4.1
A Mobile Meteorological Center
J. Cogan, Army Research Laboratory, White Sands Missile Range, NM; and M. Torres, E. Vidal, Y. Wang, C. Williamson, Y. Yee, and R. E. Dumais
The Army Research Laboratory (ARL) developed and tested a proof of concept (POC) system for rapid refresh measurement of atmospheric profiles (“profilers”), and use of those data in on-board mesoscale models for analysis and forecasting. An upgrade and extension of this POC system was proposed for use as a boundary layer measurement and analysis system. During the past few years the technology has advanced to the point that a similar system could serve as a mobile Emergency Meteorological Center (EMC) that could provide essential information until a more permanent Emergency Operations Center could be set up. The design of the system would promote modularity and flexibility where additional sensors could be added with minimal if any change to the rest of the hardware or software in the EMC. Software upgrades or additions would fit without significant downtime. The use, for example, of state of the art methods for data transfer and interchange between sub-systems, for compression of incoming and outgoing data sets, and methods to remotely access and control distributed sensors will permit a mobile EMC to have a far greater capability than even a few years ago. Sensor technology also has made significant advances over the past several years. One example is a small, but highly capable, lidar; others include a variety of small airborne sensors and dropsondes. Scientists at ARL also have developed a rapid refresh, 3-dimensional, diagnostic model for use in urban areas, and a tool for assessment of dispersion that uses up-to-date dispersion methods such as the SCIPUFF model. In this work we will briefly describe a potential EMC system that has the above characteristics. While sensor technology has advanced during this period, here we concentrate on rapid refresh models and certain enabling technology that can improve the system's efficiency.
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Session 4, Transportation
Monday, 10 January 2005, 4:00 PM-5:00 PM
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