A33B-0141
Spatiotemporal Variability in Observations of Urban Mixed-Layer Heights from Surface-based Lidar Systems during DISCOVER-AQ 2011

Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Jasper R Lewis1, Robert F Banks2, Timothy Berkoff3, Ellsworth Judd Welton4, Everette Joseph5, Anne M Thompson4, Phil Decola6 and Jennifer Diane Hegarty7, (1)Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology, Baltimore, MD, United States, (2)Barcelona Supercomputing Cente, Barcelona, Spain, (3)NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, United States, (4)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (5)SUNY at Albany, Albany, NY, United States, (6)Sigma Space Corporation, Lanham, MD, United States, (7)Atmospheric and Environmental Research Lexington, Lexington, MA, United States
Abstract:
Accurate characterization of the planetary boundary layer height is crucial for numerical weather prediction, estimating pollution emissions and modeling air quality. More so, given the increasing trend in global urban populations, there is a growing need to improve our understanding of the urban boundary layer structure and development. The Deriving Information on Surface conditions from COlumn and VERtically resolved observations relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER-AQ) 2011 field campaign, which took place in the Baltimore-Washington DC region, offered a unique opportunity to study boundary layer processes in an urban area using a geographically dense collection of surface-based lidar systems (see figure).

Lidars use aerosols as tracers for atmospheric boundary layer dynamics with high vertical and temporal resolutions. In this study, we use data from two permanent Micropulse Lidar Network (MPLNET) sites and five field deployed Micropulse lidar (MPL) systems in order to observe spatiotemporal variations in the daytime mixed layer height. We present and compare lidar-derived retrievals of the mixed layer height using two different methods. The first method uses the wavelet covariance transform and a “fuzzy logic” attribution scheme in order to determine the mixed layer height. The second method uses an objective approach utilizing a time-adaptive extended Kalman filter. Independent measurements of the boundary layer height are obtained using profiles from ozonesonde launches at the Beltsville and Edgewood sites for comparison with lidar observations.

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