A one dimensional wind profile model with stability and eddy viscosity estimations from sodar data

In a one-dimensional wind profile model, methods for eddy viscosity and stability estimations from sodar data have been evaluated with soundings. For eddy viscosity parameterization the ageostrophic method and mixing-length theory have been investigated. Three methods for estimating the static stability have been evaluated; a wind profile adjustment method, gravity wave analysis of sodar backscatter and flux profile functions for windspeed and standard deviation of vertical wind-speed. The wind profile model with variable momentum flux (VF) with height shows better results than an earlier constant flux model (Bergström, 1986). The VF model can be used for extending the sodar profile up to 1500 m.     

Comparative analysis of sodar and ozone profile measurements in a complex structured boundary layer and implications for mixing height estimation

Profile data from simultaneous sodar and tethered balloon measurements have been analyzed with respect to the complex structure of the atmospheric boundary layer in the Upper Rhine Valley. Special attention was focused on ozone concentration profiles measured with a novel lightweight ozone sensor at the balloon. In general, good agreement was found between the signature of the ozone concentration profiles and special features of the backscattered sound intensity profiles. This allows reliable estimation of the mixing height from the sodar data even in a complex stable ABL, except for very shallow mixing layers (below about 75 m), which could not be detected by the sodar.     

声雷达定量测量C_T~2中的几个问题

本文讨论了逾量衰减和风对声线的弯曲作用对声雷达接收功率的影响.分析和计算表明在很多情况下分子吸收、逾量衰减和风的影响对测量C_T~2是不能忽略的,不考虑这些因素有时可使C_T~2低估500％以上.引进有效湍流外尺度后使声散射截面表达式在实际应用中变得合理而简单.由简化的几何模型导出了风衰减因子,经计算和以往的实验事实相符.因此在原声雷达方程中应加入风衰减因子.声雷达方程加上逾量衰减算式、风衰减算式和分子衰减算式,组成了适合定量测量C_T~2的声雷达方程组.利用温度脉动仪测定低高度上的C_T~2值可使估算工作简化,此方法在多普勒声雷达上应用效果会较好,本文并给出了初步实验结果.     

Mixing-height estimation in the convective boundary layer using sodar data

Sodar has been used for about 20 years to determine mixing height. However, estimation of the height of a convective boundary layer (CBL) that exceeds the sodar-probing range is still an unsolved question. As one possible way, it is suggested that one adapt a simple mixed-layer model to sodar observations during the morning growth period of the CBL, when its top can be clearly detected. Results are compared with other methods for CBL-height estimation from sodar data that have been proposed in the literature. Finally, some prognostic aspects are discussed.     

Detection of Inversions and Mixing Height by REMTECH PA2 Sodar in Comparison with Collocated Radiosonde Measurements

Summary A REMTECH PA2 Doppler Sodar is operated regularly at the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI) observatory in Prague, collocated with a routine rawinsonde sounding system. The Air Pollution Control Division of CHMI utilises the sodar data in air pollution studies and as an information support for the smog warning system operated in Prague. Besides of the basic software for echo strength and wind profile evaluation, optional routines for deriving parameters such as inversion and mixing height, stability class etc. were delivered by the sodar manufacturer. Based on a sufficiently large data set (more than one year) of synchronous sodar and rawinsonde measurements, an analysis and comparison of inversion and mixing heights provided by both sounding systems have been accomplished in order to evaluate the correctness and accuracy of sodar estimates of these parameters. In contrast to the wind speed and wind direction data, for which a satisfactory agreement with other kind of measurements has been reported by many studies, the results for inversion and mixing height detection were totally disappointing. A direct applicability of inversion height and mixing height data provided by the REMTECH’s automatic routines in air pollution studies or smog warning systems is quite problematical with the present “state of the art”. Received November 3, 1998 Revised April 20, 1999     

Foehn signals detected by sodar wind and turbulence measurements in the Rhine Valley, Austria, during the MAP field phase

