Land–Atmosphere Feedback Experiment (LAFE): First Results

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. This experiment deployed multiple scanning wind, temperature, and humidity lidar systems, additional surface energy balance stations, an Unmanned Aerial System, and a fixed wind aircraft to characterize the role of surface inhomogeneity and its impact on the atmospheric surface layer, the convective boundary layer above it, and the entrainment zone. This presentation will focus on the unique coordinated lidar scanning strategy was developed to measure profiles of temperature, humidity, and momentum from the surface to 100 m AGL above 4 fixed locations, where each of these locations were in a field with different plant cover characteristics (e.g., farm fields with beans, long grasses, and shorter grasses).