1. UNSTABLE The UNderstanding Severe Thunderstorms and Alberta Boundary Layers Experiment
Testing of Mesonet Instrumentation
41st Annual CMOS Congress, St. John’s
Dave Sills1 and Neil Taylor2
1 Cloud Physics and Severe Weather Research Section, Environment Canada
2 Hydrometeorology and Arctic Lab, Environment Canada

2. 41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s
Outline
ATMOS fixed mesonet station
AMMOS mobile mesonet station
2006 field testing in Alberta foothills
Summary
November 20, 2018
41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s

3. 41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s
New EC ATMOS Stations
Automated Transportable Meteorological Observing System
10 m Wind
9.5 m T
0.5 m T
10 m aluminum tower
in 3 sections
Stakes and guys
EC/MRD’s Cloud Physics and Severe Weather Research Section had 10 Automated Transportable Meteorological Observing System (ATMOS) stations built by Zephyr North of Burlington, ON. Basic ATMOS design has been used for 20+ years.
*MRD = Meteorological Research Directorate, used to be Meteorological Research Branch
The following hardware is installed for each of 10 stations:
1 x RM Young wind monitor at 10.0 m
1 x T/H sensor (HMP 45C) at 1.5 m + shield
1 x ‘fast’ T sensor (44212) at 1.5 m + shield
1 x TE 525 tipping bucket rain gauge
1 x thermocouple + shields (0.5 m and 9.5 m)
1 x Vaisala PTB210 pressure sensor + SPH10 static pressure head
1 x radiation sensor (SP-Lite, 1 component - downwelling solar)
1 x CSI CR datalogger + enclosure and power supply
1 x telemetry (Redwing CDMA cell phone + antenna)
1 x solar panel
1 x tower hardware (aluminum poles plus connectors and guys, mounting arms, etc.) for 10 m tower
November 20, 2018
41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s

4. 41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s
New EC ATMOS Stations
1.5 m ‘Fast’ T
Rain
Gauge
Pressure
Cell antenna
Solar
Panel
DeltaT
Logger
Radiation
1.5 m T / RH
EC/MRD’s Cloud Physics and Severe Weather Research Section had 10 Automated Transportable Meteorological Observing System (ATMOS) stations built by Zephyr North of Burlington, ON
FAST T used outside of T/RH pair inside kevlar membrane to account for lag in temperature changes within the membrane. INSIDE T/RH used to calculate FAST Td and outside T used to calculate RH.
The following hardware is installed for each of 10 stations:
1 x RM Young wind monitor at 10.0 m
1 x T/H sensor (HMP 45C) at 1.5 m + shield
1 x ‘fast’ T sensor (44212) at 1.5 m + shield
1 x TE 525 tipping bucket rain gauge
1 x thermocouple + shields (0.5 m and 9.5 m)
1 x Vaisala PTB210 pressure sensor + SPH10 static pressure head
1 x radiation sensor (SP-Lite, 1 component - downwelling solar)
1 x CSI CR datalogger + enclosure and power supply
1 x telemetry (Redwing CDMA cell phone + antenna)
1 x solar panel
1 x tower hardware (aluminum poles plus connectors and guys, mounting arms, etc.) for 10 m tower
November 20, 2018
41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s
Needs no foundation, no electrical or comm lines

5. How will the ATMOS units be used?
June 1 – August 31
Collect data as 1 min averages
Use both grid and line siting approaches: grid for surface contouring, line for time evolution
~10-25 km spacing
Augment ATMOS with other networks for ~28 (full observation) station mesonet
November 20, 2018
41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s

6. Why collect 1 min avg mesonet data?
SBF = sea breeze front
GF2 = gust front 2
SCGF = storm C gust front
RFD = storm C rear flank downdraft
4 boundary passages
within ~ 1 hr, 3 in 18 min!
Sydney 2000 Project 1 min average surface station data
November 20, 2018
41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s

7. 41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s
New EC AMMOS Station
Automated Mobile Meteorological Observing System
Measurements
can be made while
stationary OR mobile
Wind
GPS
Logger
Pressure
T / RH + ‘Fast’ T (ventilated)
Compass
EC/MRD’s Cloud Physics and Severe Weather Research Section also had one Automated Mobile Meteorological Observing System (AMMOS) station built by Presentey Engineering of Ottawa, ON. A second AMMOS station will likely be obtained for UNSTABLE in 2008.
*MRD = Meteorological Research Directorate, used to be Meteorological Research Branch
The following hardware is installed for this station:
1 x RM Young wind monitor
1 x T/H sensor (HMP 45C) + housing with aspiration fan
1 x ‘fast’ T sensor (44212EC)
1 x Vaisala PTB210 pressure sensor + SPH10 static pressure head
1 x CSI CR logger + housing, power supply and software
1 x CSI GPS16-HVS Garmin GPS receiver with antenna and mount kit
1 x RMY flux-gate compass and serial interface
1 x RS-232 interface
1 x vehicle mounting hardware
Rugged Laptop + Backup
Dash-cam
November 20, 2018
41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s

8. How will the AMMOS unit(s) be used?
Collect data at 1 s intervals (22 80 km/h)
Measure gradients across convergence and land use boundaries
Fill in holes in mesonet as needed
Visual documentation
First intensive use in field will be with BAQS-Met this summer
Data will collected at 1 second intervals to capture variability
Will try a variety of different patterns / roles to see what works best
Visual documentation as well (dash-mounted digital video camera, digital photography)
Experience with BAQS-met will be very helpful in determining how best to use this platform for UNSTABLE
November 20, 2018
41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s

9. Mixing Ratio – mobile and fixed
AMMOS data 1 min. averages
Good correlation between AMMOS and ATMOS measurements when in close proximity
Significant variability in 1 minute average AMMOS over 5 minute average ATMOS even when stationary
How representative are hourly surface observations used by forecasters? Mixing ratio observed to vary significantly over short space and time scales in AMMOS data.
Temperature much more consistent.
November 20, 2018
41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s

10. 41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s
Are hi-res / fast-response obs. needed?
AMMOS data 1 min. averages
Less lag
with ‘Fast’
Temp
Ventilation turned off
First experimental use summer 2006 in UNSTABLE study area
5 min data from ATMOS stations
1 min data from AMMOS station
Show areas where comparisons are valid
Discuss effect of ventilation
Discuss time lag introduced by Kevlar housing in HMP45C
November 20, 2018
41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s

11. 41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s
Summary
ATMOS / AMMOS will be a critical aspect of UNSTABLE investigations (especially ABL moisture and convergence boundaries)
During testing in Alberta foothills in 2006, stations proved to be robust and data collected agreed well with other fixed stations
High temporal resolution measurements needed to capture sharp gradients and variability
First intensive use of ATMOS / AMMOS will be during BAQS-Met June – August 2006
November 20, 2018
41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s

12. 41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s
Thank You!
(416)
November 20, 2018
41st CMOS Congress – St. John’s