Abstract
We present a simple but effective small unmanned aerial vehicle design that is able to make high-resolution temperature and humidity measurements of the atmospheric boundary layer. The air model used is an adapted commercial design, and is able to carry all the instrumentation (barometer, temperature and humidity sensor, and datalogger) required for such measurements. It is fitted with an autopilot that controls the plane’s ascent and descent in a spiral to 1800 m above ground. We describe the results obtained on three different days when the plane, called Aerolemma-3, flew continuously throughout the day. Surface measurements of the sensible virtual heat flux made simultaneously allowed the calculation of all standard convective turbulence scales for the boundary layer, as well as a rigorous test of existing models for the entrainment flux at the top of the boundary layer, and for its growth. A novel approach to calculate the entrainment flux from the top-down, bottom-up model of Wynagaard and Brost is used. We also calculated temperature fluctuations by means of a spectral high-pass filter, and calculated their spectra. Although the time series are small, tapering proved ineffective in this case. The spectra from the untapered series displayed a consistent −5/3 behaviour, and from them it was possible to calculate a dimensionless dissipation function, which exhibited the expected similarity behaviour against boundary-layer bulk stability. The simplicity, ease of use and economy of such small aircraft make us optimistic about their usefulness in boundary-layer research.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Batchvarova E, Gryning S-E (1991) Applied model for the growth of the daytime mixed layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 56: 261–274
Batchvarova E, Gryning S-E (1994) An applied model for the height of the daytime mixed layer and the entrainment zone. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 71: 311–323
Beyrich F (1995) Mixing-height estimation in the convective boundary layer using sodar data. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 74: 1–18
Brutsaert W (1982) Evaporation into the atmosphere. D. Reidel, Dordrecht, 309 pp
Brutsaert W (1987) Nearly steady convection and the boundary-layer budgets of water vapor and sensible heat. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 39: 283–300
Chamecki M, Dias NL (2004) The local isotropy assumption and the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate in the atmospheric surface layer. Q J R Meteorol Soc 130(603): 2733–2752
Chilson PB, Gleason A, Zielke B, Nai F, Yeary M, Klein P, Shalamunenc W, Bonin T, Bocangel W (2009) Smartsonde: a small UAS platform to support radar research. In: AMS 34th conference on radar meteorology, pp 12.B6 1–7. http://ams.confex.com/ams/34Radar/techprogram/paper_156396.htm
Cleugh HA, Grimmond CSB (2001) Modelling regional scale surface energy exchanges and CBL growth in a heterogeneous, urban-rural landscape. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 98: 1–31
Corrsin S (1951) On the spectrum of isotropic temperature fluctuations in isotropic turbulence. J Appl Phys 22: 469
Culf AD (1992) An application of simple models to Sahelian convective boundary-layer growth. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 58: 1–18
Dias NL, Gontalves JE, Malheiros AL, Hasegawa T (2009) Probing the atmospheric boundary-layer with a cost-effective mini-UAV. AsiaFlux Newsl 30: 16–22
Douglas M (2008) Progress towards development of the glidersonde: a recoverable radiosonde system. http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/IMOP/publications/IOM-96_TECO-2008/P1(06)_Douglas_USA.pdf
Driedonks AGM (1982) Models and observations of the growth of the atmospheric boundary layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 23: 283–306
Finnigan JJ (2004) A re-evaluation of long-term flux measurement techniques part II: coordinate systems. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 113(1): 1–41
Fochesatto GJ, Drobinski P, Flamant C, Guedalia D, Sarrat C, Flamant PH, Pelon J (2001) Evidence of dynamical coupling between the residual layer and the developing convective boundary layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 99: 451–464
Garratt JR (1994) The atmospheric boundary layer. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 316 pp
Gryning S-E, Batchvarova E (1999) Regional heat flux over the NOPEX area estimated from the evolution of the mixed-layer. Agric For Meteorol 98–99: 159–167
Guillemet B, Isaka H, Mascart P (1983) Molecular dissipation of turbulent fluctuations in the convective mixed layer part 1: height variations of dissipation rates. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 27: 141–162
