irradiance spectral bands, full spectrum curves, and directional components using multiple irradiance sensor technologies. Reference photovoltaic (PV) modules are also monitored to provide comprehensive baseline measurements for the PV arrays. Images of the whole sky are captured, along with images of the instrumentation and reference modules to document any obstructions or anomalies. Nearly, all measurements at the arrays and weather station are sampled and saved every 1s, with monitoring having started on Aug. 1, 2014. This report describes the instrumentation approach used to monitor the performance of these photovoltaic systems, measure the meteorological quantities, and acquire the images for use in PV performance and weather monitoring and computer model validation. PMID:28670044

Orbital ATK CRS-7 Prelaunch News Conference

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-04-17

Members of the media listen to a prelaunch status briefing for Orbital ATK's seventh commercial resupply mission, CRS-7, to the International Space Station, at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Press Site in Florida. Moderating the briefing is George Diller, NASA Kennedy Public Affairs. Participants in the briefing are Joel Montalbano, deputy manager, NASA International Space Station Program; Vern Thorp, program manager, commercial missions, United Launch Alliance; Frank Culbertson, Space Systems Group president, Orbital ATK; Tara Ruttley, Johnson Space Center Program Science Office; and David Craft, weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron. Orbital ATK's Cygnus pressurized cargo module is set to launch atop the ULA Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 18. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Liftoff is scheduled for 11:11 a.m. EDT.

Development of a short-term irradiance prediction system using post-processing tools on WRF-ARW meteorological forecasts in Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rincón, A.; Jorba, O.; Baldasano, J. M.

2010-09-01

The increased contribution of solar energy in power generation sources requires an accurate estimation of surface solar irradiance conditioned by geographical, temporal and meteorological conditions. The knowledge of the variability of these factors is essential to estimate the expected energy production and therefore help stabilizing the electricity grid and increase the reliability of available solar energy. The use of numerical meteorological models in combination with statistical post-processing tools may have the potential to satisfy the requirements for short-term forecasting of solar irradiance for up to several days ahead and its application in solar devices. In this contribution, we present an assessment of a short-term irradiance prediction system based on the WRF-ARW mesoscale meteorological model (Skamarock et al., 2005) and several post-processing tools in order to improve the overall skills of the system in an annual simulation of the year 2004 in Spain. The WRF-ARW model is applied with 4 km x 4 km horizontal resolution and 38 vertical layers over the Iberian Peninsula. The hourly model irradiance is evaluated against more than 90 surface stations. The stations are used to assess the temporal and spatial fluctuations and trends of the system evaluating three different post-processes: Model Output Statistics technique (MOS; Glahn and Lowry, 1972), Recursive statistical method (REC; Boi, 2004) and Kalman Filter Predictor (KFP, Bozic, 1994; Roeger et al., 2003). A first evaluation of the system without post-processing tools shows an overestimation of the surface irradiance, due to the lack of atmospheric absorbers attenuation different than clouds not included in the meteorological model. This produces an annual BIAS of 16 W m-2 h-1, annual RMSE of 106 W m-2 h-1 and annual NMAE of 42%. The largest errors are observed in spring and summer, reaching RMSE of 350 W m-2 h-1. Results using Kalman Filter Predictor show a reduction of 8% of RMSE, 83% of BIAS, and NMAE decreases down to 32%. The REC method shows a reduction of 6% of RMSE, 79% of BIAS, and NMAE decreases down to 28%. When comparing stations at different altitudes, the overestimation is enhanced at coastal stations (less than 200m) up to 900 W m-2 h-1. The results allow us to analyze strengths and drawbacks of the irradiance prediction system and its application in the estimation of energy production from photovoltaic system cells. References Boi, P.: A statistical method for forecasting extreme daily temperatures using ECMWF 2-m temperatures and ground station measurements, Meteorol. Appl., 11, 245-251, 2004. Bozic, S.: Digital and Kalman filtering, John Wiley, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2nd edn., 1994. Glahn, H. and Lowry, D.: The use of Model Output Statistics (MOS) in Objective Weather Forecasting, Applied Meteorology, 11, 1203-1211, 1972. Roeger, C., Stull, R., McClung, D., Hacker, J., Deng, X., and Modzelewski, H.: Verification of Mesoscale Numerical Weather Forecasts in Mountainous Terrain for Application to Avalanche Prediction, Weather and forecasting, 18, 1140-1160, 2003. Skamarock, W., Klemp, J., Dudhia, J., Gill, D., Barker, D. M., Wang, W., and Powers, J. G.: A Description of the Advanced Research WRF Version 2, Tech. Rep. NCAR/TN-468+STR, NCAR Technical note, 2005.

Evaluating weather factors and material response during outdoor exposure to determine accelerated test protocols for predicting service life

Treesearch

R. Sam Williams; Steven Lacher; Corey Halpin; Christopher White

2005-01-01

To develop service life prediction methods for the study of sealants, a fully instrumented weather station was installed at an outdoor test site near Madison, WI. Temperature, relative humidiy, rainfall, ultraviolet (UV) radiation at 18 wavelengths, and wind speed and direction are being continuously measured and stored. The weather data can be integrated over time to...

Flood-inundation maps for the Meramec River at Valley Park and at Fenton, Missouri, 2017

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dietsch, Benjamin J.; Sappington, Jacob N.

2017-09-29

Two sets of digital flood-inundation map libraries that spanned a combined 16.7-mile reach of the Meramec River that extends upstream from Valley Park, Missouri, to downstream from Fenton, Mo., were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District, Missouri Department of Transportation, Missouri American Water, and Federal Emergency Management Agency Region 7. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science website at https://water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation/, depict estimates of the areal extent and depth of flooding corresponding to selected water levels (stages) at the cooperative USGS streamgages on the Meramec River at Valley Park, Mo., (USGS station number 07019130) and the Meramec River at Fenton, Mo. (USGS station number 07019210). Near-real-time stage data at these streamgages may be obtained from the USGS National Water Information System at https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis or the National Weather Service (NWS) Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service at http:/water.weather.gov/ahps/, which also forecasts flood hydrographs at these sites (listed as NWS sites vllm7 and fnnm7, respectively).Flood profiles were computed for the stream reaches by means of a calibrated one-dimensional step-backwater hydraulic model. The model was calibrated using a stage-discharge relation at the Meramec River near Eureka streamgage (USGS station number 07019000) and documented high-water marks from the flood of December 2015 through January 2016.The calibrated hydraulic model was used to compute two sets of water-surface profiles: one set for the streamgage at Valley Park, Mo. (USGS station number 07019130), and one set for the USGS streamgage on the Meramec River at Fenton, Mo. (USGS station number 07019210). The water-surface profiles were produced for stages at 1-foot (ft) intervals referenced to the datum from each streamgage and ranging from the NWS action stage, or near bankfull discharge, to the stage corresponding to the estimated 0.2-percent annual exceedance probability (500-year recurrence interval) flood, as determined at the Eureka streamgage (USGS station number 07019000). The simulated water-surface profiles were then combined with a geographic information system digital elevation model (derived from light detection and ranging data having a 0.28-ft vertical accuracy and 3.28-ft horizontal resolution) to delineate the area flooded at each flood stage (water level).The availability of these maps, along with internet information regarding current stage from the USGS streamgages and forecasted high-flow stages from the NWS, will provide emergency management personnel and residents with information that is critical for flood response activities such as evacuations and road closures and for postflood recovery efforts.

NASA's AVE 7 experiment: 25-mb sounding data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, J. G.; Fuelberg, H. E.; Turner, R. E.

1978-01-01

The AVE 7 Experiment is described and tabulated rawinsonde data at 25 mb internals from the surface to 25 mb for the 24 stations participating in the experiment are presented. Soundings were taken between 0000GMT May 2 and 1200 GMT May 3, 1978. The methods of data processing and the accuracy are briefly discussed. Selected synoptic charts prepared from the data are presented as well as an example of contact data. A tabulation of adverse weather events that occured during the AVE 7 period, including freezing temperature, snow, tornadoes, damaging winds, and flooding, is presented.

