Doppler Aerosol WiNd (DAWN) Lidar during CPEX 2017: Instrument Performance and Data Utility

Steven Greco,George D. Emmitt,Michael Kavaya,Michael Garstang

doi:10.3390/rs12182951

Steven Greco, George D. Emmitt + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12182951

Copy DOI

Abstract

During 25 May–24 June 2017, NASA’s Doppler Aerosol WiNd (DAWN) lidar was flown on board a NASA DC-8 aircraft as part of the Convective Processes EXperiment (CPEX) airborne campaign based out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Central to DAWN’s deployment was the goal of obtaining high time and spatial resolution wind velocity measurements, particularly with respect to the convective life cycle. We describe the processes involved in deriving wind profiles from DAWN observations and evaluate the performance of DAWN in terms of data coverage, resolution and frequency. Comparisons with dropsonde wind measurements show an overall low bias of <0.20 m/s with a RMSD of ~1.6 and R2 > 0.92 for both u and v components for the data set as a whole (over 160 comparisons). From this CPEX experience, we find that the DAWN wind profiles are of high precision, ~30 m vertical resolution and with horizontal spacing as fine as 3–7 km, and rival dropsondes for horizontal wind coverage (aerosols and clouds permitting). Case studies illustrate the benefit of using the DAWN to investigate and characterize the dynamics of the tropical atmosphere over open ocean waters in conditions ranging from undisturbed to active convection.

Highlights

During 25 May–24 June 2017, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted the Convective Processes EXperiment (CPEX)airborne field campaign based out of Ft
From this CPEX experience, we find that the Doppler Aerosol WiNd (DAWN) wind profiles are of high precision, ~30 m vertical resolution and with horizontal spacing as fine as 3–7 km, and rival dropsondes for horizontal wind coverage
Many of the ongoing CPEX research studies are near completion but the impact of DAWN wind profiles on the numerical simulation of tropical convective systems has already been documented [10] while complementary wind data from DAWN and APR-2

Summary

Introduction

During 25 May–24 June 2017, NASA conducted the Convective Processes EXperiment (CPEX)airborne field campaign based out of Ft. A main objective was to obtain a comprehensive set of simultaneous wind, temperature, and moisture profiles over the tropical waters during convective and non-convective conditions that could be used in process and modeling studies of convective and boundary layer processes over the tropical oceans. To meet this and other objectives, NASA selected a suite of instruments to be flown on a NASA. Many of the ongoing CPEX research studies are near completion but the impact of DAWN wind profiles on the numerical simulation of tropical convective systems has already been documented [10] while complementary wind data from DAWN (in mostly clear and high aerosol conditions) and APR-2

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion