Meteorological measurements during the Lower Rio Grande Valley environmental study

Abstract

This paper describes the meteorological conditions observed in Brownsville, Texas, during the Lower Rio Grande Valley Environmental Study. This study was conducted in two parts during the spring and summer of 1993. Air pollution and meteorological data were acquired from the top of a building located at the University of Texas at Brownsville campus approximately 1 km north of the Rio Grande River. Meteorological measurements taken at this central site included 15-min averages of air temperature, horizontal wind speed, and wind direction. Meteorological observations recorded at a National Weather Service station located at Brownsville International Airport were obtained to supplement the data acquired at the central site. Daily increases in the wind speed were observed during both studies due to convective heating and the onset of the sea breeze. Wind flow was varied from the northeast clockwise to the south during the spring. The flow in the summer, however, was almost exclusively from the east-southeast through the south-southeast. Integral parameters (wind run, resultant transport distance and direction, and recirculation factor) developed by Allwine and Whiteman (1994) were used to assess the air pollution potential for Brownsville and the Lower Rio Grande Valley.