St. Johns AAFB, St. Johns, Antigua. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A through F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1970-07-13

l t w i f k p t t o r tR (brtbiw Smeutnta. 00 ~ US R F C"hn"Cfbs a /0. R 0 DOCUMENT IDENTIFICATION Appme forpublic s.I~mq DISRIIII)TON STATEMENT...stations using similar reporting practices. HO3URLY OBSERVATIONS are defined as those record or record-special observations recorded at scheduled hourly...have limited use and may be misleading. 2. The second set of tables for each of the above presents the extreme dal nmts ty individual year wA month for

Fort Huachuca, Libby AAF, Arizona. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-04-22

pbenomena An the Wather Conditions kMry ebove also onply for the categories heeded -% OF UN V=? PM10 and -% OF ONS W=! OWS 20 TMIW shov the pereatage of...OF WIND V DIRECTION AND SPEED (FROM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS) 27 FT HuJil4IrA/l ifaY ALF A7 MAR-7f STATION SamIO Name vEas MONT* ALL WATHER ~fnnn-nflf...U. GLOAL CLIMATOLOGY SRANCH USAFETAC PSYCHROMETRIC SUMMARY j,~ AIR wATHER SERVICE/MAC 72273C FT ,UACHUCAILIBBY AAF AZ 61-?0 WA0

Tan Son Nhut AB, Saigon, Vietnam. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F

DTIC Science & Technology

1973-10-12

Distribution Unlimited L’ ’-- -- - 7 - 77 N4®r" I4~ "’ - ’ - Review and Approval Statement This report is approved for public release. There is no objection...report has been reviewed and is approved for publication. •C C O M , C hr e Technical Information Section a USAFETAC/TST FOR THE COMMANDER ! W S . URGA A...TAN SON NHUT AS VIETNAM/SAIGON .... .65-71 STAIION STATION NAME YEARS DAILY SNOW DEPTH IN INCMES /bASED ON LESS THAN FULL MONTHS/ MAPEH JUN J ALL YER

Adak NAS, Alaska. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-08-24

15,000 reporting stations around the world.This is the provenance of the number (e.g., HSC 999999) which will appear or future 01-A standard products $1...SPEED (FROM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS) 4’ 45 AAV %’ k. 71-F2 j4,: ll - -011" ..T ALL -’EAT- E’ + J _,j_-__ _ D 1 3 -6 7 10 11 16 17 - 21 22 - 27 28 -33 34...mAZ PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY OF WIND DIRECTION AND SPEED (FROM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS) 7 4 4- AAV . S4A ce _ _-_ _ _ _ _ _ _IIS~o .B SfMm ALL -fLAT

RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-02-01

TIONs AI .EATLE’T SERVIEIMAC SIATICIo NUMOTA: C� STATION NAME: PAT LAMEN-EAT- UN.7 I IN6[’OM PEICE OF qECOPD: 77-67 tCUVSI STAIN I .AN FEN MOR APP...34y0C .CiAFE7AC fJM I G C0U, L I ;I ’S f V TAT IN’ A11 I f A191 ! i4 SLRVICL/MAC STATI. N NUP’[ Q: -5433 SrArIONSAMf: RAF LA,:N-EAIh Lt. cLA I ’J, M F’JQJ

Tyndall AFB, Florida. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-12-03

8.. 4𔃾. o.0I 44 ’ ’O 󈧤 I6F .3 16 .J PSYCHROMETRIC SUMMARY T-WET BULB TEM4PERATURE DEPRESION JF) TOTAL TOTAL F 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 T10 12 13 ]A 15 6...STATION VATON AM.3 WET BULB TEMPERATURE DEPRESION F1 TOTAL TOTAL (F) 0 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-. 9 10 11. 2 13 14 151. 6 17 1 19 20 21 22 23 24.25-26.27 2.29 30 31

Water vapor variation and the effect of aerosols in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gui, Ke; Che, Huizheng; Chen, Quanliang; Zeng, Zhaoliang; Zheng, Yu; Long, Qichao; Sun, Tianze; Liu, Xinyu; Wang, Yaqiang; Liao, Tingting; Yu, Jie; Wang, Hong; Zhang, Xiaoye

2017-09-01

This study analyzes the annual and seasonal trends in precipitable water vapor (PWV) and surface temperature (Ts) over China from 1979 to 2015, and the relationships between PWV and Ts and between PWV and aerosol absorption optical depth (AAOD), using data from radiosonde stations, weather stations and multiple satellite observations. The results revealed a positive PWV trend between 1979 and 1999, and a negative PWV trend between 2000 and 2015. Analysis of the differences in the PWV trend among different stations types showed that the magnitude of the trends were in the order main urban stations > provincial capital stations > suburb stations, suggesting that anthropogenic activities have a strong influence on the PWV trend. The AAOD exhibited a significant positive trend in most regions of China from 2005 to 2015 (confidence level 95%). Using spatial correlation analysis, we showed that PWV trend derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite observations is correlated with Ts, with an annual correlation coefficient of 0.596. In addition, the spatial correlation between PWV and AAOD showed a negative relationship, with the highest correlation coefficients of -0.76 and -0.71 observed in mid-eastern China and central northwest China, respectively, suggesting that the increase in AAOD in recent years may be one of the reasons for the decrease in PWV since the 2000s in China.

Use of weather data and remote sensing to predict the geographic and seasonal distribution of Phlebotomus papatasi in southwest Asia.

PubMed

Cross, E R; Newcomb, W W; Tucker, C J

1996-05-01

Sandfly fever and leishmaniasis were major causes of infectious disease morbidity among military personnel deployed to the Middle East during World War II. Recently, leishmaniasis has been reported in the United Nations Multinational Forces and Observers in the Sinai. Despite these indications of endemicity, no cases of sandfly fever and only 31 cases of leishmaniasis have been identified among U.S. veterans of the Persian Gulf War. The distribution in the Persian Gulf of the vector, Phlebotomus papatasi, is thought to be highly dependent on environmental conditions, especially temperature and relative humidity. A computer model was developed using the occurrence of P. papatasi as the dependent variable and weather data as the independent variables. The results of this model indicated that the greatest sand fly activity and thus the highest risk of sandfly fever and leishmania infections occurred during the spring/summer months before U.S. troops were deployed to the Persian Gulf. Because the weather model produced probability of occurrence information for locations of the weather stations only, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) levels from remotely sensed Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer satellites were determined for each weather station. From the results of the frequency of NDVI levels by probability of occurrence, the range of NDVI levels for presence of the vector was determined. The computer then identified all pixels within the NDVI range indicated and produced a computer-generated map of the probable distribution of P. papatasi. The resulting map expanded the analysis to areas where there were no weather stations and from which no information was reported in the literature, identifying these areas as having either a high or low probability of vector occurrence.

Space Weathering of Rocks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Noble, Sarah

2011-01-01

Space weathering discussions have generally centered around soils but exposed rocks will also incur the effects of weathering. On the Moon, rocks make up only a very small percentage of the exposed surface and areas where rocks are exposed, like central peaks, are often among the least space weathered regions we find in remote sensing data. However, our studies of weathered Ap 17 rocks 76015 and 76237 show that significant amounts of weathering products can build up on rock surfaces. Because rocks have much longer surface lifetimes than an individual soil grain, and thus record a longer history of exposure, we can study these products to gain a deeper perspective on the weathering process and better assess the relative impo!1ance of various weathering components on the Moon. In contrast to the lunar case, on small asteroids, like Itokowa, rocks make up a large fraction of the exposed surface. Results from the Hayabusa spacecraft at Itokowa suggest that while the low gravity does not allow for the development of a mature regolith, weathering patinas can and do develop on rock surfaces, in fact, the rocky surfaces were seen to be darker and appear spectrally more weathered than regions with finer materials. To explore how weathering of asteroidal rocks may differ from lunar, a set of ordinary chondrite meteorites (H, L, and LL) which have been subjected to artificial space weathering by nanopulse laser were examined by TEM. NpFe(sup 0) bearing glasses were ubiquitous in both the naturally-weathered lunar and the artificially-weathered meteorite samples.

A Meteorological Supersite for Aviation and Cold Weather Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gultepe, Ismail; Agelin-Chaab, M.; Komar, J.; Elfstrom, G.; Boudala, F.; Zhou, B.

2018-05-01

The goal of this study is to better understand atmospheric boundary layer processes and parameters, and to evaluate physical processes for aviation applications using data from a supersite observing site. Various meteorological sensors, including a weather and environmental unmanned aerial vehicle (WE-UAV), and a fog and snow tower (FSOS) observations are part of the project. The PanAm University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Meteorological Supersite (PUMS) observations are being collected from April 2015 to date. The FSOS tower gathers observations related to rain, snow, fog, and visibility, aerosols, solar radiation, and wind and turbulence, as well as surface and sky temperature. The FSOSs are located at three locations at about 450-800 m away from the PUMS supersite. The WE-UAV measurements representing aerosol, wind speed and direction, as well as temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) are provided during clear weather conditions. Other measurements at the PUMS site include cloud backscattering profiles from CL51 ceilometer, MWR observations of liquid water content (LWC), T, and RH, and Microwave Rain Radar (MRR) reflectivity profile, as well as the present weather type, snow water depth, icing rate, 3D-ultrasonic wind and turbulence, and conventional meteorological observations from compact weather stations, e.g., WXTs. The results based on important weather event studies, representing fog, snow, rain, blowing snow, wind gust, planetary boundary layer (PBL) wind research for UAV, and icing conditions are given. The microphysical parameterizations and analysis processes for each event are provided, but the results should not be generalized for all weather events and be used cautiously. Results suggested that integrated observing systems based on data from a supersite as well as satellite sites can provide better information applicable to aviation meteorology, including PBL weather research, validation of numerical weather model predictions, and remote-sensing retrievals. Overall, the results from the five cases are provided and challenges related to observations applicable to aviation meteorology are discussed.

On the complexity of measuring forests microclimate and interpreting its relevance in habitat ecology: the example of Ixodes ricinus ticks.

PubMed

Boehnke, Denise; Gebhardt, Reiner; Petney, Trevor; Norra, Stefan

2017-11-06

Ecological field research on the influence of meteorological parameters on a forest inhabiting species is confronted with the complex relations between measured data and the real conditions the species is exposed to. This study highlights this complexity for the example of Ixodes ricinus. This species lives mainly in forest habitats near the ground, but field research on impacts of meteorological conditions on population dynamics is often based on data from nearby official weather stations or occasional in situ measurements. In addition, studies use very different data approaches to analyze comparable research questions. This study is an extensive examination of the methodology used to analyze the impact of meteorological parameters on Ixodes ricinus and proposes a methodological approach that tackles the underlying complexity. Our specifically developed measurement concept was implemented at 25 forest study sites across Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Meteorological weather stations recorded data in situ and continuously between summer 2012 and autumn 2015, including relative humidity measures in the litter layer and different heights above it (50 cm, 2 m). Hourly averages of relative humidity were calculated and compared with data from the nearest official weather station. Data measured directly in the forest can differ dramatically from conditions recorded at official weather stations. In general, data indicate a remarkable relative humidity decrease from inside to outside the forest and from ground to atmosphere. Relative humidity measured in the litter layer were, on average, 24% higher than the official data and were much more balanced, especially in summer. The results illustrate the need for, and benefit of, continuous in situ measurements to grasp the complex relative humidity conditions in forests. Data from official weather stations do not accurately represent actual humidity conditions in forest stands and the explanatory power of short period and fragmentary in situ measurements is extremely limited. However, it is still an open question to what kind of meteorological data are necessary to answer specific questions in tick research. The comparison of research findings was hindered by the variety of information provided, which is why we propose details for future reporting.

An analysis of surface air temperature trends and variability along the Andes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franquist, Eric S.

Climate change is difficult to study in mountainous regions such as the Andes since steep changes in elevation cannot always be resolved by climate models. However, it is important to examine temperature trends in this region as rises in surface air temperature are leading to the melting of tropical glaciers. Local communities rely on the glacier-fed streamflow to get their water for drinking, irrigation, and livestock. Moreover, communities also rely on the tourism of hikers who come to the region to view the glaciers. As the temperatures increase, these glaciers are no longer in equilibrium with their current climate and are receding rapidly and decreasing the streamflow. This thesis examines surface air temperature from 858 weather stations across Ecuador, Peru, and Chile in order to analyze changes in trends and variability. Three time periods were studied: 1961--1990, 1971--2000, and 1981--2010. The greatest warming occurred during the period of 1971--2000 with 92% of the stations experiencing positive trends with a mean of 0.24°C/decade. There was a clear shift toward cooler temperatures at all latitudes and below elevations of 500 m during the most recent time period studied (1981--2010). Station temperatures were more strongly correlated with the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), than the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). A principal component analysis confirmed ENSO as the main contributor of variability with the most influence in the lower latitudes. There were clear multidecadal changes in correlation strength for the PDO. The PDO contributed the most to the increases in station temperature trends during the 1961--1990 period, consistent with the PDO shift to the positive phase in the middle of this period. There were many strong positive trends at individual stations during the 1971--2000 period; however, these trends could not fully be attributed to ENSO, PDO, or SAM, indicating anthropogenic effects of greenhouse gas emissions as the most likely cause.

Meteorological data for four sites at surface-disruption features in Yucca Flat, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada, 1985-86

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carman, Rita L.

1994-01-01

Surface-disruption features, or craters, resulting from underground nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site may increase the potential for ground-water recharge in an area that would normally produce little, if any, recharge. This report presents selected meteorological data resulting from a study of two surface-disruption features during May 1985 through June 1986. The data were collected at four adjacent sites in Yucca Flat, about 56 kilometers north of Mercury, Nevada. Three sites (one in each of two craters and one at an undisturbed site at the original land surface) were instrumented to collect meteorological data for calculating bare-soil evaporation. These data include (1) long-wave radiation, (2) short-wave radiation, (3) net radiation, (4) air temperae, and (5) soil surface temperature. Meteorological data also were collected at a weather station at an undisturbed site near the study craters. Data collected at this site include (1) air temperature, (2) relative humidity, (3) wind velocity, and (4) wind direction.

Optical sensors for mapping temperature and winds in the thermosphere from a CubeSat platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sullivan, Stephanie Whalen

The thermosphere is the region between approximately 80 km and 320 or more km above the earth's surface. While many people consider this elevation to be space rather than atmosphere, there is a small quantity of gasses in this region. The behavior of these gasses influences the orbits of satellites, including the International Space Station, causes space weather events, and influences the weather closer to the surface of the earth. Due to the location and characteristics of the thermosphere, even basic properties such as temperature are very difficult to measure. High spatial and temporal resolution data on temperatures and winds in the thermosphere are needed by both the space weather and earth climate modeling communities. To address this need, Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) started the Profiling Oxygen Emissions of the Thermosphere (POET) program. POET consists of a series of sensors designed to fly on sounding rockets, CubeSats, or larger platforms, such as IridiumNEXT SensorPODS. While each sensor design is different, they all use characteristics of oxygen optical emissions to measure space weather properties. The POET program builds upon the work of the RAIDS, Odin, and UARS programs. Our intention is to dramatically reduce the costs of building, launching, and operating spectrometers in space, thus allowing for more sensors to be in operation. Continuous long-term data from multiple sensors is necessary to understand the underlying physics required to accurately model and predict weather in the thermosphere. While previous spectrometers have been built to measure winds and temperatures in the thermosphere, they have all been large and expensive. The POET sensors use new focal plane technology and optical designs to overcome these obstacles. This thesis focuses on the testing and calibration of the two POET sensors: the Oxygen Profiling of the Atmospheric Limb (OPAL) temperature sensor and the Split-field Etalon Doppler Imager (SEDI) wind sensor.

Characterization of the thermal structure inside an urban canyon: field measurements and validation of a simple model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giovannini, Lorenzo; Zardi, Dino; de Franceschi, Massimiliano

2013-04-01

The results of measurement campaigns are analyzed to investigate the thermal structure in an urban canyon, and to validate a simplified model simulating the air and surface temperatures from surface energy budgets. Starting from measurements at roof-top level, the model provides time series of air and surface temperatures, as well as surface fluxes. Two campaigns were carried out in summer 2007 and in winter 2008/09 in a street of the city of Trento (Italy). Temperature sensors were placed at various levels near the walls flanking the canyon and on a traffic light in the street center. Furthermore, the atmosphere above the mean roof-top level was monitored by a weather station on top of a tower located nearby. Air temperatures near the walls, being strongly influenced by direct solar radiation, display considerable contrasts between the opposite sides of the canyon. On the other hand, when solar radiation is weak or absent, the temperature field remains rather homogeneous.Moreover, air temperature inside the canyon is generally higher than above roof level, with larger differences during summertime. Air temperatures from the above street measurements are well simulated by the model in both seasons. Furthermore, the modeled surface temperatures are tested against a dataset of wall surface temperatures from the Advanced Tools for Rational Energy Use Towards Sustainability-Photocatalytic Innovative Coverings Applications for Depollution (ATREUS-PICADA) experiment, and a very good agreement is found. Results suggest that themodel is a reliable and convenient tool for simplified assessment of climatic conditions occurring in urban canyons under various weather situations.

One-Dimensional Coupled Ecosystem-Carbon Flux Model for the Simulation of Biogeochemical Parameters at Ocean Weather Station P

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Signorini, S.; McClain, C.; Christian, J.; Wong, C. S.

2000-01-01

In this Technical Publication, we describe the model functionality and analyze its application to the seasonal and interannual variations of phytoplankton, nutrients, pCO2 and CO2 concentrations in the eastern subarctic Pacific at Ocean Weather Station P (OWSP, 50 deg. N 145 deg. W). We use a verified one-dimensional ecosystem model, coupled with newly incorporated carbon flux and carbon chemistry components, to simulate 22 years (1958-1980) of pCO2 and CO2 variability at Ocean Weather Station P (OWS P). This relatively long period of simulation verifies and extends the findings of previous studies using an explicit approach for the biological component and realistic coupling with the carbon flux dynamics. The slow currents and the horizontally homogeneous ocean in the subarctic Pacific make OWS P one of the best available candidates for modeling the chemistry of the upper ocean in one dimension. The chlorophyll and ocean currents composite for 1998 illustrates this premise. The chlorophyll concentration map was derived from SeaWiFS data and the currents are from an OGCM simulation (from R. Murtugudde).

Relationship between Surface Urban Heat Island intensity and sensible heat flux retrieved from meteorological parameters observed by road weather stations in urban area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gawuć, Lech

2017-04-01

Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a direct consequence of altered energy balance in urban areas (Oke 1982). There has been a significant effort put into an understanding of air temperature variability in urban areas and underlying mechanisms (Arnfield 2003, Grimmond 2006, Stewart 2011, Barlow 2014). However, studies that are concerned on surface temperature are less frequent. Therefore, Voogt & Oke (2003) proposed term "Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI)", which is analogical to UHI and it is defined as a difference in land surface temperature (LST) between urban and rural areas. SUHI is a phenomenon that is not only concerned with high spatial variability, but also with high temporal variability (Weng and Fu 2014). In spite of the fact that satellite remote sensing techniques give a full spatial pattern over a vast area, such measurements are strictly limited to cloudless conditions during a satellite overpass (Sobrino et al., 2012). This significantly reduces the availability and applicability of satellite LST observations, especially over areas and seasons with high cloudiness occurrence. Also, the surface temperature is influenced by synoptic conditions (e.g., wind and humidity) (Gawuc & Struzewska 2016). Hence, utilising single observations is not sufficient to obtain a full image of spatiotemporal variability of urban LST and SUHI intensity (Gawuc & Struzewska 2016). One of the possible solutions would be a utilisation of time-series of LST data, which could be useful to monitor the UHI growth of individual cities and thus, to reveal the impact of urbanisation on local climate (Tran et al., 2006). The relationship between UHI and synoptic conditions have been summarised by Arnfield (2003). However, similar analyses conducted for urban LST and SUHI are lacking. We will present analyses of the relationship between time series of remotely-sensed LST and SUHI intensity and in-situ meteorological observations collected by road weather stations network, namely: road surface kinetic temperature, wind speed, air temperature, soil temperature at a depth of 30 cm, road surface condition, relative humidity. Also, as there are wind speed and temperature observations at different heights available, we will calculate sensible heat flux in order to relate it to the intensity of SUHI.

Evaluation of snowmelt simulation in the Weather Research and Forecasting model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Jiming; Wen, Lijuan

2012-05-01

The objective of this study is to better understand and improve snowmelt simulations in the advanced Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model by coupling it with the Community Land Model (CLM) Version 3.5. Both WRF and CLM are developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The automated Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) station data over the Columbia River Basin in the northwestern United States are used to evaluate snowmelt simulations generated with the coupled WRF-CLM model. These SNOTEL data include snow water equivalent (SWE), precipitation, and temperature. The simulations cover the period of March through June 2002 and focus mostly on the snowmelt season. Initial results show that when compared to observations, WRF-CLM significantly improves the simulations of SWE, which is underestimated when the release version of WRF is coupled with the Noah and Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) land surface schemes, in which snow physics is oversimplified. Further analysis shows that more realistic snow surface energy allocation in CLM is an important process that results in improved snowmelt simulations when compared to that in Noah and RUC. Additional simulations with WRF-CLM at different horizontal spatial resolutions indicate that accurate description of topography is also vital to SWE simulations. WRF-CLM at 10 km resolution produces the most realistic SWE simulations when compared to those produced with coarser spatial resolutions in which SWE is remarkably underestimated. The coupled WRF-CLM provides an important tool for research and forecasts in weather, climate, and water resources at regional scales.

Severe Weather Forecast Decision Aid

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauman, William H., III; Wheeler, Mark

2005-01-01

The Applied Meteorology Unit developed a forecast tool that provides an assessment of the likelihood of local convective severe weather for the day in order to enhance protection of personnel and material assets of the 45th Space Wing Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), and Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

Integration of nitrogen dynamics into the Noah-MP land surface model v1.1 for climate and environmental predictions

DOE PAGES

Cai, X.; Yang, Z. -L.; Fisher, J. B.; ...

2016-01-15

Climate and terrestrial biosphere models consider nitrogen an important factor in limiting plant carbon uptake, while operational environmental models view nitrogen as the leading pollutant causing eutrophication in water bodies. The community Noah land surface model with multi-parameterization options (Noah-MP) is unique in that it is the next-generation land surface model for the Weather Research and Forecasting meteorological model and for the operational weather/climate models in the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. Here in this study, we add a capability to Noah-MP to simulate nitrogen dynamics by coupling the Fixation and Uptake of Nitrogen (FUN) plant model and the Soilmore » and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) soil nitrogen dynamics. This model development incorporates FUN's state-of-the-art concept of carbon cost theory and SWAT's strength in representing the impacts of agricultural management on the nitrogen cycle. Parameterizations for direct root and mycorrhizal-associated nitrogen uptake, leaf retranslocation, and symbiotic biological nitrogen fixation are employed from FUN, while parameterizations for nitrogen mineralization, nitrification, immobilization, volatilization, atmospheric deposition, and leaching are based on SWAT. The coupled model is then evaluated at the Kellogg Biological Station – a Long Term Ecological Research site within the US Corn Belt. Results show that the model performs well in capturing the major nitrogen state/flux variables (e.g., soil nitrate and nitrate leaching). Furthermore, the addition of nitrogen dynamics improves the modeling of net primary productivity and evapotranspiration. The model improvement is expected to advance the capability of Noah-MP to simultaneously predict weather and water quality in fully coupled Earth system models.« less

Integration of nitrogen dynamics into the Noah-MP land surface model v1.1 for climate and environmental predictions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cai, X.; Yang, Z. -L.; Fisher, J. B.

