Doppler Wind Lidar Estimations of Mixing Layer Dispersion in New York City during Heat Wave Conditions

Mixing Layer Height (MLH) and vertical wind trends both play key roles in understanding air quality measurements and modeling, especially ozone related studies. Both of these processes are responsible for the dynamics of ground level pollutants. Despite the importance of the Mixing Layer Height and related Planetary Boundary Layer dynamics, there are still some gaps in the ability to monitor these phenomena. The New York City urban-costal environment presents unique challenges and features. During summer 2018, the City College of New York along with collaborators at the U.S. Army Research Lab co-operated 3 Doppler Wind Lidar instruments to measure horizontal, and vertical wind speeds as well as observe boundary layer heights and activity. Several analysis techniques were implemented to estimate the MLH, including the backscatter intensity gradient method and vertical wind speed variance methods. Finally, MLH and transport were correlated to ozone measurements from EPA ground stations in the NYC metro area during the heat wave events to establish their relationship for the NYC urban-costal environment.