Abstract

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 (16–18th August). 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.

Highlights

  • Vertical structure of the lower atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) plays a crucial role in determining the evolution of near-surface wind and thermal environments as well as local air quality

  • We evaluated the applicability of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based observations of air temperature and relative humidity, as well as airborne black carbon (BC) and ozone (O3 ) concentrations, by comparing hourly atmospheric profiles observed using a rotary-wing UAV to those observed at a tall meteorological observation tower from sunrise to sunset in the summer of 2017 (16–18th August)

  • A comparative observation study using a 307-m tall meteorological tower and a UAV was conducted during the daytime for 3 consecutive days in summer

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Summary

Introduction

Vertical structure of the lower atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) plays a crucial role in determining the evolution of near-surface wind and thermal environments as well as local air quality. The surface layer of the ABL, defined as the lower 10% of the total ABL, exhibits large gradients of atmospheric momentum and heat [1,2,3,4,5]. The variations in the vertical structure of lower ABL are predominantly attributed to the heating of the earth’s surface due to solar insolation, topography, land cover types, Atmosphere 2020, 11, 1142; doi:10.3390/atmos11111142 www.mdpi.com/journal/atmosphere. As the atmospheric vertical structure is site-specific, in situ observations of atmospheric variables in the lower ABL are required for understanding the local wind and thermal environments at the site of interest

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