Climate and terrestrial biosphere models consider nitrogen an important factor in limiting plant carbon uptake, while operational environmental models view nitrogen as the leading pollutant causing eutrophication in water bodies. The community Noah land surface model with multi-parameterization options (Noah-MP) is unique in that it is the next-generation land surface model for the Weather Research and Forecasting meteorological model and for the operational weather/climate models in the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. Here in this study, we add a capability to Noah-MP to simulate nitrogen dynamics by coupling the Fixation and Uptake of Nitrogen (FUN) plant model and the Soilmore » and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) soil nitrogen dynamics. This model development incorporates FUN's state-of-the-art concept of carbon cost theory and SWAT's strength in representing the impacts of agricultural management on the nitrogen cycle. Parameterizations for direct root and mycorrhizal-associated nitrogen uptake, leaf retranslocation, and symbiotic biological nitrogen fixation are employed from FUN, while parameterizations for nitrogen mineralization, nitrification, immobilization, volatilization, atmospheric deposition, and leaching are based on SWAT. The coupled model is then evaluated at the Kellogg Biological Station – a Long Term Ecological Research site within the US Corn Belt. Results show that the model performs well in capturing the major nitrogen state/flux variables (e.g., soil nitrate and nitrate leaching). Furthermore, the addition of nitrogen dynamics improves the modeling of net primary productivity and evapotranspiration. The model improvement is expected to advance the capability of Noah-MP to simultaneously predict weather and water quality in fully coupled Earth system models.« less

The meta-Gaussian Bayesian Processor of forecasts and associated preliminary experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Fajing; Jiao, Meiyan; Chen, Jing

2013-04-01

Public weather services are trending toward providing users with probabilistic weather forecasts, in place of traditional deterministic forecasts. Probabilistic forecasting techniques are continually being improved to optimize available forecasting information. The Bayesian Processor of Forecast (BPF), a new statistical method for probabilistic forecast, can transform a deterministic forecast into a probabilistic forecast according to the historical statistical relationship between observations and forecasts generated by that forecasting system. This technique accounts for the typical forecasting performance of a deterministic forecasting system in quantifying the forecast uncertainty. The meta-Gaussian likelihood model is suitable for a variety of stochastic dependence structures with monotone likelihood ratios. The meta-Gaussian BPF adopting this kind of likelihood model can therefore be applied across many fields, including meteorology and hydrology. The Bayes theorem with two continuous random variables and the normal-linear BPF are briefly introduced. The meta-Gaussian BPF for a continuous predictand using a single predictor is then presented and discussed. The performance of the meta-Gaussian BPF is tested in a preliminary experiment. Control forecasts of daily surface temperature at 0000 UTC at Changsha and Wuhan stations are used as the deterministic forecast data. These control forecasts are taken from ensemble predictions with a 96-h lead time generated by the National Meteorological Center of the China Meteorological Administration, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, and the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction during January 2008. The results of the experiment show that the meta-Gaussian BPF can transform a deterministic control forecast of surface temperature from any one of the three ensemble predictions into a useful probabilistic forecast of surface temperature. These probabilistic forecasts quantify the uncertainty of the control forecast; accordingly, the performance of the probabilistic forecasts differs based on the source of the underlying deterministic control forecasts.

Edited synoptic cloud reports from ships and land stations over the globe, 1982--1991

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hahn, C.J.; Warren, S.G.; London, J.

1996-02-01

Surface synoptic weather reports for the entire globe for the 10-year period from December 1981 through November 1991 have been processed, edited, and rewritten to provide a data set designed for use in cloud analyses. The information in these reports relating to clouds, including the present weather information, was extracted and put through a series of quality control checks. Correctable inconsistencies within reports were edited for consistency, so that the ``edited cloud report`` can be used for cloud analysis. Cases of ``sky obscured`` were interpreted by reference to the present weather code as to whether they indicated fog, rain ormore » snow and were given appropriate cloud type designations. Nimbostratus clouds were also given a special designation. Changes made to an original report are indicated in the edited report so that the original report can be reconstructed if desired. While low cloud amount is normally given directly in the synoptic report, the edited cloud report also includes the amounts, either directly reported or inferred, of middle and high clouds, both the non-overlapped amounts and the ``actual`` amounts. Since illumination from the moon is important for the adequate detection of clouds at night, both the relative lunar illuminance and the solar altitude are given; well as a parameter that indicates whether our recommended illuminance criterion was satisfied. This data set contains 124 million reports from land stations and 15 million reports from ships. Each report is 56 characters in length. The archive consists of 240 files, one file for each month of data for land and ocean separately. With this data set a user can develop a climatology for any particular cloud type or group of types, for any geographical region and any spatial and temporal resolution desired.« less

Characteristics of Heavy Summer Rainfall in Southwestern Taiwan in Relation to Orographic Effects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, Ching-Sen; Chen, Wan-Chin; Tao, Wei-Kuo

2004-01-01

On the windward side of southwestern Taiwan, about a quarter to a half of all rainfall during mid-July through August from 1994 to 2000 came from convective systems embedded in the southwesterly monsoon flow. k this study, the causes of two heavy rainfall events (daily rainfall exceeding 100 mm day over at least three rainfall stations) observed over the slopes and/or lowlands of southwestern Taiwan were examined. Data from European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts /Tropical Ocean- Global Atmosphere (EC/TOGA) analyses, the rainfall stations of the Automatic Rainfall and Meteorological Telemetry System (ARMTS) and the conventional surface stations over Taiwan, and the simulation results from a regional-scale numerical model were used to accomplish the objectives. In one event (393 mm day on 9 August 1999), heavy rainfall was observed over the windward slopes of southern Taiwan in a potentially unstable environment with very humid air around 850 hPa. The extreme accumulation was simulated and attributed to orographic lifting effects. No preexisting convection drifted in from the Taiwan Strait into western Taiwan.

Influence of mountains on Arctic tropospheric ozone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seabrook, Jeffrey; Whiteway, James

2016-02-01

Tropospheric ozone was measured above Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic during spring of 2008 using a differential absorption lidar. The observations were carried out at Eureka Weather Station, which is located between various mountain ranges. Analysis of the observations revealed that mountains had a significant effect on the vertical distribution of ozone. Ozone depletion events were observed when air that had spent significant time near to the frozen surface of the Arctic Ocean reached Eureka. This air arrived at Eureka by flowing over the surrounding mountains. Surface level ozone depletions were not observed during periods when mountains blocked the flow of air from over the sea ice. In the case of blocking there was an enhancement in the amount of ozone near the surface as air from the midtroposphere descended in the lee of the mountains. Three case studies from spring of 2008 are described.

Effects of surface wave breaking on the oceanic boundary layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Hailun; Chen, Dake

2011-04-01

Existing laboratory studies suggest that surface wave breaking may exert a significant impact on the formation and evolution of oceanic surface boundary layer, which plays an important role in the ocean-atmosphere coupled system. However, present climate models either neglect the effects of wave breaking or treat them implicitly through some crude parameterization. Here we use a one-dimensional ocean model (General Ocean Turbulence Model, GOTM) to investigate the effects of wave breaking on the oceanic boundary layer on diurnal to seasonal time scales. First a set of idealized experiments are carried out to demonstrate the basic physics and the necessity to include wave breaking. Then the model is applied to simulating observations at the northern North Sea and the Ocean Weather Station Papa, which shows that properly accounting for wave breaking effects can improve model performance and help it to successfully capture the observed upper ocean variability.

Winds over the ocean as measured by the scatterometer on Seasat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pierson, W. J.

1981-01-01

An analysis is presented of the relative accuracy of Seasat scatterometer measurements of the wind speeds and directions at 19.5 m altitude as compared to ground truth measurements taken by surface ships and instrumented buoys. Attention is given to the JASIN, QE II, and GOASEX surface data. The validity of 2-30 min averages taken from surface stations spread out over a wide area and serving as a basis for defining wind field averages over the 50 km resolution of SASS is examined. Satisfactory wind speeds were found to be available from SASS readings in the wind speed range 6-14 m/sec. The use of 25 SASS readings around a grid point was determined to reduce scatter to 0.25 m/sec when used in numerical weather prediction modeling. Improvements to the SASS techniques by the Seasat successor, NOSS, are discussed, and inclusion of momentum, heat, and water turbulent fluxes by NOSS is noted.

