Wind Profiler Tracks Hurricane Irene Over Long Island

 
Published: 30 August 2011

As part of the Aerosol Lifecycle IOP at Brookhaven National Laboratory field campaign, scientists deployed a 915 megahertz wind profiler at the MetField on the BNL campus. In its current configuration, this profiler provides estimates of the horizontal wind speed and direction in the lowest 1.5 kilometers of the atmosphere every half hour with a vertical resolution of 50 meters.

This past weekend the wind profiler collected continuous data as Hurricane Irene tracked over Long Island. Maximum wind speeds of greater than 40 meters per second were observed just below 1.5 kilometers at 08:30 UTC. The attached data plot (courtesy of BNL scientist Mary Jane Bartholomew) shows several wind profiles between 03:30 UTC and 08:30 UTC. We are pleased to report that the profiler performed well throughout the storm and continues to collect data from the same location as when it was first set up!

This profiler is operating at BNL through May 2012 (subject to change) for the 915 MHz Wind Profiler for Cloud Forecasting at BNL campaign. — Mike Jensen, Brookhaven National Lab scientist