TA-53 Station Description
![](images/ta53_sm.jpg)
Alternate Name(s): LANSCE
Measurements:
The TA-53 station consists of a 46-m tower instrumented at three levels for wind
and temperature and near-surface instrumentation for measuring temperature,
moisture, precipitation, and shortwave irradiance. Wind measurements from this
station are used as input to dose calculations for the LANSCE (formerly, LAMPF)
facility.
See Table 13.4 in the
Meteorological Monitoring Plan for measurement details and Table 13.3 in the
same document for definitions of variables.
Data Type |
Record Begins |
Record Ends |
15-min data | February 8, 1992 |
(still active) |
24-h data | February 8, 1992 |
(still active) |
Site Description:
The TA-53 station is located on the Pajarito Plateau in a clearing on one of
the Mesitas de Los Alamos. Just north of the station, the terrain drops 120 m
into Los Alamos Canyon. The view of the station, as shown in the above
photograph, is looking east-southeast toward the lower portion of Los Alamos
Canyon. The beam trench for the linear accelerator is seen in the center of the
photograph and the tower is toward the left edge of the photograph. The
vegetation surrounding the tower side is mostly pinon and juniper.
Location and Elevation:
Coordinate System |
x |
y |
NAD 27 State Plane Coordinates (ft) | 498898 |
1771933 |
UTM, Zone 13 (m) | 386814.71 |
3970067.89 |
Longitude & Latitude (d, m, s) | 106° 15' 13.4" |
35° 52' 12.4" |
Station elevation is 6990 ft (2131.1 m) above sea level.
The tower is LANL structure no. TA-53-1020, and the datalogger shed is LANL
structure no. TA-53-1046.
Data Quality:
General Remarks
Nearly all suspect data have been replaced with an asterisk (*). Occasionally
you will see days on which all the 15-min data appear good, but some of the 24-h
summary values are missing. Lightning strikes, momentary power outages, or
the need to reload the datalogger program may be the cause. In these cases, you
can estimate a 24-h value from the 15-min data.
See Section C.1.b and c of the Meteorological Monitoring Plan for
details on sampling and general remarks concerning accuracy.
Qualifying remarks are organized by data type (for example, wind, atmospheric
state, etc.), and we use our standard variable names, as defined in Table 13.3 of the
Meteorological Monitoring Plan.
Wind Variables
For the most part, all suspect data have been replaced with an asterisk (*).
Occasionally you will see days on which all the 15-min data appear good, but
some of the 24-h summary values are missing. Lightning strikes, momentary power
outages, or the need to reload the datalogger program may be the cause. In these
cases, you can estimate a 24-h value from the 15-min data.
See Section C.1.b and c of the
Meteorological Monitoring Plan for details on sampling and general remarks
concerning accuracy.
Atmospheric State Variables
Occasionally one encounters relative humidity (rh) values exceeding 100%; we
recommend changing these values to 100%. Because rh is used in the calculation
of the dew point temperature (dewp), there may be instances when dewp >
temp.
Precipitation-related Variables
No known problems.
Radiative Energy Variables
During and for some time after periods of snow or frost formation, the dome of
the upward looking pyranometer may become snow or ice covered. In such instances
the shortwave irradiance (swdn) is diminished. Our editing has not been
consistent: In portions of the record we attempted to remove these snow and
frost effects and in other portions we decided not to edit. In general, it is
difficult to decide when the melting is complete and the signal is back to
normal.
As a result of a change in the calibration standard used by the manufacturer,
measurements of swdn are 5% too large from the beginning of the record to
April 7, 1995 at 1300 MST. |