CU radiometer update

After calibrating the radiometer at CU two weeks ago, we realized that some frequencies were unstable. We took the instrument to the manufacturer Radiometrics and they discovered that the microwave frequency synthesizer is failing, the output is about half the correct value, and now both the K-band and V-band receivers are not working due to low synth input. They estimated that this can be fixed within a week. If everything goes according to our plan, we might be able to install the radiometer at the BAO the second week of March (9-13 March).

Melting/falling ice

Dan pointed out on the call yesterday that when doing field work at the BAO in the vicinity of the guy wires (like at the lidar super-site or the UTD 200S location), we should be aware of the risks of falling ice/snow from guywires and from the tower itself. Hard hats are currently available at the building at the base of the tower, and some hard hats will be moved to the visitor center, as well. 

As part of a leveraged educational deployment (CABL, Characterizing the Atmospheric Boundary Layer), NCAR EOL is providing the sonic anemometers for the BAO tower as well as 1-2 surface flux stations and some soundings. Last Friday, part of one of the surface flux stations was installed, and the 300m sonic on the BAO is reporting into its data acquisition system. You can access these data visually using NCAR's "ncharts" app, available at http://datavis.eol.ucar.edu/ncharts/projects/CABL/geo_notiltcor . Variable names are explained at https://www.eol.ucar.edu/content/isfs-variable-names, and time is in UTC. There is currently about a 20-minute lag between reality and when the data appear in ncharts. Check out the cold front passage (below)!

Welcome to the communication forum for the A2e eXperimental Measurements Committee's Planetary Boundary Layer Instrument Assessment campaign, Spring 2015, conducted in collaboration with the educational outreach project Characterizing the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (CABL). We should use this forum to communicate regarding forecasts, instrument operations (up/down times), site visits, etc. Please use "labels" to tag your posts for ease of access after the experiment, using names like:
200S
HRDL
Tower
ISFS
Radiometer
Soundings
Windcubev1
Vindicator
Windcubev2
Halo
LidarSuperSite
EHS
Ka-band Radar