Summary Within the Mesoscale Alpine Programme MAP conducted in autumn 1999, the vertical structure and the temporal evolution of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) in the Rhine Valley 2km south of Lake Constance were observed with a Remtech PA2 sodar (sound-detection-and-ranging instrument) rendering half-hour averages of the three-dimensional wind profile within the lowest kilometre above ground. During Foehn events, tethered balloon soundings and wind profiler measurements were conducted in addition to the rawinsonde network which was built up for the MAP field campaign.The remote sensing instrument renders a surprisingly high number of valid data during south Foehn. Due to the frequent formation of a cold air pool with stable conditions below the Foehn flow with near-neutral static stability, even more sodar data is valid during Foehn periods than during no Foehn periods. A significant reduction of the sodar data quality is only observed during Foehn events with grounding of the Foehn at the sodar site due to high background noise. At higher levels, a Foehn signal can be detected from the sodar wind and turbulence intensitiy information. With Foehn, higher wind speeds and larger turbulence intensities occur than without Foehn. Comparisons to rawinsonde and tethersonde soundings and wind profiler measurements at sites nearby reveal the spatial inhomogeneity of the Foehn flow within this part of the valley as well as instrumental short-comings. Different methods to determine the mixing height using the vertical sounding devices lead to some uncertainty of mixing height estimates which however can reasonably be explained.     

Radio wave propagation and acoustic sounding

Radio wave propagation of the decimetric and centimetric waves depends to a large extent on the boundary layer meteorological conditions which give rise to severe fadings, very often due to multipath propagation. Sodar is one of the inexpensive remote sensing techniques which can be employed to probe the boundary layer structure.In the paper a historical perspective has been given of the simultaneously conducted studies on radio waves and sodar at various places. The radio meteorological information needed for propagation studies has been clearly spelt out and conditions of a ray path especially in the presence of a ducting layer have been defined as giving rise to fading or signal enhancement conditions. Finally the potential of the sodar studies to obtain information about the boundary layer phenomena has been stressed, clearly spelling out the use of acoustic sounding in radio wave propagation studies.     

Composing the diurnal cycle of mixing height from simultaneous sodar and wind profiler measurements

Mixing heights have been determined independently from sodar and boundary-layer wind profiler measurements carried out at the Meteorological Observatory Lindenberg of the German Weather Service between 1 June 1994 and 6 July 1994. Good agreement between both systems was found for mixing height values between about 250 m and 700 m, i.e., in an evolving convective boundary layer. Considering the typical sounding ranges of the sodar (50 m up to 800 m) and of the wind profiler (200 m up to higher than 3000 m), simultaneous operation of the two systems is demonstrated to be a promising tool for continously monitoring the mixing height throughout its complete diurnal cycle.     

Case Studies of the Wintertime Convective Boundary-Layer Structure in the Urban Area of Milan, Italy

The paper describes some aspects of the convective boundary-layer structure based on simultaneous sodar and tethersonde measurements during a field experiment in the urban area of Milan in the period 8 to 20 February, 1993. During this period, fog episodes and strong low-level elevated inversions (with lower boundaries < 400 m) were observed most of the time. A close agreement in the mixing height values, derived from the sodar and tethersonde profiles, has been achieved under these conditions. The validity of the similarity relationships, which have been originally derived to describe the vertical velocity variance and heat flux profiles over horizontally homogeneous terrain under quasi-stationary conditions, was evaluated when applied to the urban boundary layer.     

Corrections for Wind-Speed Errors from Sodar and Lidar in Complex Terrain

The quality of lidar and sodar wind estimates is generally judged through comparisons with mast-mounted instruments, and the resulting regressions. Evaluation of the relative merits of lidars versus sodars is complicated by the fact that lidars are generally placed close to a mast whereas sodars are generally placed some distance from a mast so that acoustic reflections off the mast are reduced. This leads to the two technologies, lidar and sodar, not being compared in similar situations. Differences arising from the two geometries can be expected to be larger in complex terrain, where the wind regime can vary significantly spatially. The current work explores these differences in moderately complex terrain. Lidar–mast comparisons are performed with the lidar close to an 80 m mast, and sodar–mast comparisons performed with the sodar 300 m from the mast. Systematic variations in estimated wind speed are found to occur with height, consistent with predictions from a simple flow model. When the lidar was moved to the sodar location, further from the mast, there were significant changes in the estimated wind speeds and a reduction in correlation with the mast-based wind speeds, as expected. However, the correlation between collocated lidar and sodar winds was high. This finding emphasizes that any comparison of two remote sensing instruments needs to be through similar experiments, and that differences in accuracy often reported for the lidar and sodar technologies are likely to be contaminated due to poor comparison configurations. A method was devised to simulate the sodar being collocated with the mast, by using the lidar–sodar measurements and the lidar–mast measurements. It was found that there was then no statistically detectable difference between lidar–mast regressions and sodar–mast regressions for the particular lidar and sodar tested. Both remote sensing instruments were also found to be good estimators of Weibull parameters, as compared with those derived from mast data. The conclusion is that the sodar measured the winds above the sodar with a similar accuracy to the lidar measuring winds above the lidar.     

