ARL News

ARL Best Available Turbulence aircraft system tests well in Europe

 

March 12, 2002

At a meeting in Budapest this week, some European colleagues showed comparisons between turbulence properties measured by the ARL “BAT” probe fitted to an Italian Sky Arrow light aircraft and simultaneous data recorded on towers. Comparisons extended to fluxes, such as of water vapor and carbon dioxide. The agreement was universally striking. Several different studies were reported – over rice (in Spain), agricultural land (in the Netherlands) and forest (Germany and Sweden). In brief, the BAT system is rapidly gaining an international acceptance. It is poised for exploitation in US programs that require attention to areal averaging of air-surface exchange. The BAT system was developed using the Long-EZ research platform, and is regularly carried by it. A close relative is carried on the NOAA Twin Otter.

Contact information: Rayford P. Hosker
Phone: (865) 576-1248
e-mail: hosker@atdd.noaa.gov