Persistent Data Collection Site to Support Atmospheric Propagation Research

Electromagnetic wave propagation in the Earth’s atmosphere is strongly affected by interactions with constituents (gases and aerosols) and by turbulent fluctuation in temperature and humidity. The turbulence effects, measured by refractive index fluctuations, are most distinguished in the surface layer that are associated with multivariate, ground-to-air and air-to-air heat transport processes that are time and spatially variant. To research and enable a deeper understanding of these effects with wave propagation, specifically for the optical spectrum, a Persistent Data Collection Site (PDCS) consisting of several in situ and ground-based remote sensing instruments has been established at the Winfred Thomas Agricultural Research Station in North Alabama to collect long-term atmospheric boundary layer and aerosol optical characterization measurements. The primary purpose of this site is to serve as an observational testbed for developing and validating near real time operational prediction and forecasting of optical propagation performance. This presentation will introduce the PDCS capabilities and observations that are being collected. This talk will present initial results, including comparison of vertical profiles of optical turbulence measured from SODAR with RASS, 10-meter sonic anemometer tower, and radiosonde observations with results from numerical atmospheric model predictions.