air resources laboratory

Air Resources Laboratory

Steve Fine, Director

Air Resources Laboratory 2

OutlineBackgroundR&D Areas

Atmospheric Transport and DispersionAir QualityClimateBoundary Layer

Genesis of Lab1948: Special Projects Section of

U.S. Weather BureauProvide meteorological expertise

to other Federal agenciesAtmospheric factors were very

important to emerging issues of the 1940s and 1950sCold War & Nuclear Arms Race

Weapons Testing Safety Detection

Nuclear energy: safetyEnvironmental protection

Climate work began in 1960s3

ARL Today~85 employees & contractorsR&D Areas

Atmospheric transport and dispersion

Air qualityClimatePlanetary boundary layer (PBL)

Area of emphasis for other topics Additional activities

Strong commitment to applications

Partner with a wide variety of other research institutions

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Lab Organization Four primary locations

1. Headquarters Atmos. transport & dispersion, air quality, climate

2. Atmospheric Turbulence &Diffusion Division Atmos. transport & dispersion,

air quality, climate, PBL3. Field Research Division

Atmos. transport &dispersion, PBL

4. Special Operations & Research Division Atmos. transport & dispersion, PBL

Staff at two additional locations5. NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office6. Canaan Valley Institute

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3

1456

Selected Activities

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Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion

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Atmospheric Transport & DispersionMotivations

Airborne hazardous materials can significantly impact communities (radiological, chemical, biological)

Volcanic plumes are a hazard to aviationGoal

Improve understanding and prediction of atmospheric transport, dispersion, and turbulence

BenefitsImproved protection of emergency management personnel

and the publicReduced impact to the economy

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HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) Model

Description Computes trajectories,

dispersion, and deposition Uses variety of meteorological fields Highly configurable, fast

Key Accomplishments Widespread use Easily applied to a broad range of

applications Transport scales 5 to 5000 km Radiological, fire smoke, dust, volcanic ash

Prototype web-based system for operational applicationsFuture Directions

Better estimates of uncertainties Better support for fine-scale emergency response operations

http://www.arl.noaa.gov/HYSPLIT_info.php

Selected HYSPLIT Applications

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Radiological Incidents /Intl. Atomic Energy Agency

Volcanic Ash Local EmergenciesWildfire SmokeBallooningDustCrop PathogensAir Quality

Krupa et al., 2006

Air Quality

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Air Quality R&D Motivations

Tens of thousands of premature deaths annually Health effects and emissions control

costs > $100B/year Significant ecosystem impacts

Goals Provide tools and information to

support policy and regulatoryassessments

Improve air quality prediction system Benefits

Well informed air quality policiesand regulations

Protection of public health More effective investments in air quality management

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Air Quality Forecast Guidance for Ozone and Fine Particulate MatterDescription

Real-time forecast system for NWS

Key AccomplishmentsOzone: Continental U.S.

operationalPM version being evaluatedResults used by forecasters

and the publicFuture Directions

Dust and other PMhttp://www.weather.gov/aq

Climate

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Climate R&DMotivations

Significant challenges remain in understanding climate variability and trends

Air-land processes that affect climate are not fully characterizedSignificant uncertainties in the regional impacts of climate change

Goals Improve observation and understanding of climate variability and

changeAssess regional climate impacts

BenefitsReduced impacts of climate change and/or mitigation costs

Climate Variability and Change AnalysisGoals:

Analyze diurnal to multi-decadal climate variations

Understand long-term changes

Selected topics: Data homogeneity adjustments Uncertainties & trend detection Solar, volcanic, El Niño, and quasi-biennial

signals in T & O3

Trend detection: T, water vapor, tropopause height, tropical belt

Analysis of radiosonde data Climatology of boundary layer

Potential future activities: T profiles, clouds, and circulation patterns

16http://www.arl.noaa.gov/CVCAnalysis.php

Model-data comparisonsTrends in tropical temperature Response to volcanic eruptions

Lanzante and Free 2008Free and Lanzante 2008

Data Mean of 6 models

data models

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Boundary Layer ClimatologyDescription

Characterize climatology of the boundary layerUse radiosondes and GPS-based observations

Expected BenefitsUnderstand variability and change of the boundary layerEvaluate climate models

Preliminary results

Zhang, et al., in preparation for J. of Climate

Climate Extension of WRF

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Cloud

Radiation

Aerosol

DescriptionContribute to development of

regional climate modelingsystem

Advanced/flexible physics optionsClose partnership with academia

Key AccomplishmentsApplications to environmental,

agricultural, and water resourcesissues

Future DirectionsRelease as community modelMultiphysics ensembles

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Earth Systems Research LabAir Resources Lab

Surface Energy Budget Network

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Climate Reference NetworksGoals

Observe national/regional climate signalsHighly accurate/reliable observations

Roles (vary by network)Lead network establishmentAnalyze performance / designDesign instrument suiteInstall/maintain systems

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U.S. Climate Reference Network

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Barrow

Fairbanks

Sand Point

Port Alsworth

Sitka

Kenai NWR

Tetlin NWR

Red Dog Mine

Summit

Yakutat

St. Paul Is.

USCRN Benchmark Stations at 29 locations in Alaska to better document, monitor, and assess climate variability and change

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U.S. Regional Climate NetworkSouthwest Pilot Installations

48 USHCN-M Sites Installed

14 CRN

12 Installations in Queue

6 Installs in progress

70 SLAs in Progress

1 Paired CRN & USHCN-M

GCOS Reference Upper-Air Network (GRUAN)Goal: Reference-quality in

situ profile observations for long-term climate monitoring/ research and to support evaluation of satellites

ARL Roles Providing scientific guidance Development of network

requirements

Future directionsAnalysis of GRUAN

observations

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Boundary Layer

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Boundary LayerMotivations

Boundary layer is a critical factor in the interaction between the atmosphere and the land surface and in determining local conditions

GoalsDevelop observing technologies and approaches Improve process understanding Improve models

Benefits Improved analyses and predictions for weather, climate, air quality, dispersionAddress societal needs for aviation, fire weather, homeland security

ActivitiesMesonetsLow-level wind predictionsSoil moisture instrument comparisonSpatial variability of skin temperature

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Spatial Variability of Skin(Surface) Temperature

DescriptionImprove interpretation of

observations and predictions through better understanding of spatial variability of skin temperature

Key AccomplishmentsInitial comparison of measurements

from surface, aircraft, and satelliteFuture Directions

Measurements in more regionsBetter interpretation of observations

and estimates of uncertainties

-85.2 -85.1 -85 -84.935.9

35.95

36

36.05

36.1

Longitude(o)Longitude(o)Longitude(o)

Latit

ude(

oC

)

All Data(1Hz) -Crossville -Test flight April 29,2010 Temperature(oC)

-85.2 -85.1 -85 -84.935.9

35.95

36

36.05

36.1

10

20

30

40

-85.2 -85.1 -85 -84.935.9

35.95

36

36.05

36.1

END

Longitude(o)

STARTLatit

ude(

oC

)

600.00

811.11

1022.22

1233.33

1444.44

1655.56

1866.67

2077.78

2288.89

2500.00

Long

itude

(o)

Temperature(oC)

-85.2 -85.1 -85 -84.935.9

35.95

36

36.05

36.1

1000

1500

2000