Collaborative Research: MRI-R2--Acquisition of a Mobile Atmospheric Profiling System for Multi-Campus Research and Education (CSU-MAPS)

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Experimental research in boundary layer meteorology requires information both on direct surface-atmosphere exchanges of energy and moisture as well as profiles of meteorological parameters extending into the lower part of the atmosphere. By combining experimental and educational goals of multiple projects involving five departments at three California State University (CSU) campuses, this effort supported through NSF's Major Research Instrumentation (MRI-R2) program will allow procurement and integration of a highly agile mobile atmospheric profiling system (CSU-MAPS). This system includes micro-meteorological instruments mounted on a telescopic 30-meter tall tower, as well as two vertically pointing remote sensing systems (viz. a microwave profiler and wind LIDAR), all to be designed for rapid deployment via a trailer-mounted arrangement. Together these instruments will profile temperature and water vapor at two heights near 10 km above ground level. A combination of low-level in-situ and remotely sensed measurements extending to heights near 10 km will be supplemented by a more standard rawinsonde system providing occasional balloon-based profiles to even higher levels.The intellectual merit of this effort centers on support for fields as diverse as wildfire science and renewable energy exploration and by allowing exceedingly rapid deployment of high-quality measurement systems in response to rapidly evolving weather and wildfire conditions. Research supported by collaborating faculty will extend to topics including (though not limited to) urban meteorology, wetland micrometeorology, associated carbon fluxes, wind-energy prospecting, marine-atmosphere interactions along coastal zones, and controls on development of severe thunderstorms.Broader impacts will come through improved understanding of geophysical phenomena in regions of complex terrain and coastlines, by providing students with hands-on student experience in planning and conducting field measurements, and through a range of associated practical skills. CSU-MAPS and the observations it collects will provide the foundation for three separate University courses on meteorological instrumentation and measurements. Through these involvements, more than 500 students across three campuses will benefit during each year of its operation. Outreach to K-12 students is also planned. More than half of the involved students will be drawn from underrepresented groups.