Temperature, Humidity, Wind and Pressure Sensors (THWAPS)
Instrument Categories: Surface Meteorology
General Overview
The temperature, humidity, wind, and pressure systems (THWAPS) provide surface reference values of these measurements for balloon-borne sounding system (BBSS) launches. THWAPS are located adjacent to BBSS launch sites at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) Central Facility and its four boundary facilities. The THWAPS system is a combination of calibration-quality instruments intended to provide accurate measurements of meteorological conditions near the surface. Although the primary use of the system is to provide accurate surface reference values of temperature, pressure, relative humidity (RH), and wind velocity for comparison with radiosonde readings, the system includes a data logger to record time series of the measured variables.
The THWAPS system is not generally used as a surface meteorological measurement system. Many of the variables measured do not conform to WMO standards for surface meteorological measurements. Instead, the THWAPS system is used to gather reference values for the BBSS at the SGP sites.
Primary Measurements Taken
The following measurements are those considered scientifically relevant. Refer to the netCDF File Header Descriptions (Data Object Design Files) for the list of all available measurements, including those recorded for diagnostic or quality assurance purposes.
Available Datastreams
- thwaps - Temperature, humidity, winds and pressure system (THWAPS): meterological data
Sites / Facilities
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- Southern Great Plains (SGP)
- Central Facility, Lamont, OK (C1)
- Hillsboro, KS (Boundary) (B1)
- Morris, OK (Boundary) (B5)
- Purcell, OK (B6)
- Vici, OK (Boundary) (B4)
Mentor(s)
Michael Ritsche
(630) 252-1554
mtritsche@anl.gov
