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，以支持极地海洋-大气-海冰-积雪相互作用(OASIS)项目，而不是建造一座40米高的无电梯塔楼。绿洲公司将于2009年冬/春在阿拉斯加巴罗附近的田野上作业。将部署一个直径12英尺的小气球，每天在地面和~600米高度之间测量气象参数和臭氧分布2-3次。第二个实验使用更大更强的升降机，即直径20英尺的气球，将三根采样线提升到约120米、80米和40米的高度。从这些进气口拉出的空气将通过地面仪表舱内的监视器进行痕量气体分析。固定气球进气口的测量将包括氮氧化物(NOx)、非甲烷碳氢化合物(NMHC)和过氧酰基硝酸盐(例如PAN)，从极地科考点获得第一个高分辨率、同时和连续的NOx、NMHC和PAN垂直剖面。气球气象数据将揭示边界层混合条件；这些信息将使评估和进一步解释地面测量。系留气球数据对于在OASIS背景下进行的化学建模的输入和验证将具有极高的价值。一个特别的重点将是阐明导致北极沿海环境中臭氧和汞耗尽事件的基本化学物质。此外，这项研究还涉及大气化学处理如何与生态影响相联系，以及气候变化将如何反馈这些相互作用的问题。在国际极地年期间，绿洲将在一项国际合作努力中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很容易在所有绿洲科学家之间共享，以便更广泛地传播研究影响。该项目的分析进展将有利于今后的大气研究应用。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绿洲研究机构的科学家，包括学生。CU的一名研究生将从这笔助学金中获得资助，并参与实地考察工作。气球操作吸引了很多公众的注意，对学童来说尤其吸引人。来自巴罗学校的学生和老师将被邀请到气球现场参观气球实验及其科学目的。这是探索性研究的一小笔赠款，因为安装垂直剖面设备以满足绿洲的研究要求的时间非常短，而且是收集这类大气测量的一种新方法。

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.