Boundary Layer Profiling and Land Characterization Measurements Provide Spatial Variability of Land-Atmosphere Properties at the ARM Southern Great Plains Mega-Site

Spatial variability of land and atmospheric variables is often significant, particularly in the boundary layer, but difficult to measure without distributed measurement sites. The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program has established four boundary layer profiling facilities at the Southern Great Plains mega-site near Norman, OK. These facilities, each located ~40 km away from the SGP Central Facility, include meteorological instruments, spectral and broadband radiometry, Doppler wind lidar, sonic anemometer, microwave radiometer, and soil sensors. These measurements combined with improved retrieval algorithms, provide enhanced spatial information regarding boundary layer profiles of temperature, humidity, and winds, surface latent and sensible heat fluxes, cloud amount, cloud liquid water path, and surface and subsurface soil moisture and temperature.

These enhanced measurements and data products provide important constraints on model forcing and have potential for improving model forecasts through data assimilation. Example data products, uncertainty analyses, and applications will be presented.