Description:

The benefits of ground-based tropospheric profiling systems have long been recognized by the research community. There is growing recognition of the positive impacts networks of these instruments would have on operational meteorology, both as a source of highly impactful observations for numerical weather prediction (NWP) as well as a resource for forecasters to use to monitor the evolution of the environment and to enhance their situational awareness. Instruments like infrared and microwave thermodynamic profilers, sodars, Doppler lidars, and other instrumentation promise to revolutionize the way that the vertical structure of the lower troposphere is sampled in near-real time and how that data benefits stakeholders across the weather enterprise. Over a decade ago, the National Research Council identified a nationwide lower-tropospheric profiling network as a high infrastructure priority for the federal government and its partners precisely due to these significant impacts. This session is being organized to build momentum towards that goal by exploring the progress that has been made since that report was released and to identify what challenges still need to be addressed.

Contributions to this session are being solicited that illustrate new developments in these instruments and how progress is being made towards the larger-scale deployments of profiling networks. Topics would include innovations in instruments and instrument design, applications of such instruments to novel problems, improvements in algorithms and data processing, issues and challenges associated with these instruments, and their impacts on NWP and forecast operations.