Cloud research

Measurement systems

Methods to monitor the atmosphere are of two types—in situ measurements and remote sensing observations. In situ measurements require that the instrumentation be located directly at the point of interest and in contact with the subject of interest. In contrast, remote sensors are located some distance away from the subject of interest. Remote sensors include passive systems (instruments that receive information naturally emitted from a region in the atmosphere) and active systems (instruments that emit either acoustic or electromagnetic energy and record the characteristics of this energy after it reflects off an object or surface and returns back to the sensor).

Within the planetary boundary layer, in situ instrumentation includes towers, tethered balloons, and surface data collection platforms. A wide range of meteorological measurements are made from this equipment, including temperature, dew-point temperature, pressure, wind velocity, long-wave and shortwave radiative fluxes, and air chemistry. Active remote-sensing observations are made, using Doppler and non-Doppler radars, lidars (a type of laser that measures backscattered light), and acoustic sounders. Radars measure the backscattering of electromagnetic microwave radiation with wavelengths on the order of 3 to 10 cm (1 to 4 inches). The non-Doppler radars provide estimates of precipitation intensity, while Doppler radars can also provide estimates of wind speed and direction by detecting a shift in the frequency of an echo produced by a moving target. Shorter-wavelength Doppler radars are often able to measure winds even in clear air. Carbon dioxide lidars provide estimates of wind structure and turbulence within a few tens of kilometres of the instrument. Acoustic sounders are used primarily to monitor boundary layer depth and structure, using echo-return characteristics. Passive instrumentation includes the pyranometer, which measures direct and diffuse solar radiation, and the pyrheliometer, which samples only direct radiation from the Sun.

Above the boundary layer, but within the troposphere, the primary standard observation platform is the radiosonde. Tethered to helium balloons, radiosondes are released twice daily (simultaneously at 0000 hours and 1200 hours Greenwich Mean Time) around the world. As a result of their use, a long-period data archive of the status of the atmosphere has been achieved. Meteorological observations from radiosondes are also applied to benchmark the numerical weather prediction models used to forecast day-to-day weather. Radiosondes measure temperature, dew-point temperature, and pressure. The position of the radiosonde can be monitored by radar tracking so that wind speed and direction as a function of height are routinely available—for this reason radiosondes are also referred to as rawinsondes. Since the 1990s, the global positioning system (GPS) has been used to track the balloons and calculate wind speed and direction. The radiosondes are designed to have a rise rate of about 200 metres (650 feet) per minute.

Remote-sensing systems called profilers have been developed to provide almost continuous measurements of wind and, somewhat less accurately, of moisture and temperature throughout the lowest 10 km (6 miles) of the atmosphere. Winds are estimated by using an upward-looking Doppler radar, while temperature and moisture profiles are evaluated by using a vertically pointing radiometer that measures electromagnetic emissions of selected wavelengths at various heights in the troposphere. Used in conjunction with Earth-orbiting satellite-based passive temperature and moisture radiometric soundings, as well as active lidar wind measurements, profilers complement the data collected from radiosondes.

Aircraft also provide detailed information concerning the structure of the atmosphere. Airplanes used in field experiments, such as the Lockheed P-3 aircraft employed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States, are heavily instrumented and often carry Doppler radar, turbulence sensors, and in situ measurement devices for cloud water, cloud ice content, and structure. The NOAA P-3 has been used to fly through hurricanes and other types of deep precipitating cloud systems. Commercial aircraft are used routinely to collect atmospheric data temperature and wind data. This information is communicated to weather forecasters and used in the preparation of weather map analyses.

Lightning occurrences are monitored by using ground-based detectors. Such systems measure time, location, flash polarity, and stroke count of lightning strikes. When the observations from systems at different locations are combined, distribution maps of lightning strikes, and hence thunderstorm occurrences, can be made.

Above the routine maximum height of the radiosonde data (above levels where atmospheric pressure drops below 100 millibars, at about 17 km [10.5 miles]), rocketsondes, rocket-borne grenades, and falling sphere experiments have been used to monitor the thermal structure of the upper atmosphere. Since these measurements occur much less frequently than radiosonde observations, however, less is known about the meteorology above the tropopause. Satellite radiometric soundings have also been used to provide temperature readings in layers in the atmosphere from near the surface up to about 25 km (16 miles) or so, although these measurements offer less vertical and spatial resolution than in situ measurements. Similarly, ground-based radar and lidars have been used to measure atmospheric characteristics in the upper atmosphere.