Hipps LE, Swiatek E, Kustas WP (1994) Interactions between regional surface fluxes and the atmospheric boundary layer over a heterogeneous watershed. Water Resour Res 30(5): 1387–1392
Holland GJ, Webster PJ, Curry JA, Tyrell G, Gauntlett D, Brett G, Becker J, Hoag R, Vaglienti W (2001) The aerosonde robotic aircraft: a new paradigm for environmental observations. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 82: 889–901
Kaimal JC, Kristensen L (1991) Time series tapering for short data samples. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 57: 187–194
Kaimal JC, Wyngaard JC, Haugen DA, Coté OR, Izumi Y (1976) Turbulence structure in the convective boundary layer. J Atmos Sci 33(11): 2152–2168
Kaiser R, Fedorovich E (1998) Turbulence spectra and dissipation rates in a wind tunnel model of the atmospheric convective boundary layer. J Atmos Sci 55: 580–594
Kimmel SJ, Wyngaard JC, Otte MJ (2002) “Log-Chipper” turbulence in the convective boundary layer. J Atmos Sci 59: 1124–1134
Kustas WP, Brutsaert W (1987a) Budgets of water vapor in the unstable boundary layer over rugged terrain. J Clim Appl Meteorol 26(5): 607–620
Kustas WP, Brutsaert W (1987b) Virtual heat entrainment in the mixed layer over very rough terrain. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 38: 141–157
Ma S, Chen H, Wang G, Pan Y, Li Q (2004) A miniature robotic plane meteorological sounding system. Adv Atmos Sci 21: 890–896
Margulis SA, Entekhabi D (2004) Boundary-layer entrainment estimation through assimilation of radiosonde and micrometeorological data into a mixed-layer model. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 110: 405–433
Marques Filho EP, de Oliveira AP, Rizza U, Karam HA (2006) Pollutant transport in a convective boundary layer with LES. Revista Brasileira de Geoffsica 24: 547–557
McNaughton KG, Spriggs TW (1986) A mixed-layer model for regional evaporation. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 34: 243–262
Piess TS, Bange J, Uschmann MB, Vörsmann P (2007) First application of the meteorological mini-UAV ‘M2AV’. Meteorol Z 16(2): 159–169
Press WH, Teukolsky SA, Vetterling WT, Flannery BP (1992) Numerical recipes in C. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1020 pp
Ramana MV, Ramanathan V, Kim D, Roberts GC, Corrigan CE (2007) Albedo, atmospheric solar absorption and heating rate measurements with stacked UAVs. Q J R Meteorol Soc 133: 1913–1931
Reuder J, Brisset P, Jonassen M, Müller M, Mayer S (2008) SUMO: a Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer for atmospheric boundary layer research. In: 14th international symposium for the advancement of boundary layer remote sensing
Reuder J, Brisset P, Jonassen M, Müller M, Mayer S (2009) The Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer SUMO: a new tool for atmospheric boundary layer research. Meteorol Z 18(2): 141–147
Smedman A-S, Högström U, Hunt JCR (2004) Effects of shear sheltering in a stable atmospheric boundary layer with strong shear. Q J R Meteorol Soc 130: 31–50
Soddell JR, McGuffie K, Holland GJ (2004) Intercomparison of atmospheric soundings from the aerosonde and radiosonde. J Appl Meteorol 43: 1260–1269
Tennekes H (1973) A model for the dynamics of the inversion above a convective boundary layer. J Atmos Sci 30: 558–567
van den Kroonenberg A, Martin T, Buschmann M, Bange J, Vörsmann P (2008) Measuring the wind vector using the autonomous mini aerial vehicle M2AV. J Atmos Ocean Technol 25: 1969–1982
Wilczak JM, Oncley SP, Stage SA (2001) Sonic anemometer tilt correction algorithms. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 99: 127–150
Williams T, Kelley C (2011) Gnuplot homepage
Wyngaard JC (1984) Toward convective boundary layer parametrization: a scalar transport module. J Atmos Sci 41(12): 1959–1969
Wyngaard JC, Brost RA (1984) Top-down and bottom-up diffusion of a scalar in the convective boundary layer. J Atmos Sci 41: 102–112
Wyngaard JC, Coté OR, Izumi Y (1971) Local free convection, similarity, and the budgets of shear stress and heat flux. J Atmos Sci 28: 1171–1182
Young GS (1987) Mixed layer spectra from aircraft measurements. J Atmos Sci 44(9): 1251–1256
Zilitinkevich SS (1975) Comments on “A model for the dynamics of the inversion above a convective boundary layer”. J Atmos Sci 32: 991–992
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dias, N.L., Gonçalves, J.E., Freire, L.S. et al. Obtaining Potential Virtual Temperature Profiles, Entrainment Fluxes, and Spectra from Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Data. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 145, 93–111 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-011-9693-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-011-9693-2