What is the benefit of driving a hydrological model with data from a multi-site weather generator compared to data from a simple delta change approach?"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rössler, Ole; Keller, Denise; Fischer, Andreas

2016-04-01

In 2011 the Swiss national consortium C2SM providednew climate change scenarios were released in Switzerland that came with a comprehensive data set of temperature and precipitation changes under climate change conditions for every a large network of meteorological stations, and for aggregated as well as regions in across Switzerland. These climate change signals were generated for three emission scenarios and three different future time-periods and designed to be used asbased on a delta change factors approach. This data set proved to be very successful in Switzerland as many different users, researchers, private companies, and societal users were able to use and interpret the climate data set. Thus, a range of applications that are all based on the same climate data set enabled a comparable view on climate change impact in several disciplines. The main limitation and criticism to this data set was the usage of the delta change approach for downscaling as it comes with severe limitations such as underestimatinges changes in extreme values and neglecting changes in variability and changes in temporal sequencesneglecting changes in variability, be it year-to-year or day-to-day, and changes in temporal sequences . lacks a change in the day-to-day-variability. One way to overcome this the latter limitation is the usage of stochastic weather generators in a downscaling context. Weather generators are known to be one suitable downscaling technique, but A common limitation of most weather generators is the absence of spatial consistency rrelation in the generated daily time-series, resulting in an underestimation of areal means over several stations that are often low-biased. refer to one point scale (single-site) and lacks the spatial representation of weather. The latter A realistic representation of the inter-station correlation in the downscaled time-series This is of high particular importance in some impact studies, especially infor any hydrological impact studiesy. Recently, a multi-site weather generator was developed and tested for downscaling purposes over Switzerland. The weather generator is of type Richardson, that is run with spatially correlated random number streams to ensure spatial consistency. As a downside, multi-site weather generators are much more complex to develop, but they are a very promising alternative downscaling technique. A new multi-site-weather generator was developed for Switzerland in a previous study (Keller et al. 2014). In this study, we tested this new multi-site-weather generator against the "standard" delta change derived data in a hydrological impact assessment study that focused on runoff in the meso-scale catchment of the river Thur catchment. Two hydrological models of different complexity were run with the data sets under present (1980-2009) and under future conditions (2070-2099), assuming the SRES A1B emission2070-2100 scenario conditions. Eight meteorological stations were used to interpolate a meteorological field that served as input to calibrate and validate the two hydrological models against runoff. The downscaling intercomparison was done for We applied 10 GCM-RCM combinations simulations of the ENSEMBLES. In case of the weather generator, that allows for multiple synthetic realizations, we generated for which change factors for each station (delta change approach) were available and generated 25 realizations of multi-site weather. with each climate model projection. Results show that the delta change driven data constitutes only one appropriate representation compared to theof a bandwidth of runoff projections yielded by the multi-site weather generator data. Especially oOn average, differences between both the two approaches are small. Low and high runoff Runoff values to both extremes are however better reproduced with the weather generator driven data set. The stochastic representation of multiday rainfall events are considered as the main reason. Hence, tThere is a clear yet small added value to the delta change approach that in turn performs rather well. Although these small but considerable differences might questioning the need to construct a multi-site-weather generator with a huge effort, the potential and possibilities to further develop the multi-site weather generator is undoubted.

Air temperature thresholds to evaluate snow melting at the surface of Alpine glaciers by T-index models: the case study of Forni Glacier (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Senese, A.; Maugeri, M.; Vuillermoz, E.; Smiraglia, C.; Diolaiuti, G.

2014-03-01

The glacier melt conditions (i.e.: null surface temperature and positive energy budget) can be assessed by analyzing meteorological and energy data acquired by a supraglacial Automatic Weather Station (AWS). In the case this latter is not present the assessment of actual melting conditions and the evaluation of the melt amount is difficult and simple methods based on T-index (or degree days) models are generally applied. These models require the choice of a correct temperature threshold. In fact, melt does not necessarily occur at daily air temperatures higher than 273.15 K. In this paper, to detect the most indicative threshold witnessing melt conditions in the April-June period, we have analyzed air temperature data recorded from 2006 to 2012 by a supraglacial AWS set up at 2631 m a.s.l. on the ablation tongue of the Forni Glacier (Italian Alps), and by a weather station located outside the studied glacier (at Bormio, a village at 1225 m a.s.l.). Moreover we have evaluated the glacier energy budget and the Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) values during this time-frame. Then the snow ablation amount was estimated both from the surface energy balance (from supraglacial AWS data) and from T-index method (from Bormio data, applying the mean tropospheric lapse rate and varying the air temperature threshold) and the results were compared. We found that the mean tropospheric lapse rate permits a good and reliable reconstruction of glacier air temperatures and the major uncertainty in the computation of snow melt is driven by the choice of an appropriate temperature threshold. From our study using a 5.0 K lower threshold value (with respect to the largely applied 273.15 K) permits the most reliable reconstruction of glacier melt.

The Association Between Fog and Temperature Inversions from Ground and Radiosonde Observations in East Greenland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilson, G.; Jiskoot, H.

2016-12-01

Many Arctic glaciers terminate along coasts where temperature inversions and sea fog are frequent during summer. Both can influence glacier ablation, but the effects of fog may be complex. To understand fog's physical and radiative properties and its association to temperature inversions it is important to determine accurate Arctic coastal fog climatologies In previous research we determined that fog in East Greenland peaks in the melt season and can be spatially extensive over glacierized terrain. In this study we aim to understand which environmental factors influence fog occurrence in East Greenland; understand the association between fog and temperature inversions; and quantify fog height. We analyzed fog observations and other weather data from coastal synoptic weather stations, and extracted temperature inversions from the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive radiosonde profiles. Fog height was calculated from radiosonde profiles, based on a method developed for radiation fog which we expanded to include advection and steam fog. Our results show that Arctic coastal fog requires sea ice breakup and a sea breeze with wind speed between 1-4 m/s. Fog is mostly advective, occurring under stable synoptic conditions characterized by deep and strong low-level temperature inversions. Steam fog may occur 5-30% of the time. Fog can occur under near-surface subsidence, with a subsaturated inversion base, or a saturated inversion base. We classified five types of fog based on their vertical sounding characteristics: only at the surface, below an inversion, capped by an inversion, inside a surface-based inversion, or inside a low-level inversion. Fog is commonly 100-400 m thick, often reaching the top of the boundary layer. Fog height is greater at northern stations, where daily fog duration is longer and relative humidity lower. Our results will be included in glacier energy-balance models to account for the influence of fog and temperature inversions on glacier melt.

Thermal mapping as a valuable tool for road weather forecast and winter road maintenance: an example from the Italian Alps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Todeschini, Ilaria; Di Napoli, Claudia; Pretto, Ilaria; Merler, Giacomo; Cavaliere, Roberto; Apolloni, Roberto; Antonacci, Gianluca; Piazza, Andrea; Benedetti, Guido

2016-08-01

During the winter period ice is likely to form on roads, making pavement surfaces slippery and increasing accident risk. Road surface temperature (RST) is one of the most important parameters in ice formation. The LIFE+ "CLEANROADS" project aims to forecast RSTs in advance in order to support road maintenance services in the timely and effective preparation of preventive anti-icing measures. This support is provided through a novel MDSS (Maintenance Decision Support System). The final goal of the project is to quantitatively demonstrate that the implemented MDSS is capable to minimize the consumption of chemical anti-icing reagents (e.g. sodium chloride) and the associated environmental (water and air) impact while maintaining the current high levels of road safety. In the CLEAN-ROADS system RSTs have been forecast by applying the numerical model METRo (Model of the Environment and Temperature of Roads) to a network of RWIS (Road Weather Information System) stations installed on a test route in the Adige Valley (Italy). This forecast is however local and does not take into account typical peculiarities along road network, such as the presence of road sections that are particularly prone to ice formation. Thermal mapping, i.e. the acquisition of mobile RST measurements through infrared thermometry, permits to (i) identify and map those sections, and (ii) extend the forecast from a RWIS station to adjacent areas. The processing of thermal mapping signals is however challenging because of random variations in the road surface emissivity. To overcome this we have acquired several thermal mapping traces along the test route during winter seasons 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. We have then defined a "characteristic" thermal fingerprint as a function of all its historical thermal mapping signals, and used it to spatialize local METRo forecasts. Preliminary results suggest the high potential of such a technique for winter road applications.

Precipitation variability of the Grand Canyon region, 1893 through 2009, and its implications for studying effects of gullying of Holocene terraces and associated archeological sites in Grand Canyon, Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hereford, Richard; Bennett, Glenn E.; Fairley, Helen C.

