Daytime Evolution of Lower Atmospheric Boundary Layer Structure: Comparative Observations between a 307-m Meteorological Tower and a Rotary-Wing UAV

Atmosphere

Seung-Hyeop Lee¹  Kwon-Chan Park¹  A-Young Kim¹  Sang-Eun Lee¹  Young-San Park²  Beom-Soon Han³  Joohyun Lee³  Kyung-Hwan Kwak⁴ 

[1] Department of Environmental Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea;Innovative Meteorological Research Department, National Institute of Meteorological Sciences, Seogwipo 63568, Korea;School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea;School of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea;

关键词: atmospheric boundary layer;    daytime evolution;    vertical profile;    meteorological observation tower;    rotary-wing UAV;   

DOI  :  10.3390/atmos11111142

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

A 307-m tall meteorological tower was used to evaluate meteorological observation data obtained using a rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A comparative study between the tower and UAV observations was conducted during the daytime (06:00 to 19:00 local time (LT)) in the summer of 2017 (16–18^thAugust). Hourly vertical profiles of air temperature, relative humidity, black carbon (BC), and ozone (O₃) concentrations were obtained for up to 300 m height. Statistical metrics for evaluating the accuracy of UAV observations against the tower observation showed positive (potential temperature) and negative (relative humidity) biases, which were within acceptable ranges. The daytime evolution of the lower atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) was successfully captured by the hourly UAV observations. During the early morning, a large vertical slope of potential temperature was observed between 100 and 140 m, corresponding to the stable ABL height. The large vertical slope coincided with the large differences in BC and O₃ concentrations between altitudes below and above the height. The transition from stable to convective ABL was observed at 10–11 LT, indicated by the ABL height higher than 300 m in the convective ABL. Finally, we provide several recommendations to reduce uncertainties of UAV observation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown