ARL Weekly News – August 21, 2020
| Recent Accomplishments |
ATDD Resumes Vertical Profile Flights.
ATDD resumed flights with its small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) at Oliver Springs. Eight flights were performed, each on 20 and 21 August between 0700 EDT and 1030 EDT, sampling temperature, moisture, and wind fields between the surface and about 700 m above ground level. These data were then transmitted to the Morristown National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in near-real time and are being used to help forecasters make short-term forecast decisions. ATDD will continue performing these flights routinely in the coming weeks and months.
| Recent Publications |
Evaluation of the WMO Solid Precipitation Intercomparison Experiment (SPICE) transfer functions for adjusting the wind bias in solid precipitation measurements
John Kochendorfer’s “Evaluation of the WMO Solid Precipitation Intercomparison Experiment (SPICE) transfer functions for adjusting the wind bias in solid precipitation measurements” has been published in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. The manuscript evaluates transfer functions developed to adjust automated gauge measurements of solid precipitation for systematic bias due to wind. The transfer functions were developed and published previously by combining data from eight WMO-SPICE sites, attempting to make them more universally applicable in a range of climates. The performance of those transfer functions was re-evaluated using independent measurements collected after SPICE ended. Additional co-authors include Craig Smith, Amber Ross, Michael Earle, Mareile Wolff, Samuel Buisán, Yves-Alain Roulet, and Timo Laine. For more, click the link: https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/24/4025/2020/
A Comparison of the US Climate Reference Network precipitation data to the Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM)
Scientists Michael Buban, Temple Lee, and C. Bruce Baker had a publication titled “A Comparison of the US Climate Reference Network precipitation data to the Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM)” accepted for publication in the Journal of Hydrometeorology. This study compared the PRISM model to the USCRN observation network of precipitation measurements, finding excellent agreement between the two datasets. This allows for the development of a new gridded soil moisture product. Going forward, this new product will allow for analysis and forecasting of drought and flood conditions over the CONUS and aid in short-term weather forecasts via incorporation into numerical weather prediction models. Buban, Lee, and Baker also participated in the National Soil Moisture Workshop, held virtually on August 12 -13, 2020. During the workshop, they discussed current challenges with delivering high-quality soil moisture datasets, as well as research priorities for the coming years. Additionally, Michael shared a poster entitled “Using the US Climate Reference Network to Develop Gridded Soil Moisture Products over the Conterminous US”, coauthored with Temple, Bruce, and Tilden that highlighted a new approach that uses inputs of gridded precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil properties, and vegetation to compute soil water and that is evaluated using the US Climate Reference Network.