Martin O’Malley, Governor | Anthony G. Brown, Lt. Governor | Robert M. Summers, Ph.D., Secretary

Overview of Maryland’s Upper Air Profilers

Dave Krask, ManagerMDE Air Monitoring Program

EPA/NACAA Monitoring MeetingJanuary 10, 2013

22

Topics Covered

• History of MDE’s Upper Air Profilers

• Current Upper Air Profiler Network

• Overview of Costs• Types of Data Collected• Data Sharing• Data Applications• Advantages of Profiler

Measurements

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History of MDE Upper Air Profilers

Piney Run at Frostburg, MD

1st Profiler Installed at Ft. Meade

Sept 1998 2013

Ft. Meade Profiler Moved

and Upgraded

Sept 2004

Systems Upgraded at Piney Run & Beltsville

3rd Profiler Installedat Horn Point

April 2012

Ft. Meade Profiler Relocated to Piney Run2nd Profiler Installed at Beltsville

May 2005

Ft. Meade, MD

Howard University at Beltsville, MD

Ft. Meade Profiler Moved Horn Point at Cambridge, MD

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MDE Upper Air Profiler Network

MDE RWP/RASS Network

Horn Point at Cambridge, MD

• Currently have three Radar Wind Profilers (RWP) with Radio Acoustic Sounding Systems (RASS)

• Upgraded Lower Atmosphere Profiler (LAP) -3000 Pulsed Doppler Radar• Howard University Campus at

Beltsville, MD• Piney Run Reservoir at

Frostburg, MD• Velocity Azimuth Display –

Boundary Layer (VAD-BL)• Horn Point at Cambridge, MD• New technology developed by

DeTect Inc.

Source: DeTect Inc.

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Overview of Costs• Purchasing the Upper Air Profilers

• LAP-3000: ~ $100,000 (purchased used in 2004)• VAD-BL: ~ $300,00 (purchased new in 2009)

• Upgrade of two Used Profilers: • ~ $200,000 (in 2004)

• Recent Upgrade of the Data System• ~ $70,000 (Piney Run and Beltsville)

• Maintenance of the Profilers• Annual Service Agreement with Contractor: ~ $20,000 per profiler

• Includes routine site visits, some replacement parts, and hardware/software support

66

Types of Data Collected• RWP/RASS can measure a

variety of different parameters• Wind speed and direction• Virtual temperature (Tv)• Signal to noise ratio (SNR), similar

to lidar’s backscatter• Radial velocity (VR)

• Additional parameters can be derived by subjective analysis and/or automated algorithms• Boundary layer heights• Snow level, snow/rain transition

(Past pilot project at Ft. Meade)

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Data Sharing• Participation in the NOAA

Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS) Cooperative Agency Profilers (CAP) network

• MADIS logs into MDE profilers and downloads data files

• Data is accessible to the public• Real time and archived data (https://madis-

data.noaa.gov/cap/profiler.jsp)• Archived data can also be downloaded a variety of

other ways (http://madis.noaa.gov/)

• Data is also shared with universities (UMBC, UMD, Howard University) and other interested parties (NASA, NWS)

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Applications of Upper Air Data• Measurements are used in:

• Weather and air quality forecasting• Case study analyses• Identification of weather

phenomena such as mixing height evolution, frontal boundaries, nocturnal low level jets (NLLJ), recirculation, sea/bay breezes, precipitation events, etc.

• Development of the Maryland’s Ozone Conceptual Model

• Supporting field campaigns such as NOAA NEAQS and the NASA DISCOVER-AQ Mission

• Validating meteorological modeling used as input into photochemical modeling

Winds about 60 mph

Strong winds aloft from the southwest

UTC

99

Weather and Air Quality Forecasting

• Air Quality Forecasting• Presence of the NLLJ on

mornings prior to ozone exceedance days

• Evolution of planetary boundary layer (PBL) heights with an algorithm developed by UMBC

Wind Profiler at Beltsville, MD:Wind Speed & Wind Direction

July 6, 2012 at 9 PM – July 7, 2012 at 8 PM

NLLJ2 AM – 8 AM

Low PBL in the morning

Grows to 1.5m in the afternoon

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Weather and Air Quality Forecasting

• NWS used MDE profilers for a look back at Post-Tropical Storm Sandy• NWS Article:

www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/events/20121030_Sandy/

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Used in MD’s Ozone Conceptual Model

July 12 | July 13, 2008

Howard University launched 4 ozonesondes on July 12-13, 2008. The 10:30 PM (Saturday, July 12th) and 2:30 AM (Sunday, July 13th) occurred during a Nocturnal

Low Level Jet (NLLJ) event, as captured by the Upper-Air Radar Wind Profiler.

Mid

nigh

t (E

DT

)

10:30 PM

Ozone Spike at

NLLJ Core

NLLJNLLJ

2:30 AM

NearCode Red

Ozone

(22+ mph for 14+ hours)Air traveled 300+ miles

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Validating Meteorological Models• Model validation with upper air

profiler measurements• Weather Research and

Forecasting (WRF) model will be used for the next round of State Implementation Plan (SIP) modeling

• Model results from a variety of parameterization schemes were tested

• Wind speeds at Beltsville were compared against the four schemes

• CALGRID modeling platform is being updated

• Testing performed to compare against profiler winds

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 150

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

Wind Speed (m/sec)

Hei

ght (

m)

BLTMD - 20070802 0000 UTC

Profilerblkpxmyjysu

Source: OTC Modeling Committee Technical Support Document on WRF Sensitivity Testing

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Comparisons with Other Instrumentation

• A Vaisala CL51 ceilometer trial at Beltsville was carried out during NASA DISCOVER-AQ

• CL51’s boundary layer height detection was tested against boundary layer heights derived from profiler signal to noise ratio (SNR) and UMBC lidars

• Leosphere Wind Cube comparisons at Edgewood, MD, Beltsville and Horn Point

• Wind direction and speed comparisons are performed with ozonesondes to test profiler accuracy

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Advantages to Upper Air Measurements

• MDE has found measurements from our three upper air profilers with RASS to be extremely helpful in various ways• Weather and air quality forecasting• Development of Maryland’s Ozone Conceptual Model for explanation

of Mid-Atlantic weather and pollutant transport phenomena affecting air quality

• Observing the occurrence of the nocturnal low level jet (NLLJ) over Maryland

• Validation of meteorological modeling used in Maryland SIPs• Collaborations with federal agencies and universities

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Contacts

Dave KraskProgram Manager

410-537-3756dkrask@mde.state.md.us

Air Monitoring ProgramAir and Radiation Management Administration

Maryland Department of the Environment1800 Washington Boulevard | Baltimore, MD 21230

410-537-3000 | TTY Users: 1-800-735-2258www.mde.state.md.us

Martin O’Malley, Governor | Anthony G. Brown, Lt. Governor | Robert M. Summers, Ph.D., Secretary