Measurements at FP3 in Support of PECAN Scientific Objectives Using Surface Flux Tower

The Plains Elevated Convection at Night (PECAN) field campaign took place from 1 June through 15 July 2015. The primary objective of this campaign was to gain a better understanding of nocturnal precipitation occurring in the Great Plains as well as the mechanisms that help fuel such occurrences, such as the low level jet.  The surface flux tower is part of the Millersville University Atmospheric Research and Aerostat Faculty (MARAF) measuring system, and was located at the fixed PISA 3 (FP3) site in Ellis, Kansas during this campaign. Mounted on the tower were six instruments: two 3-D sonic anemometers, Li-COR open-path gas analyzer, temperature and relative humidity sensor, Micromet Systems net radiometer, and Setra barometric pressure transducer. During the PECAN campaign, the flux tower was used to obtain 10 Hz measurements of u, v, w, T, p, absolute humidity, and net radiation.  From this raw data, one-minute averages of a full suite of mean and turbulence quantities is derived and are available through the PECAN archive. Mean and turbulence properties of momentum, heat, and absolute humidity (e.g., TKE, kinematic fluxes) were used to observe the passage of an undular bore on 07 June 2015. Measurements will be summarized and used to elucidate the surface response to the passing bore. The change in the scalar wind components and temperature, and the fluctuations were documented during its passage and will be reported here. By examining these measured and derived variables, and integrating flux measurements with other observations obtained at FP3 (see N. Midzak and K. Pozsonyi posters) and across the PECAN domain, we can advance the knowledge on how bores propagate across the Plains.