ARL News

NOAA Twin Otter in Chesapeake Ozone and Air-Surface Exchange Study

 

July 20, 2001

The NOAA/ARL Twin Otter is presently stationed at Newport News, Virginia, from where it is engaged in a series of experiments studying ozone distributions and surface fluxes. The surface flux measurements are of momentum, heat, water vapor, and carbon dioxide, as well as of ozone itself. The purpose is to investigate the coupling of the atmosphere with the surface in a coastal zone, where fine-grid mesoscale models are being exercised. The program is joint with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. In another component of the same collaboration, surface measurements are being made of eddy fluxes of most of the variables being investigated by the aircraft, and of soil moisture at a number of sites inland from the shore. The focus of the study is the mouth of the Potomac River. The study will end on about 30 July, after which the aircraft will relocate to Morgantown, West Virginia, for several days of studies in collaboration with the Canaan Valley Institute.

Contact information:Bruce B. Hicks
Phone: (301) 713-0684
e-mail: Bruce.Hicks@noaa.gov