The California State University-Mobile Atmospheric Profiling System: A New Platform for Fire Weather Research

The California State University-Mobile Atmospheric Profiling System (CSU-MAPS) is a new suite of instruments that provides comprehensive observations of the atmospheric boundary layer. The system is designed to be deployed rapidly for a wide range of research applications including wildfire and fire weather monitoring. The CSU-MAPS consists of a truck-mounted scanning Doppler Lidar (HALO Photonics, Inc., Stream Line 75) and microwave profiling radiometer (Radiometrics, Inc., MP3000A) using a custom air-bag suspension frame system to allow leveling on site and vibration reduction while during transit. The truck, a Ford F250 4x4 crew cab, provides off-road capability for access to wildfire incidents in the rugged terrain of California and the western US. In addition, a 32-m extendable meteorological tower mounted on a dual-axle trailer provides surface profile measurements and is easily deployed in under 30 min. The lidar and microwave profiler have been deployed to a number of wildland fires for preliminary testing and from these experiences, the requirement for rapid-deployment capability has proven critical for wildfire research. Preliminary lidar data from these deployments show complex flow structure around the fire plume and the near-surface environment of the fire front. The development of the truck-mounted system provides fire behavior analysts and fire-weather incident meteorologists new observations not previously available.