The Land-Atmosphere Feedback Experiment: Pulling the Pieces Together

The Land-Atmosphere Feedback Experiment (LAFE) was conducted at the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) site in north-central Oklahoma from 1-31 August 2017. The objective of this experiment was to characterize the entire land-atmosphere feedback chain and to improve surface flux and turbulence parameterizations including entrainment. This required accurate measurements of the land conditions (e.g., soil temperature and humidity, plant type and coverage, etc) and the various components of the surface energy budget; the profiles of temperature, humidity, and momentum in the surface layer with high vertical resolution; profiles of turbulent mixing through the convective boundary layer including the entrainment zone; and the advection/convergence of water vapor and mass. To achieve this, the unique instrumentation at the ARM SGP site was complemented with additional multiple scanning wind, temperature, and humidity lidar systems in a special synergy using their scanning capabilities, additional surface energy balance stations, an Unmanned Aerial System, and a fixed wing aircraft. Based on these measurements, the role of surface inhomogeneities and their impact on the atmospheric surface layer, the convective boundary layer above it, and the entrainment zone were characterized. This dataset provides the most complete set of observations collected at a single site that allows all parts of the land-atmosphere feedback chain to be evaluated and understood. This presentation provides a brief overview of LAFE and highlights some of the accomplishments realized so far.