2014-01-01

A daily precipitation dataset covering a large part of the American Southwest was compiled for online electronic distribution (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1006/). The dataset contains 10.8 million observations spanning January 1893 through January 2009 from 846 weather stations in six states and 13 climate divisions. In addition to processing the data for distribution, water-year totals and other statistical parameters were calculated for each station with more than 2 years of observations. Division-wide total precipitation, expressed as the average deviation from the individual station means of a climate division, shows that the region—including the Grand Canyon, Arizona, area—has been affected by alternating multidecadal episodes of drought and wet conditions. In addition to compiling and analyzing the long-term regional precipitation data, a second dataset consisting of high-temporal-resolution precipitation measurements collected between November 2003 and January 2009 from 10 localities along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon was compiled. An exploratory study of these high-temporal-resolution precipitation measurements suggests that on a daily basis precipitation patterns are generally similar to those at a long-term weather station in the canyon, which in turn resembles the patterns at other long-term stations on the canyon rims; however, precipitation amounts recorded by the individual inner canyon weather stations can vary substantially from station to station. Daily and seasonal rainfall patterns apparent in these data are not random. For example, the inner canyon record, although short and fragmented, reveals three episodes of widespread, heavy precipitation in late summer 2004, early winter 2005, and summer 2007. The 2004 event and several others had sufficient rainfall to initiate potentially pervasive erosion of the late Holocene terraces and related archeological features located along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon.

Space Weathering of Lunar Rocks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Noble, S. K.; Keller, L. P.; Christoffersen, R.; Rahman, Z.

2012-01-01

All materials exposed at the lunar surface undergo space weathering processes. On the Moon, boulders make up only a small percentage of the exposed surface, and areas where such rocks are exposed, like central peaks, are often among the least space weathered regions identified from remote sensing data. Yet space weathered surfaces (patina) are relatively common on returned rock samples, some of which directly sample the surface of larger boulders. Because, as witness plates to lunar space weathering, rocks and boulders experience longer exposure times compared to lunar soil grains, they allow us to develop a deeper perspective on the relative importance of various weathering processes as a function of time.

KSC-2009-5920

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-10-27

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the weather station on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a meteorological data specialist prepares to release a low resolution flight element rawinsonde to support the countdown for the flight test of NASA's Ares I-X rocket. A GPS-tracked weather balloon, a rawinsonde has a tethered instrument package which radios its altitude to the ground along with atmospheric data such as temperature, dewpoint and humidity, and wind speed and direction. Rawinsondes can reach altitudes up to 110,000 feet. For information on the Ares I-X vehicle and flight test, visit http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

KSC-2009-5921

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-10-27

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the weather station on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a meteorological data specialist releases a low resolution flight element rawinsonde to support the countdown for the flight test of NASA's Ares I-X rocket. A GPS-tracked weather balloon, a rawinsonde has a tethered instrument package which radios its altitude to the ground along with atmospheric data such as temperature, dewpoint and humidity, and wind speed and direction. Rawinsondes can reach altitudes up to 110,000 feet. For information on the Ares I-X vehicle and flight test, visit http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

KSC-2009-5919

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-10-27

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the weather station on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a meteorological data specialist prepares a low resolution flight element rawinsonde to support the countdown for the flight test of NASA's Ares I-X rocket. A GPS-tracked weather balloon, a rawinsonde has a tethered instrument package which radios its altitude to the ground along with atmospheric data such as temperature, dewpoint and humidity, and wind speed and direction. Rawinsondes can reach altitudes up to 110,000 feet. For information on the Ares I-X vehicle and flight test, visit http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

KSC-2009-5918

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-10-27

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the weather station on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, meteorological data specialists prepare two low resolution flight element rawinsonde to support the countdown for the flight test of NASA's Ares I-X rocket. A GPS-tracked weather balloon, a rawinsonde has a tethered instrument package which radios its altitude to the ground along with atmospheric data such as temperature, dewpoint and humidity, and wind speed and direction. Rawinsondes can reach altitudes up to 110,000 feet. For information on the Ares I-X vehicle and flight test, visit http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

Lajes AB, Azores. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-11-25

10104 O A IM.4 10PM AS 0 50.11T 14W ~ O IF PP I / ’~~ PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY OF WINDSU FC WID DIRECTION AND SPEED (FROM HOURLY OBSERVATIONS) STATION...USAFETAC 0-8-5 CL-A PREoUGS E(01051 os I, fOaM Afff 0S0,lll ILL 64 SURFACE WINDS S..PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY OF WIND DIRECTION AND SPEED (FROM HOURLY...4 _ _ 0_ NE .6 2.6 2.6 .5 _ 1 ,.3 6.’ ENE ,! 3.1 2.0 1.04 7.6 7. 1- t o6 2.4 4.1 .9 7.9 7.1 ESE , 1 ,6 ,A 92j 1.7 7.4 SE .4 1*( A * 194 *4 _ 3*23

Country-wide rainfall maps from cellular communication networks

PubMed Central

Overeem, Aart; Leijnse, Hidde; Uijlenhoet, Remko

2013-01-01

Accurate and timely surface precipitation measurements are crucial for water resources management, agriculture, weather prediction, climate research, as well as ground validation of satellite-based precipitation estimates. However, the majority of the land surface of the earth lacks such data, and in many parts of the world the density of surface precipitation gauging networks is even rapidly declining. This development can potentially be counteracted by using received signal level data from the enormous number of microwave links used worldwide in commercial cellular communication networks. Along such links, radio signals propagate from a transmitting antenna at one base station to a receiving antenna at another base station. Rain-induced attenuation and, subsequently, path-averaged rainfall intensity can be retrieved from the signal’s attenuation between transmitter and receiver. Here, we show how one such a network can be used to retrieve the space–time dynamics of rainfall for an entire country (The Netherlands, ∼35,500 km2), based on an unprecedented number of links (∼2,400) and a rainfall retrieval algorithm that can be applied in real time. This demonstrates the potential of such networks for real-time rainfall monitoring, in particular in those parts of the world where networks of dedicated ground-based rainfall sensors are often virtually absent. PMID:23382210

Observations of the Summertime Boundary Layer over the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica Using SUMO UAVs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nigro, M. A.; Cassano, J. J.; Jolly, B.; McDonald, A.

2014-12-01

During January 2014 Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer (SUMO) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were used to observe the boundary layer over the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. A total of 41 SUMO flights were completed during a 9-day period with a maximum of 11 flights during a single day. Flights occurred as frequently as every 1.5 hours so that the time evolution of the boundary layer could be documented. On almost all of the flights the boundary layer was well mixed from the surface to a depth of less than 50 m to over 350 m. The depth of the well-mixed layer was observed to both increase and decrease over the course of an individual day suggesting that processes other than entrainment were altering the boundary layer depth. The well-mixed layer was observed to both warm and cool during the field campaign indicating that advective processes as well as surface fluxes were acting to control the temporal evolution of the boundary layer temperature. Only a small number of weakly stably stratified boundary layers were observed. Strong, shallow inversions, of up to 6 K, were observed above the top of the boundary layer. Observations from a 30 m automatic weather station and two temporary automatic weather stations 10 km south and west of the main field campaign location provide additional data for understanding the boundary layer evolution observed by the SUMO UAVs during this 9-day period. This presentation will discuss the observed evolution of the summertime boundary layer as well as comment on lessons learned operating the SUMO UAVs at a remote Antarctic field camp.

Impact of WRF model PBL schemes on air quality simulations over Catalonia, Spain.

