96/04/16 CART site activity
Meteorology at the Central Facility
Weather Conditions from Site Operators Log
Near overcast of variable thin (bluish-colored) fibratus,
frequent contrail segments, cirrus tops up to 11.5 km MSL,
bases down to 7.0 km. Mild winds of 8-15 mph from the west and northwest.
Visiting Instruments at Central Facilities
CART Instrument Operations at Central Facilities
Key: O = operational, X = down or degraded
- RASS, 50 MHz, (hourly): X
- RASS, 915 MHz, (hourly): O
- BSRN: O
- SIROS: O
- SMOS, (24 hrs): O
- SWATS (24 hrs): O
- EBBR, (24 hrs): O
- WSI, (every 10 min.) O
- MWR, (24 hrs): O
- IRT:X
- MPL, (24 hrs): X
- BLC, (24 hrs): O
- AERI, (24 hrs): O
- SORTI, (daytime, sunny): O
- Raman Lidar (daytime): X
- 60M Temperature and Humidity: O
- 25M Temperature and Humidity: O
- 25M IRT: X
- 25M MultiFilter Radiometer: O
- 25M Upwelling IR: O
- 25M Upwelling Solar: O
- 10M IRT: O
- 10M MultiFilter Radiometer: O
- Aerosol System: O
- Radiosondes, (Every 3 hrs, from 1:30 UTC): O
There are four staffed Boundary Facilities, each having Balloon Borne Sounding
Systems (BBSS) and MicroWave Radiometers (MWR). During the IOP period,
sondes are launched every three hours round the clock, starting at 5:30
GMT (12:30 CST). The sites are listed below. Times listed following a site indicate questionable data or
failed sonde launches. Weather conditions are recorded in the
Boundary Facilities Site Operator's Log.
- Hillsboro, KS (BF-1): Okay
- Vici, OK (BF-4): Okay
- Morris, OK (BF-5): Okay
- Purcell, OK (BF-6): Okay
There are numerous unstaffed Extended Facilities. The specific
instrumentation at the extended facilities varies from site to site, but
generally includes a flux station (either an Energy Balance Bowen
Ration (EBBR) system or an Eddy Correlation (ECOR) system), a Solar and
InfraRed Observing System (SIROS), and a Standard Meteorology Observing
Station (SMOS). For the locations of the Extended Facilities, and their suite
of instrumentation, see the table
and map of the Extended
CART site. The comments below indicate
specific data streams with identified problems.
- Problem at Extended Facility:
- E1, ECOR
- E2, SIROS
- E4, SIROS
- E6, SMOS, SIROS
- E10, SIROS
- E11, SMOS, SIROS, ECOR
- E16, ECOR
-
Key Comments/Observations related to flights
Upwind T-39 contrail loops tended to generate only incomplete
contrail segments at the height of the existing cirrus, typically only in
association with the patchy natural cirrus present. Moreover, although
several were sampled from the ground, most of the contrail bits were
poorly targeted by the T-39 and passed just to the S of the CART site.
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