9 UPPER-AIR MONITORING
This
section provides guidance for the most widely used technologies employed for
monitoring upper-air meteorological
conditions; these include radiosondes and ground-based remote sensing
platforms: sodar (Sound Detection and Ranging), radar (Radio Detection and
Ranging), and RASS (Radio Acoustic Sounding System). While they are not
covered in detail, other (emerging) technologies such as lidar (Light
Detection and Ranging) may provide alternative means for the collection of
upper-air meteorological data.
The
material is organized such that information necessary to the understanding
of the technology (Sections 9.1 through 9.3) precedes the guidance (Sections
9.4 through 9.7). The sections are as follows: Section 9.1 provides
information necessary to the understanding of balloon-based sounding
instruments and ground-based remote sensing technologies. Section 9.2
provides information on the performance characteristics of these systems;
Section 9.3 discusses monitoring objectives and goals for monitoring of the
boundary layer in support of air quality dispersion modeling; Section 9.4
provides guidance on siting and exposure of upper-air monitoring systems;
Section 9.5 provides guidance on installation and acceptance testing;
Section 9.6 provides guidance on quality assurance; and Section 9.7 provides
guidance for data processing and management.
9. UPPER-AIR MONITORING
9.1 Fundamentals
9.1.1 Upper-Air Meteorological Variables
9.1.2 Radiosonde Sounding System
9.1.3 Doppler Sodar
9.1.4 Radar Wind Profiler
9.1.5 RASS
9.2 Performance Characteristics
9.2.1 Definition of Performance Specifications
9.2.2 Performance Characteristics of Radiosonde Sounding Systems
9.2.3 Performance Characteristics of Remote Sensing Systems
9.3 Monitoring Objectives and Goals
9.3.1 Data Quality Objectives
9.4 Siting and Exposure
9.5 Installation and Acceptance Testing
9.6 Quality Assurance and Quality Control
9.6.1 Calibration Methods
9.6.2 System and Performance Audits
9.6.3 Standard Operating Procedures
9.6.4 Operational Checks and Preventive Maintenance
9.6.5 Corrective Action and Reporting
9.6.6 Common Problems Encountered in Upper-Air Data Collection
9.7 Data Processing and Management (DP&M)
9.7.1 Overview of Data Products
9.7.2 Steps in DP&M
9.7.3 Data Archiving
9.8 Recommendations for Upper-Air Data Collection
