Evolution of the moisture field in the convective boundary layer

The International H₂O Project (IHOP_2002) was designed to sample the three-dimensional time-varying moisture field to better understand convective processes. Numerous research and operational water vapor measuring systems and retrievals were operated in the U.S. Southern Great Plains from 13 May to 25 June 2002. This was done in combination with more traditional observations of wind and temperature. Boundary-layer evolution studies were designed to maximize observational overlap from multiple instruments to better understand the development of the moisture distribution during the evolution of the daytime convective boundary layer.

Three datasets on boundary-layer evolution were collected during IHOP (14 June, 21 June and 25 June 2002). Data included in these analyses are: S-Pol radar, two DOW mobile radars, mobile soundings, P-3 aircraft with Leandre II water vapor DIAL, UW King Air, a tethersonde, ISS with a wind profiler and RASS, serial ascents from four nearby radiosondes, Scanning Raman Lidar, AERIBAGO and mobile mesonets. These days comprise highly-coordinated data collection periods from before sunrise through the development of the convective boundary layer. Time series plots have been made from many of the datasets and suggest a great deal of variability in the moisture distribution on the three days. The combination of data collected should provide a comprehensive description of the development of the moisture field, in particular, during the early morning hours.