Mobile Profiling System
WHY?
Advanced technologies and techniques exist for upper-air meteorological
observations using improved remote-sensing instruments, but much has not been
implemented and validated in operational systems and much technology has not
been transferred to industry for commercialization in standard off-the-shelf
supported products. Therefore, in 1992, ETL and the U.S. Army Research
Laboratory (ARL) at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, began a cooperative
effort to develop the Mobile Profiler System (MPS), an integrated system of
ground-based and satellite-borne remote-sensing instruments, to measure
continuously and automatically in real-time profiles of high-resolution wind,
temperature, and humidity. MPS was designed as a prototype system to test and
demonstrate advanced technologies and techniques. MPS has also served as a
platform to develop new technologies and to transfer those technologies to
industry.
MPS includes (a) a 924-Mhz profiler radar, with a five-beam phased array
antenna and with Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS), for measuring wind and
temperature throughout the lower troposphere; (b) a meteorological tower for
measuring wind, temperature, and humidity just above the surface; a
four-channel radiometer for temperature and a two channel radiometer for
moisture; (d) a satellite-receiving system with global positioning system (GPS)
for processing satellite radiometer data; and (e) a balloon sounding system for
validation.
MPS: Los Angeles Free Radical Study (1993)
Impact on Weather Forecasting
MPS was designed to operate unattended and to automatically provide on-line
data assimilation, data processing, quality control, analysis and display, and
communication of data products using a total management system running on a
central workstation. MPS was developed for dual use in both military and
non-military applications. In September 1993, the MPS prototype was deployed
and operated nonstop for several weeks in a heavily populated part of Los
Angeles, providing weather support for an important pollution study [Wolfe et
al., 1995: An Overview of the Mobile Profiler System: Preliminary results for
field tests during the Los Angeles Free-Radical Study. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.
76(4), 523-534]. In addition to being a valuable tool to support important
research, mobile profilers also have important practical applications in
emergency response for toxic spills, in fire weather both for wildfires and for
prescribed burns, in local/regional forecasting of severe weather, etc.
Advanced profiler signal processing algorithms were developed and first
implemented on MPS to provide high-resolution wind and temperature measurements
with improved accuracy and reliability. Those algorithms are now being
implemented as components of new signal processing for real-time, on-line
application in other profiler systems
(Instrument Control Architecture).
MPS: High-Resolution Winds, Platteville, CO (1993)
Impact on New Technologies and Commercialization
Over the past couple of years, ETL teamed with ARL and industry to design and
to develop a new integrated antenna system for combined wind and RASS
operations. This new antenna is composed of a radio frequency (RF) phased array
antenna for wind measurements embedded with a phased array of acoustic sources
for RASS temperature measurements. This integrated system requires less time
and manpower for setup, a requirement for efficient and effective mobile
applications, e.g., for rapid response in fire weather, for off-shore
deployment on buoys, etc. Also, the new antenna has a larger aperture with
amplitude tapering of the elements in the phased array, reducing antenna
sidelobe levels to reduce clutter contamination. Finally, the new antenna also
incorporates distributed amplifiers to significantly increase transmitted
power, which improves the radar sensitivity for more consistent
higher-altitude coverage.
New Combined RF/Acoustic Antenna
Please direct any comments or questions to Dan Wolfe (303-497-6204)
Last update: July 24, 2001