Two decades of progress in sodar techniques: a review of 11 ISARS proceedings

Summary For 20 years the biennial symposia organized by the International Society for Acoustic Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere and Oceans and Associated Techniques (ISARS) have been held in different countries. The original papers collected in the proceedings of the symposia reflect the development of ideas, equipment, and methods, plus results obtained in the area. The spectrum of themes discussed at the symposia is broad. More than 60% of the papers were devoted to the role of sodars in atmospheric boundary-layer research. This paper presents an overview of the development of sodar technique as elucidated in the proceedings of 11 ISARS symposia. Topics include (1) instrumentation, (2) methods of measuring different meteorological quantities and their turbulence characteristics, and (3) validating the methods by comparison of sodar data with in situ measurements.     

A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE DOPPLER SODAR AND IN-SITU WIND MEASUREMENTS

In this paper,a comparison is made of the Doppler sodar wind measurement with the in-situ measurements on a 325 m meteorological tower.The results show that when the ratio of signal to noise is larger than 1,the mean wind speeds and directions obtained from the two techniques are well correlated,thus their profiles are close to each other.The mean value and root mean square of vertical velocity measured by the Doppler sodar are a little larger than those measured by a sonic anemometer at a height of 85 m,which is in agreement with the analysis by Gaynor et al.(1983).We notice that there are some differences in the observational results between the Doppler sodar and insitu measurements,especially when comparing the values measured at each time.Therefore,it is important to analyze the reason for the differences and to make corrections to the Doppler sodar measurements.     

北京燕山地区声回波探测资料的统计分析

近十几年来,许多国家用声雷达长时间的连续观测资料为厂区、城区和山区污染状况的预评价和污染事件的监测和预告服务,并进行了边界层气候和污染气候方面的研究。如何更有效而合理地使用声雷达的长时间连续观测资料,并从中获得有规律性的结果,是十分重要的问题。我们于1984年5月26日至6月23日,10月6日至12月12日,1985年1月8日至2月8日,4月11日至26日四个季节,     

The impact of logging on the surrounding flow in a managed forest

The influence of a freshly logged area in a managed pine forest on the flow field is investigated by comparing sodar wind profile data over the forest canopy with the synoptic wind field extracted from North American Regional Reanalysis, National Centers for Environmental Prediction. As a consequence of the pressure gradient arising from the sharp temperature difference between the clearcut and the surrounding uncut forests, the local wind direction over the forest measured with the sodar departs dramatically from the prevailing synoptic wind direction when the latter is transverse to the clearcut-sodar direction. Sodar measurements also indicate systematic strong updrafts during daytime followed by nighttime downdrafts with wind coming from the logged area. This suggests the presence of horizontal advection carrying daytime warm air (or nighttime cool air) from the clearcut to the forested area. This paper also examines the influence of wind velocity, clearcut fetch, and solar radiation on locally generated circulations and advection. The presence of local circulations arising from contrasting neighboring surface characteristics well outside the footprint is of particular relevance for atmospheric flux sites where robust surface?Catmosphere exchange values are sought. This study highlights the high level of circumspection required at the time of identifying locations for flux sites. It also suggests vigilant monitoring of the surrounding landscape during eddy?Cflux measurements particularly in actively managed landscapes.     

A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF SODAR DATA DETECTED IN YANSHAN MOUNTAIN AREA,BEIJING

According to the characteristics of sodar echo,a classified method for temperature stratification is given.By using sodar data observed in Yanshan Mountain area in Beijing,the statistical characteristics for the heightof inversion layer,thermal plume,and the depth of mixed layer are compared.Finally,the appearancefrequency for stable,unstable and neutral stratification is analyzed.     

