EPAMS Profiler and Ceilometer Network

Understanding the evolution of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) is crucial for meteorological mechanisms such as precipitation, convection, severe weather and for air pollution dispersion and distribution. However, current observations are rarely available in the spatiotemporal scales needed to further our understanding of complex PBL dynamics. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) redesigned Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Sites network (PAMS) now includes a new focus on planetary boundary layer profiling measurements and hourly PBL (ML) heights, along with a requirement for Enhanced Monitoring Plans (EPAMS) in certain locations. Data from the network will be used to validate operational model simulations and support air pollution studies including exceptional events such as dust and smoke transport.

The EPAMS Profiler and Ceilometer Network is a joint research venture between the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), EPA, and the Maryland Department of the Environment to help guide EPAMS new hourly PBL requirements and supplement a ceilometer testbed. The EPAMS Profiler and Ceilometer Network consists of a heterogeneous profiling network along Baltimore-Washington metropolitan-area. An efficient infrastructure is being established to uniformly gather, check, and distribute the data including the quality control of all profiling data from each station. In order to adequately report PBL heights for research and policy purposes, enhanced retrieval algorithms, and standardized software and calibration procedures (Ad-Hoc Ceilometer Evaluation Study ACES) have been developed and optimized for near real-time implementation and reporting (http://alg.umbc.edu/). Along with NASA's MPLNET, efforts will yield the first data portal of aerosol lidar/ceilometer data from the United States to support the World Meteorological Organization Global Atmospheric Lidar Observation Network efforts.