First observations of fog and low ceiling environments at the FAA northeast ceiling and visibility field site

An instrumented site has recently been set up at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in eastern Long Island New York to serve as the main facility in the study of ceiling and visibility (C&V) conditions in the Northeastern (NE) United States. The main objectives of this project consist of documenting and gaining an improved understanding of the structure and evolution of low visibility (fog) and low ceilings in the NE region.

In this paper, the suite of dedicated ground-based instrumentation and sensors installed on a 90-m tower at the field site is described, along with other available datasets used in the project. The first observations taken during fog events are then discussed and serve to illustrate the variable character of fog in the complex environment of the NE. Lessons learned from this preliminary analysis are then outlined.