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Tracking and Predicting the Atmospheric Dispersion of Hazardous Material Releases Implications for Homeland Security (2003) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix C: Meteorological Observing Systems for Tracking and Modeling C/B/N Plumes
Pages 72-77

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From page 72...
... Because of their variability with height in the bounty layer, vertical profiles are important in addition to the more common practice of making meteorological measurements at or near the ground surface (see Lenschow, 1986, for a comprehensive discussion of atmospheric measurements in the planetary boundary layer)
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From page 73...
... ; Deposition wet ' distribution cloud radar; profilers Deposition, dry Turbulence; surface roughness See turbulence Wind speed; temperature Profilers/RASS; RAOBs; lidar; Plume rise profile; mixing height; stability ceilometer; tethersonde; aircraft aRAOB stands for radiosonde observation. BRASS stands for radio acoustic sounding system common' meteorological towers can also be instrumented to measure heat and radiative fluxes and a number of other relevant meteorological and chemical variables.
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From page 74...
... Another method, called spaced-antenna profiling, transmits a single vertically directed radar beam and measures the phase relationships of the returned signal at multiple, adjacent antenna locations to retrieve the vector wind profile. Radar wind profilers provide the benefits of continuous unattended operation with high temporal resolution (5 minutes for UHF systems)
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From page 75...
... To summarize, operational radio-, acoustic- and optical-frequency profilers provide critical atmospheric measurements needed to support dispersion and deposition modeling. Each can provide vertical profiles of wind speed, wind direction, and turbulence (derived from spectral width data)
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From page 76...
... An acoustic source is used in RASS systems to emit intermittent sound pulses whose speed through the atmosphere is tracked by the radar wind profiler; the temperature is retrieved from the speed-of-sound measurements, which are proportional to virtual temperature. The maximum height resolution of RASS temperature profiles is 60 m and maximum range is typically 1-2 km.
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From page 77...
... 2002. Convective boundary-layer depth: Improved measurement by Doppler radar wind profiler using fuzzy logic methods.
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Key Terms

  • radar wind
  • wind profilers
  • wind speed
  • mixing height
  • meteorological radars

  • meteorological observing
  • height resolution
  • temperature profiles
  • wind profiler
  • wind direction

  • national weather
  • weather service
  • microwave radiometers
  • radars transmit
  • vertical profiles

  • meteorological variables
  • planetary boundary
  • retrieve temperature
  • weather radar
  • precipitation type

  • meteorological observations
  • vertical profile
  • fuzzy logic
  • microwave radiometer
  • dispersion variables

  • atmospheric measurements
  • backscatter lidars
  • maximum height
  • vertical velocity
  • profilers provide


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