Evaluating coastal atmospheric properties using UAS during TRACER

The Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions Experiment (TRACER) project deployed a variety of observing systems to the greater Houston area in 2021/2022 to help improve our understanding of the interplay between the urban environment, aerosol particles, and coastal circulations and their combined influence on the development of convection and precipitation.  With approximately 40% of the planet’s population living in coastal regions, extreme precipitation events in these areas can have significant impact and result in significant damage and losses.  In the Houston urban metroplex many of these impacts are amplified by the generally low-lying terrain, which contributes to significant regional flooding events under heavy precipitation.

 

As part of TRACER, teams from the University of Colorado Boulder and University of Oklahoma deployed small uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) to areas between the Gulf of Mexico and Houston.  Collecting data on thermodynamic, kinematic, and aerosol properties in the lower atmosphere, the measurements from these platforms provide unique perspectives on the vertical and horizontal variability in key parameters.  During this presentation, we will provide an overview of the sampling strategies employed during TRACER and the platforms used to collect airborne data, the types of measurements collected, and initial results on aerosol conditions and sea breeze properties from the deployment.  We will additionally provide broader context by combining these data with measurements from the US Department of Energy’s 2^nd Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program Mobile Facility (AMF-2), which was deployed to the region for the TRACER campaign.