Contextualizing Polarimetric Retrievals of Boundary Layer Height Using State-of-the-Art Boundary Layer Profiling

• Published in: Journal of applied meteorology and climatology Vol. 63; no. 7; pp. 765 - 780
• Main Authors: Carlin, Jacob T., Smith, Elizabeth N., Giannakopoulos, Katherine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston American Meteorological Society 01.07.2024
• Subjects: Air quality; Atmosphere; Boundary layer height; Boundary layers; Climate models; Climatology; Clutter; Data collection; Depth; Diurnal cycle; Diurnal variations; Doppler effect; Effectiveness; Estimates; Evaluation; Geography; Height; Moisture gradient; Planetary boundary layer; Polarimetric radar; Polarimetry; Precipitation; Profiling; Qualitative analysis; Radar; Radar data; Radar signatures; Reflectance; Renewable energy; Scattering; Temperature; Turbulence; Uncertainty; Weather; Weather forecasting; Louisiana; United States > US; Oklahoma
• ISSN: 1558-8424; 1558-8432
• DOI: 10.1175/JAMC-D-23-0231.1

Knowledge about the depth of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) is crucial for a variety of applications, but direct observations of PBL depth are spatiotemporally sparse. Recent studies have proposed using operational dual-polarization weather radars to observe the evolution of PBL depth by capitalizing on unique differential reflectivity ( Z DR ) signatures of Bragg scatter at the top of the PBL. While this approach appears promising and cost-effective, uncertainties remain about the representativeness of these estimates and how its efficacy may vary by geography and climatology. To address these outstanding uncertainties, this study compares collocated observations collected from two WSR-88D radars and two state-of-the-art mobile boundary layer profiling systems and evaluates the proposed methodology over the full diurnal cycle. Results indicate good overall correspondence between the profiling- and radar-based PBL depth estimates, with an abrupt divergence during the early evening transition and large discrepancies overnight. Relatively large root-mean-square-deviations (RMSDs) coupled with small biases match expectations when comparing spatially averaged data with point observations during PBL growth, which capture frequent fluctuations. A qualitative examination of the radar data reveals signatures of elevated residual layers, clouds, and ground clutter, all of which can obfuscate the desired surface-based PBL signal but which may have their own utility. The prominence of the Bragg scatter signal is found to be correlated with the observed moisture gradient at the top of the PBL, reflecting climatological variability that should be considered. These findings motivate further work to improve the automated detection of Bragg scatter layers from polarimetric radar data.