Browsing by Subject "Humidity"

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3-D observations of absolute humidity from the land surface to the lower troposphere with scanning differential absorption lidar
(2016) Späth, Florian Heiko; Wulfmeyer, Volker
The water vapor (WV) distribution in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is spatially and temporally highly variable. To investigate this behavior, the Institute of Physics and Meteorology at the University of Hohenheim (UHOH) developed a unique scanning differential absorption lidar (DIAL). This instrument allows for water vapor measurements with high temporal and spatial resolutions of the orders of seconds and tens of meters in the range of several kilometers from the surface up to the lower troposphere. Additionally, the UHOH DIAL system can perform scanning measurements which allows for observations down to the surface as well as for observations of the horizontal moisture variability. Within this thesis, three aspects regarding high-resolution observations of moisture in the ABL with scanning DIAL are demonstrated: 1) the development of a new seeder system for the laser transmitter, 2) the presentation of three scan modes, and 3) applications of 2-D to 3-D WV DIAL data. The newly developed seeder system is based on distributed feedback (DFB) laser diodes as seed lasers and an electro-optical deflector as optical switch. The setup and its specifications are presented. Scanning measurements were performed to capture the spatial WV structures. For this purpose, three scan modes with measurement examples are presented: 1) Range-height indicator (RHI) scans provide vertical cross-section images of the atmospheric humidity distribution. The presented series of four measurements show several humidity layers with different WV content and their evolution. Clouds appear in the last scan. 2) A volume scan captures the whole three-dimensional WV structure made out of several conical scans of different elevation angles. The horizontal variation of the layer heights can be related to the terrain profile with a small hill near the DIAL site. 3) Low elevation scans observe the WV distribution directly above the surface. Thus, relationships of the ground characteristics and vegetation with the humidity content above can be investigated. It is shown that there was more moisture above a maize field and above a forest than above grassland. For the analysis of scanning measurements, new analysis and visualization routines as well as new methods for the error estimation were developed. More scientific applications of high-resolution WV data from DIAL measurements are presented in three publications. A evaluation study compared humidity profiles from model simulations with different land-surface schemes with horizontal mean profiles of scanning DIAL measurements. High-resolution humidity fluctuations from vertical measurements were used to determine higher-order moments up to the fourth-order as well as skewness and kurtosis. Furthermore, such WV profiles were combined with profiles of temperature and vertical wind velocities and used for the development of new turbulence parameterizations and for model validation.
Aircraft air data system based on the measurement of Raman and elastic backscatter via active optical remote-sensing
(2012) Fraczek, Michael Darius; Wulfmeyer, Volker
Flight safety in all weather conditions demands exact and reliable determination of flight-critical air parameters. Conventional aircraft air data systems can be impacted by probe failure caused by mechanical damage or impairment due to different environmental influences. In this thesis, a novel measurement concept for optically measuring the air temperature, density, pressure, moisture and particle backscatter for aircrafts is presented. The detection of volcanic ash is possible as well. This concept is independent from assumptions about the atmospheric state and eliminates the drawbacks of conventional aircraft probes. The measurement principle is based on a laser emitting pulses into the atmosphere from inside the aircraft and a receiver detecting the light signals backscattered from a defined region just outside the disturbed area of the fuselage air flow. With four receiver channels, different spectral portions of the Raman backscatter of dry air and water vapor, as well as the elastic backscatter are extracted. Measurements at daytime and in any atmospheric condition, including very dense clouds, are possible. In the framework of this thesis, a first laboratory prototype of such a measurement system using 532 nm laser radiation was developed, comprising all relevant theoretical and experimental studies. These were notably the comparative feasibility assessment of the measurement methodology, the computational modeling of the measurement concept, the laboratory setup and the experimental validation. Detailed and realistic performance and optimization calculations were made based on the parameters of the first prototype. The impact and the correction of systematic errors due to solar background and elastic signal cross-talk appearing in optically dense clouds were analyzed in computational simulations. The simulations supplement the experimental results for measurement scenarios that are not generable in the laboratory. The laboratory experiments validate the predictions from the simulations with regard to systematic errors and statistical measurement uncertainties. Where possible, the experimental setup and the signal and data analysis were optimized. Residual differences between the experimental and the model results were analyzed in detail. Concrete further hardware optimizations were suggested. The resulting experimental systematic measurement errors at air temperatures varying from 238 K to 308 K under constant air pressure are < 0.05 K, < 0.07 % and < 0.06 % for temperature, density and pressure, respectively. The systematic errors for measurements at air pressures varying from 200 hPa to 950 hPa under constant air temperature are < 0.22 K, < 0.36 % and < 0.31 %, respectively. The experimentally achieved 1-σ statistical measurement uncertainties for the analysis of each single detected signal pulse range from 0.75 K to 2.63 K for temperature, from 0.43 % to 1.21 % for density, and from 0.51 % to 1.50 % for pressure, respectively, for measurement altitudes from 0 m to 13400 m. In order to meet measurement error requirements specified in aviation standards, minimum laser pulse energies were experimentally determined to be used with the designed measurement system. With regard to 100-pulse-averaged temperature measurements, the pulse energy at 532 nm has to be larger than 11 mJ (35 mJ), when regarding 1-σ (3-σ) uncertainties at all measurement altitudes. For 100-pulse-averaged pressure measurements, the laser pulse energy has to be respectively larger than 95 mJ (355 mJ). Based on these experimental results, the laser pulse energy requirements were extrapolated to the ultraviolet wavelength region as well, resulting in much lower laser pulse energy demand. The successful results of this thesis do not only prove the viability of the concept implementation, but also demonstrate its high potential for aircraft air data system application.