The Role of Acoustic Sounding in a High-Technology Era

Summary This paper presents a brief synopsis of past, current and anticipated progress and problems in the use of acoustic remote sensing for basic and applied research of the lower atmosphere. The potential and reality of the sodar for determination of meteorological parameters and turbulence characteristics is discussed. Sodars’ place alongside other ground-based remote sensors, including radar wind profilers, radioacoustic sounding systems (RASS) and lidars, is elucidated. Areas of atmospheric research where Doppler sodar has certain advantages are described such as cost, sensitivity, spatial and temporal resolution and surface layer measurements. The use of sodar in networks of integrated radar/RASS systems designed to supply uninterrupted monitoring of atmospheric parameters for improvements in forecasts of weather and air quality is demonstrated. The special potential role of sodar in education and training of specialists is suggested to aid in developing and using new methods of atmospheric measurements and meeting the requirements of modern environmental science. A number of problems are formulated whose solution would favor further advancement of acoustic remote sensing in integrated systems for remote monitoring of the atmospheric boundary layer. Received November 23, 1998 Revised January 29, 1999     

Elevated stratified layers observed with sodar during VTMX

Summary A combination of low frequency sodar, radar wind profiler and in-situ balloon-borne measurements of temperature and water vapor have been used to investigate the structure of elevated stratified layers within the transition layer above the nocturnal boundary layer during the Vertical Transport and Mixing Field Campaign in Salt Lake City Utah, during October, 2000. Elevated layers determined from sodar and radar vertical time sections were penetrated with a balloon-born instrument package to determine the fine scale temperature and moisture structure of the layers. As expected a potential temperature increase was found in the upper half of the layers; however the magnitude was considerably smaller than found above the daytime well-mixed layer and the vertical distance of the increase was quite variable. Mixing ratio, in the mean was found to have a relative maximum in the lower portion of the layers. It was found that the potential temperature within the layers decreased with time relative to background values, regardless of whether the layer descended or ascended.     

Use of a High-Resolution Sodar to Study Surface-layer Turbulence at Night

Measurements in the atmospheric surface layer are generally made with point sensors located in the first few tens of metres. In most cases, however, these measurements are not representative of the whole surface layer. Standard Doppler sodars allow a continuous display of the turbulent thermal structure and wind profiles in the boundary layer up to 1000 m, with a few points, if any, in the surface layer. To overcome these limitations a new sodar configuration is proposed that allows for a higher resolution in the surface layer. Because of its capabilities (echo recording starting at 2 m, echo intensity vertical resolution of approximately 2 m, temporal resolution of 1 s) this sodar is called the surface-layer mini-sodar (SLM-sodar). Features and capabilities of the SLM-sodar are described and compared with the sodar. The comparison of the thermal vertical structure given by the SLM-sodar and the sodar provides evidence that, in most cases, the surface layer presents a level of complexity comparable to that of the entire boundary layer. Considering its high vertical resolution, the SLM-sodar is a promising system for the study of the nocturnal surface layer. The nocturnal SLM-sodar measurements have shown that, depending on wind speed, the structure of the surface layer may change substantially within a short time period. At night, when the wind speed is greater than 3 m s⁻¹, mechanical mixing destroys the wavy structure present in the nocturnal layer. Sonic anemometer measurements have shown that, in such cases, also the sensible heat flux varies with height, reaching a peak in correspondence with the wind speed peak. Under these conditions the assumption of horizontal homogeneity of the surface layer and the choice of the averaging time need to be carefully treated.     

Studies of the Marine Boundary Layer at Tarapur

Simultaneous observations were made of the Marine Boundary Layer at Tarapur, a site near Bombay on the sea coast, by acoustic sounder and instrumented tower. The meteorological tower was used to sense wind and temperature at various levels up to a height of 120 m while the acoustic sounder was used to examine the thermal structure of the boundary layer up to a height of 700 m. Data recorded for the year 1982 have been analysed.Analysis of the data shows that while the normal structures of thermal echoes and shear echoes represent the mixing depth of the atmospheric boundary layer, the often observed elevated layers are due to sea breeze reversals with their base giving a measure of the depth of the sea-breeze circulation during the day. A sea breeze has been detected during both spring (March to May) and autumn (October to December) months. The onset times are around 1000 hr during spring months and around noon during the autumn period, the height of development being respectively up to 500 and 350 m. The capability of the sodar to detect the base and thickness of the sea breeze, is clearly revealed.