skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: University of Kentucky measurements of wind, temperature, pressure and humidity in support of LAPSE-RATE using multisite fixed-wing and rotorcraft unmanned aerial systems
Abstract. In July 2018, unmanned aerial systems (UASs) were deployed to measure the properties of the lower atmosphere within the San Luis Valley, an elevated valley in Colorado, USA, as part of the Lower Atmospheric Profiling Studies at Elevation – a Remotely-piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE). Measurement objectives included detailing boundary layer transition, canyon cold-air drainage and convection initiation within the valley. Details of the contribution to LAPSE-RATE made by the University of Kentucky are provided here, which include measurements by seven different fixed-wing and rotorcraft UASs totaling over 178 flights with validated data. The data from these coordinated UAS flights consist of thermodynamic and kinematic variables (air temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction) and include vertical profiles up to 900 m above the ground level and horizontal transects up to 1500 m in length. These measurements have been quality controlled and are openly available in the Zenodo LAPSE-RATE community data repository (https://zenodo.org/communities/lapse-rate/, last access: 23 July 2020), with the University of Kentucky data available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3701845 (Bailey et al., 2020).  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1351411
PAR ID:
10183333
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Earth System Science Data
Volume:
12
Issue:
3
ISSN:
1866-3516
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1759 to 1773
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. null (Ed.)
    Abstract. This paper describes the data collected by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) as part of the field deployments during the Lower Atmospheric Process Studies at Elevation – a Remotely-piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE) flight campaign in July 2018.The UNL deployed two multirotor unmanned aerial systems (UASs) at multiple sites in the San Luis Valley (Colorado, USA) for data collection to support three science missions: convection initiation, boundary layer transition, and cold air drainage flow.We conducted 172 flights resulting in over 21 h of cumulative flight time.Our novel design for the sensor housing onboard the UAS was employed in these flights to meet the aspiration and shielding requirements of the temperature and humidity sensors and to separate them from the mixed turbulent airflow from the propellers.Data presented in this paper include timestamped temperature and humidity data collected from the sensors, along with the three-dimensional position and velocity of the UAS.Data are quality-controlled and time-synchronized using a zero-order-hold interpolation without additional post-processing.The full dataset is also made available for download at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4306086 (Islam et al., 2020). 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract. The mesoscale meteorology of lake breezes along Lake Michiganimpacts local observations of high-ozone events. Previous manned aircraftand UAS observations have demonstrated non-uniform ozone concentrationswithin and above the marine layer over water and within shorelineenvironments. During the 2021 Wisconsin's Dynamic Influence of ShorelineCirculations on Ozone (WiscoDISCO-21) campaign, two UAS platforms, afixed-wing (University of Colorado RAAVEN) and a multirotor (PurdueUniversity DJI M210), were used simultaneously to capture lake breeze duringforecasted high-ozone events at Chiwaukee Prairie State Natural Area insoutheastern Wisconsin from 21–26 May 2021​​​​​​​. The RAAVEN platform (data DOI:https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5142491, de Boer et al., 2021) measured temperature, humidity, and 3-D winds during2 h flights following two separate flight patterns up to three times per dayat altitudes reaching 500 m above ground level (a.g.l.). The M210 platform (data DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5160346, Cleary et al., 2021a) measured vertical profiles of temperature, humidity,and ozone during 15 min flights up to six times per day at altitudesreaching 120 ma.g.l. near a Wisconsin DNR ground monitoringstation (AIRS ID: 55-059-0019). This campaign was conducted in conjunctionwith the Enhanced Ozone Monitoring plan from the Wisconsin DNR that included Dopplerlidar wind profiler observations at the site (dataDOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5213039, Cleary et al., 2021b). 
    more » « less
  3. ABSTRACT Because unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) offer new perspectives on the atmosphere, their use in atmospheric science is expanding rapidly. In support of this growth, the International Society for Atmospheric Research Using Remotely-Piloted Aircraft (ISARRA) has been developed and has convened annual meetings and “flight weeks.” The 2018 flight week, dubbed the Lower Atmospheric Profiling Studies at Elevation–A Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE), involved a 1-week deployment to Colorado’s San Luis Valley. Between 14 and 20 July 2018 over 100 students, scientists, engineers, pilots, and outreach coordinators conducted an intensive field operation using unmanned aircraft and ground-based assets to develop datasets, community, and capabilities. In addition to a coordinated “Community Day” which offered a chance for groups to share their aircraft and science with the San Luis Valley community, LAPSE-RATE participants conducted nearly 1,300 research flights totaling over 250 flight hours. The measurements collected have been used to advance capabilities (instrumentation, platforms, sampling techniques, and modeling tools), conduct a detailed system intercomparison study, develop new collaborations, and foster community support for the use of UAS in atmospheric science. 
    more » « less
  4. Concentrations of airborne chemical and biological agents from a hazardous release are not spread uniformly. Instead, there are regions of higher concentration, in part due to local atmospheric flow conditions which can attract agents. We equipped a ground station and two rotary-wing unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) with ultrasonic anemometers. Flights reported here were conducted 10 to 15 m above ground level (AGL) at the Leach Airfield in the San Luis Valley, Colorado as part of the Lower Atmospheric Process Studies at Elevation—a Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE) campaign in 2018. The ultrasonic anemometers were used to collect simultaneous measurements of wind speed, wind direction, and temperature in a fixed triangle pattern; each sensor was located at one apex of a triangle with ∼100 to 200 m on each side, depending on the experiment. A WRF-LES model was used to determine the wind field across the sampling domain. Data from the ground-based sensors and the two UASs were used to detect attracting regions (also known as Lagrangian Coherent Structures, or LCSs), which have the potential to transport high concentrations of agents. This unique framework for detection of high concentration regions is based on estimates of the horizontal wind gradient tensor. To our knowledge, our work represents the first direct measurement of an LCS indicator in the atmosphere using a team of sensors. Our ultimate goal is to use environmental data from swarms of sensors to drive transport models of hazardous agents that can lead to real-time proper decisions regarding rapid emergency responses. The integration of real-time data from unmanned assets, advanced mathematical techniques for transport analysis, and predictive models can help assist in emergency response decisions in the future. 
    more » « less
  5. Abstract During the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition, the Balloon-bornE moduLar Utility for profilinG the lower Atmosphere (BELUGA) was deployed from an ice floe drifting in theFram Straitfrom 29 June to 27 July 2020. The BELUGA observations aimed to characterize the cloudy Arctic atmospheric boundary layer above the sea ice using a modular setup of five instrument packages. Thein situmeasurements included atmospheric thermodynamic and dynamic state parameters (air temperature, humidity, pressure, and three-dimensional wind), broadband solar and terrestrial irradiance, aerosol particle microphysical properties, and cloud particle images. In total, 66 profile observations were collected during 33 balloon flights from the surface to maximum altitudes of 0.3 to 1.5 km. The profiles feature a high vertical resolution of 0.01 m to 1 m, including measurements below, inside, and above frequently occurring low-level clouds. This publication describes the balloon operations, instruments, and the obtained data set. We invite the scientific community for joint analysis and model application of the freely available data on PANGAEA. 
    more » « less