Fiber optic distributed temperature sensing for the determination of the nocturnal atmospheric boundary layer height

A new method for measuring air temperature profiles in the atmospheric boundary layer at high spatial and temporal resolution is presented. The measurements are based on Raman scattering distributed temperature sensing (DTS) with a fiber optic cable attached to a tethered balloon. These data were used to estimate the height of the stable nocturnal boundary layer. The experiment was successfully
deployed during a two-day campaign in September 2009, providing evidence that DTS is well suited for this atmospheric application. Observed stable temperature profiles exhibit an exponential shape confirming similarity concepts of the temperature inversion close to the surface. The atmospheric mixing height (MH) was estimated to vary between 5 m and 50 m as a result of the nocturnal boundary layer evolution. This value is in good agreement with the MH derived from concurrent Radon-222 (222Rn) measurements and in previous studies.

Raw project data is available by contacting [e-mail]

本研究提出了一种新型方法，用于在高层空间和时间分辨率下测量大气边界层中的气温剖面。该方法基于拉曼散射分布式温度传感（DTS）技术，并通过连接于系留气球的纤维光缆进行测量。所收集的数据被用于估算稳定夜间边界层的高度。实验于2009年9月进行的为期两天的活动中成功实施，为DTS技术在大气应用中的适用性提供了有力证据。观测到的稳定气温剖面呈现出指数形态，证实了地表附近温度逆温的相似性概念。大气混合高度（MH）估算值介于5米至50米之间，这是由于夜间边界层演化的结果。此值与同时进行的氡-222（222Rn）测量值以及以往研究中的MH值吻合良好。原始项目数据可通过联系[e-mail]获取。