Description:

Improved observations of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and its interactions with land, ocean, and icy surfaces are essential to advance science from improving forecasts of weather, severe storms, and air quality to constraining trace gas emissions and transport. The National Academies of Sciences Decadal Survey, Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observation from Space (2018) recommended implementation of a Decadal Survey Incubation (DSI) program intended to accelerate the readiness of high-priority PBL observables not yet feasible for cost-effective spaceflight in 2017-2027. An increased understanding of the PBL and the ability to make significant advances in many application areas are currently constrained by the lack of PBL observations at sufficient spatial and temporal resolution. In 2019, NASA Headquarters competitively selected members for a one-year PBL Incubation Study Team to identify activities for improving the understanding of and advancing the maturity of the technologies applicable to the PBL and associated science and applications priorities. The NASA PBL Study Team Report is available at: https://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/decadal-pbl. Feedback from the broader scientific community including academia, government agencies, private industry, and international partners to advance PBL goals is needed. The Town Hall objective shall be to further collection of input about topics such as relevant scientific measurements, the current and future state of technology, and the role that modeling could play in PBL observations. This Town Hall will continue the process of identifying gaps between current instrument technologies and those needed to achieve spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions of interest.