Open AccessLaser Ceilometer Investigation of Persistent Wintertime Cold-Air Pools in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley
Author(s) -
Joseph S. Young,
C. David Whiteman
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of applied meteorology and climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.079
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1558-8432
pISSN - 1558-8424
DOI - 10.1175/jamc-d-14-0115.1
Subject(s) - ceilometer , aerosol , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , lidar , particulates , mineral dust , backscatter (email) , altitude (triangle) , climatology , meteorology , geology , geography , remote sensing , ecology , telecommunications , geometry , mathematics , computer science , wireless , biology
As part of the winter 2010/11 Persistent Cold-Air Pool Study in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley, a laser ceilometer was used to continuously measure aerosol-layer characteristics in support of an investigation of the meteorological processes producing the cold-air pools. A surface-based aerosol layer was present during much of the winter. Comparisons were made between ceilometer-measured and visual characteristics of the aerosol layers. A 3–4 January 2011 case study illustrated the meteorological value of time–height backscatter cross sections when used as a base map for meteorological analyses. A variety of meteorological mixing processes were illustrated using ceilometer backscatter data. The mean altitude of the top of the aerosol layer during undisturbed subperiods of the 1 December–7 February experimental period was 1811 m MSL, with a standard deviation of 185 m. The mean aerosol depth was ~500 m AGL in the 1200-m-deep valley. There was surprisingly little variation in the wintertime aerosol layer depth despite large variations in bulk atmospheric stability and ground-based fine particulate matter concentrations.