Applications of a Reference Sonde System in the ARM Program
Wang, J., Carlson, D.J., and Cole, H.L., National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
Eleventh Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Science Team Meeting
A reference sonde system is proposed to be developed at the Atmospheric Technology Division (ATD) at NCAR. The reference sonde will use current best sensors, will have a flexible infrastructure and can be easily adapted to many types of sensors and many modes of deployment. In addition, to reduce costs, the reference sonde will be recoverable by using its internal GPS receiver as well as with a locator beacon/ tracking receiver. Two prototype reference sondes will be ready in the early 2002. The reference sonde system has the following applications in the ARM program: (1)deploying the reference sonde co-incidentally with the regular ARM radiosondes (Vaisala) to verify the accuracy of radiosonde data, especially in the upper troposphere, and previous methods for correcting the radiosonde data, and help developing a better correction scheme, (2) deploying the reference sonde in the ARM's field experiments to serve as a calibration and quality-control tool for radiosondes and other water vapor instruments, (3)deploying in the field experiments to provide the best quality of measurements of temperature, humidity, pressure and wind with high vertical resolution for the model input and analysis of atmospheric thermodynamic status, and (4) using the reference sonde system as a platform for other sensors, such as chemical trace sensors.
Note: This is the poster abstract presented at the meeting; an extended version was not provided by the author(s).