PubMed

Banks, R F; Baldasano, J M

2016-12-01

Here we analyze the impact of four planetary boundary-layer (PBL) parametrization schemes from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) numerical weather prediction model on simulations of meteorological variables and predicted pollutant concentrations from an air quality forecast system (AQFS). The current setup of the Spanish operational AQFS, CALIOPE, is composed of the WRF-ARW V3.5.1 meteorological model tied to the Yonsei University (YSU) PBL scheme, HERMES v2 emissions model, CMAQ V5.0.2 chemical transport model, and dust outputs from BSC-DREAM8bv2. We test the performance of the YSU scheme against the Assymetric Convective Model Version 2 (ACM2), Mellor-Yamada-Janjic (MYJ), and Bougeault-Lacarrère (BouLac) schemes. The one-day diagnostic case study is selected to represent the most frequent synoptic condition in the northeast Iberian Peninsula during spring 2015; regional recirculations. It is shown that the ACM2 PBL scheme performs well with daytime PBL height, as validated against estimates retrieved using a micro-pulse lidar system (mean bias=-0.11km). In turn, the BouLac scheme showed WRF-simulated air and dew point temperature closer to METAR surface meteorological observations. Results are more ambiguous when simulated pollutant concentrations from CMAQ are validated against network urban, suburban, and rural background stations. The ACM2 scheme showed the lowest mean bias (-0.96μgm -3 ) with respect to surface ozone at urban stations, while the YSU scheme performed best with simulated nitrogen dioxide (-6.48μgm -3 ). The poorest results were with simulated particulate matter, with similar results found with all schemes tested. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Temporal Characterisation of Ground-level Ozone Concentration in Klang Valley

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Izzah Mohamad Hashim, Nur; Noor, Norazian Mohamed; Yasina Yusof, Sara

2018-03-01

In Malaysia, ground-level ozone (O3) is one of the most significant air pollutants due to the increasing sources of ozone precursors. Hence, the surface O3 concentration should have received substantial attention because of its negative effects to human health, vegetation and the environment. In this study, hourly air pollutants dataset (i.e O3, Carbon monoxide (CO), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate matter (PM10), Non-methane hydrocarbon (NmHC), Sulphur dioxide (SO2)) and weather parameters (i.e. wind speed (WS), wind direction (WD), temperature (T), ultraviolet B (UVB)) for ten years period (2003-2012) in Klang Valley were selected for analysis in this study. Two monitoring stations were selected that are Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam. The aim of the study is to determine the diurnal variations of O3 concentrations according to the seasonal monsoon and the correlation between the ground-level O3 concentration and others parameter. A high concentration of ground-level O3 was observed during the first transition (April to May) for both of the stations. While at a low surface, O3 concentration was found out during the southwest monsoon within June to September. Pearson correlation was used to find the correlation between the O3 concentration and all other pollutants and weather parameters. Most of the relationship between O3concentrationswas positively correlated with NO2 and negative relationship was found out with NMHC. These results were expected since these pollutants are known as the O3 precursors. Besides that, O3 concentration and its precursors show a positive significant correlation with all meteorological factors except for relative humidity.

When the Fog Clears: Long-Term Monitoring of Fog and Fog-Dependent Biota in the Namib Desert

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Logan, J. R. V.

2014-12-01

The Gobabeb Research and Training Centre in western Namibia is currently undertaking several efforts to enhance long-term atmospheric and fog monitoring in the central Namib Desert and to measure how fog-dependent biota are responding to global change. In an environment that receives regular sea fog and a mean annual rainfall of only 25 mm, Gobabeb is ideally situated to study the drivers and ecological role of fog in arid environments. Currently more than ten meteorological projects perform measurements at or close to Gobabeb. These projects include continuous trace gas measurements, fog isotope sampling, in situ surface radiation measurements, land surface temperature and other satellite validation studies, and multiple aerosol/dust monitoring projects; most of these projects are also components in other global monitoring networks. To these projects, Gobabeb has recently added a network of nine autonomous weather stations spanning the central Namib that will continuously collect basic meteorological data over an area of approximately 70x70 km. Using this data in conjunction with modeling efforts will expand our understanding of fog formation and the linkages between fog and the Benguela Current off Namibia's coast. Historical weather data from previous meteorological stations and satellite observations will also enable development of a fog time series for the last 50 years to determine climate variability driven by possible changes in the Benguela Current system. To complement these efforts, Gobabeb is also expanding its decades-old ecological research programs to explore the impacts of the fog on the region's biota at various time and spatial scales. Gobabeb's long-term, multidisciplinary projects can serve as a prototype for monitoring in other fog-affected systems, together increasing our understanding of coastal fog dynamics, land-atmosphere-ocean connections, and the impacts of fog-related global change.

Surface transportation weather decision support requirements : operational concept description : advanced-integrated decision support using weather information for surface transportation decisions makers : draft version 2.0

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-07-14

This is a draft document for the Surface Transportation Weather Decision Support Requirements (STWDSR) project. The STWDSR project is being conducted for the FHWAs Office of Transportation Operations (HOTO) Road Weather Management Program by Mitre...

Storms in Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freeman, John W.

2012-11-01

Introduction; The cast of characters; Vignettes of the storm; 1. Two kinds of weather; 2. The saga of the storm; 3. Weather stations in space; 4. Lights in the night: the signature of the storm; 5. A walking tour of the magnetosphere; 6. The sun: where it all begins; 7. Nowcasting and forecasting storms in space; 8. Technology and the risks from storms in space; 9. A conversation with Joe Allen; 10. Manned exploration and space weather hazards; 11. The present and future of space weather forecasting; Mathematical appendix. A closer look; Glossary; Figure captions.

Discrete post-processing of total cloud cover ensemble forecasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hemri, Stephan; Haiden, Thomas; Pappenberger, Florian

2017-04-01

This contribution presents an approach to post-process ensemble forecasts for the discrete and bounded weather variable of total cloud cover. Two methods for discrete statistical post-processing of ensemble predictions are tested. The first approach is based on multinomial logistic regression, the second involves a proportional odds logistic regression model. Applying them to total cloud cover raw ensemble forecasts from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts improves forecast skill significantly. Based on station-wise post-processing of raw ensemble total cloud cover forecasts for a global set of 3330 stations over the period from 2007 to early 2014, the more parsimonious proportional odds logistic regression model proved to slightly outperform the multinomial logistic regression model. Reference Hemri, S., Haiden, T., & Pappenberger, F. (2016). Discrete post-processing of total cloud cover ensemble forecasts. Monthly Weather Review 144, 2565-2577.

Comparing daily temperature averaging methods: the role of surface and atmosphere variables in determining spatial and seasonal variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernhardt, Jase; Carleton, Andrew M.

2018-05-01

The two main methods for determining the average daily near-surface air temperature, twice-daily averaging (i.e., [Tmax+Tmin]/2) and hourly averaging (i.e., the average of 24 hourly temperature measurements), typically show differences associated with the asymmetry of the daily temperature curve. To quantify the relative influence of several land surface and atmosphere variables on the two temperature averaging methods, we correlate data for 215 weather stations across the Contiguous United States (CONUS) for the period 1981-2010 with the differences between the two temperature-averaging methods. The variables are land use-land cover (LULC) type, soil moisture, snow cover, cloud cover, atmospheric moisture (i.e., specific humidity, dew point temperature), and precipitation. Multiple linear regression models explain the spatial and monthly variations in the difference between the two temperature-averaging methods. We find statistically significant correlations between both the land surface and atmosphere variables studied with the difference between temperature-averaging methods, especially for the extreme (i.e., summer, winter) seasons (adjusted R2 > 0.50). Models considering stations with certain LULC types, particularly forest and developed land, have adjusted R2 values > 0.70, indicating that both surface and atmosphere variables control the daily temperature curve and its asymmetry. This study improves our understanding of the role of surface and near-surface conditions in modifying thermal climates of the CONUS for a wide range of environments, and their likely importance as anthropogenic forcings—notably LULC changes and greenhouse gas emissions—continues.

Revisiting Pearson's climate and forest type studies on the Fort Valley Experimental Forest

Treesearch

Joseph E. Crouse; Margaret M. Moore; Peter Fule

2008-01-01

Five weather station sites were established in 1916 by Fort Valley personnel along an elevational gradient from the Experimental Station to near the top of the San Francisco Peaks to investigate the factors that controlled and limited forest types. The stations were located in the ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, limber pine, Engelmann spruce, and Engelmann spruce/...

Revisiting Pearson's climate and forest type studies on the Fort Valley Experimental Forest (P-53)

Treesearch

Joseph E. Crouse; Margaret M. Moore; Peter Z. Fule

2008-01-01

Five weather station sites were established in 1916 by Fort Valley personnel along an elevational gradient from the Experimental Station to near the top of the San Francisco Peaks to investigate the factors that controlled and limited forest types. The stations were located in the ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, limber pine, Engelmann spruce, and Engelmann spruce/...