Characterizing Environmental Boundary Layer Conditions around Nocturnal Convective Storms with Airborne Compact Raman Lidar during PECAN

To advance our understanding of severe local storms, measurements of environmental conditions around the severe local storms are important, but they are difficult to collect. Prior to Plains Elevated Convection at Night (PECAN) campaign, scant observational evidence existed with which to analyze these structures. The conventional observation is difficult to observe continuous spiral and high temporal structures around and of a system. UWKA is a unique equipment in exploring unprecedented details of boundary layer thermodynamic structures and properties. During the PECAN field campaign in 2015, the CRL characterized 2D fine resolution vertical temperature, aerosol and humidity transects of peripheral environment near nocturnal MCSs in lower-tropospheric boundary layer. The cold pool structure was observed through the temperature transect by CRL. Water vapor and aerosols transects indicated cold pool generating density current that pushed up environment boundary layer upward when the UWKA detected the peripheral environment near nocturnal MCS on July 01st. The Doppler Radar and ground-based mesonet provided the convergent dynamic process and a cold pool surface structure as a complimentary evidence, that CRL is an unique measurement to characterize rapid changing storm environments in low-tropospheric boundary layer.