SGER: Surface and Boundary-Layer Profiling during OASIS using the CU Tethered Balloon Platform

该项目将部署两种系留气球来收集垂直剖面数据，以支持极地地区海洋-大气-海洋冰-积雪相互作用（OASIS）项目，而不是建造一个40米的步行塔。OASIS将于2009年冬/春在阿拉斯加州巴罗附近的野外作业。将部署一个直径为12英尺的小型气球，每天在地面至约600米高度之间测量2-3次气象参数和臭氧剖面。第二个实验使用更大更强的升力，即直径为20英尺的气球，将三条采样线提升到约120、80和40米的高度。从这些入口抽取的空气将被分析为痕量气体，监测器位于地面上的仪表舱。从固定气球入口的测量将包括氮氧化物（NOx），以及非甲烷烃（NMHC），和过氧酰基硝酸盐（如PAN），产生第一个高分辨率，同时，和连续的NOx，NMHC和PAN垂直剖面从极地研究网站。气球气象数据将揭示边界层混合条件;这一信息将有助于评价和进一步解释地面测量结果。系留气球的数据将是极高的价值，输入和验证的化学建模的背景下进行的绿洲。特别强调的是阐明导致北极沿海环境中臭氧和汞消耗事件的自由基化学。此外，这项研究还涉及到大气化学过程如何与生态影响联系起来，以及气候变化如何对这些相互作用产生反馈的问题。OASIS将在国际极地年期间通过国际合作努力进行大量新的地表交换和大气测量。这项工作的数据和发现将随时在所有OASIS科学家之间共享，以便更广泛地传播研究的影响。该项目的分析发展将有利于未来的大气研究应用。这项实验将汇集来自科罗拉多大学和国家大气研究中心以及其他OASIS参与研究机构的科学家，包括学生。一个CU研究生将从这个补助金支持，并参加实地工作。气球行动吸引了很多公众的注意力，对学童来说尤其迷人。来自巴罗学校的学生和教师将被邀请到气球现场参观气球实验及其科学目的。这是一笔用于探索性研究的小额赠款，因为安装垂直剖面设备以满足OASIS的研究要求的时间轴非常短，而且是收集此类大气测量数据的一种新方法。

This project will deploy two kinds of tethered balloons to collect vertical profile data in support of the Ocean-Atmosphere-Sea Ice-Snowpack Interactions in Polar Regions (OASIS) project in lieu of constructing a 40m walk-up tower. OASIS will be in the field near Barrow, Alaska in winter/spring 2009. A small, i.e. 12-foot diameter balloon, will be deployed for measuring meteorological parameters and ozone profiles 2-3 times per day between the surface and ~600 m altitude. A second experiment, using a larger and stronger lift, i.e. 20-foot-diameter balloon, will raise three sampling lines to heights of ~120, 80, and 40 m. Air pulled from these inlets will be analyzed for trace gases with monitors located in instrument shelters on the ground. Measurements from the stationary balloon inlets will include nitrogen oxides (NOx), as well as nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC), and peroxyacyl nitrates (e.g. PAN), yielding the first high resolution, simultaneous, and continuous NOx, NMHC and PAN vertical profiles from a polar research site. The balloon meteorological data will reveal the boundary layer mixing conditions; this information will allow evaluation and further interpretation of surface measurements. The tethered balloon data will be of extremely high value for input and validation of chemical modeling to be done in the context of OASIS. A particular emphasis will be to elucidate the radical chemistry that leads to ozone and mercury depletion events in the coastal arctic environment. Furthermore, this research ties into the question of how atmospheric chemical processing is connected to ecological impacts, and how climate change will feedback on these interactions. OASIS will entail a multitude of new surface exchange and atmospheric measurements in an international collaborative effort during International Polar Year. Data and findings from this work will be readily shared among all OASIS scientists for broader dissemination of the research implications. Analytical developments within this project will be beneficial for future atmospheric research applications. This experiment will bring together scientists, including students, from the University of Colorado and National Center for Atmospheric Research, as well as from other OASIS-participating research institutions. One CU graduate student will be supported from this grant and participate in the field work. Balloon operations attract a lot of public attention and are particularly fascinating for school children. Students and teachers from Barrow schools will be invited to the balloon site for a tour of the balloon experiment and its scientific purpose. This is a Small Grant for Exploratory Research due to the very short timeline to put the vertical profile equipment in place to meet the research requirements of OASIS and as a novel approach to collecting atmospheric measurements of this kind.