Boundary Layer Heights: A New Method of Evaluation
Abstract
Boundary layer depth and structure are important to the development of convection within the atmosphere. In general, two methods have been used to quantify the depth of the boundary layer from lidar data. These methods, the wavelet (Davis, et al. 2002) and the backscatter variance (Hooper, et al. 1986), are well established and prove valuable for obtaining the boundary layer depth and structure using lidar data. However, they do not apply for all cases because they do not fully capture the dynamics and boundary layer variability that occur in the atmosphere. A new method using the aerosol scattering ratio (ASR), which employs the ratio of the total scattering to the molecular scattering, is described and tested with data from Goddard's Holographic Aerosol Rotating Lidar Instrumentation Experiment (HARLIE), Scanning Raman Lidar (SRL), and radiosonde measurements. The HARLIE is also used to obtain information on the spatial variability of the boundary layer height. These data sets are combined with water vapor mixing ratio to quantify the convective variability within the boundary layer. A number of synoptic conditions are investigated using data collected during the IHOP project. Preliminary results show that the boundary layer heights obtained using the aerosol scattering ratio method compare well with traditional means of observations. Further statistics are being conducted to quantify the comparison.
- Publication:
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AGU Spring Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- May 2005
- Bibcode:
- 2005AGUSM.A13A..05W
- Keywords:
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- 0325 Evolution of the atmosphere;
- 0394 Instruments and techniques;
- 0399 General or miscellaneous