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High-Resolution Estimation and Spatial Interpolation of Temperature Structure in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Using a Small Unmanned Aircraft System

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Abstract

Knowledge of the effects of small-scale fluctuations in temperature on light transmission in the atmosphere is necessary for the calibration of remote sensing instruments as well as for the understanding of turbulent heat transport in the atmospheric boundary layer. Recent developments in small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) have allowed for direct, spatial in situ estimation of temperature in the ABL at very high temporal and spatial resolutions. Structure functions are estimated from vertical profiles of temperature collected using an ultrasonic anemometer mounted on an sUAS. Using geostatistical methodologies specifically developed for spatially non-stationary and spatially dependent random variables, we estimate temperature structure from six profiles reaching roughly 500 m in altitude A mean function is specified to account for the variation in temperature with altitude and the structure function is estimated from the residuals. A 2/3 scaling exponent is fitted to the resulting curves commensurate with the inertial subrange of turbulence. The resulting structure functions of residuals are able to resolve the inertial subrange on most profiles at a range of separation distances. We find that geostatistical methods for spatially non-stationary random variables are well suited in certain cases to describing the vertical structure of temperature in the boundary layer.

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) [IIA-1539070] “RII Track-2 FEC: Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Atmospheric Physics”. The authors would like to thank the students and staff of the Unmanned Systems Research Institute (USRI) at Oklahoma State University for their help in data collection, particularly Racine Swick and Victoria Natalie. The authors would also like to thank Gijs de Boer for coordinating the LAPSE-RATE field campaign during summer 2018 and our colleagues at The University of Oklahoma’s Center for Autonomous Sensing and Sampling for the surface and radiosonde data. The authors are also thankful for the helpful comments from the two anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma, 74078, USA

    Benjamin L. Hemingway

  2. School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, Arizona, 85281, USA

    Amy E. Frazier

  3. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma, 74078, USA

    Brian R. Elbing & Jamey D. Jacob

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  1. Benjamin L. Hemingway
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  2. Amy E. Frazier
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  4. Jamey D. Jacob
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Correspondence to Benjamin L. Hemingway.

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Hemingway, B.L., Frazier, A.E., Elbing, B.R. et al. High-Resolution Estimation and Spatial Interpolation of Temperature Structure in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Using a Small Unmanned Aircraft System. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 175, 397–416 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-020-00512-1

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