SOARS Manuscripts

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are gases that influence the chemical composition of the atmosphere. In a high nitrogen oxide environment VOCs facilitate higher ozone formation and thus can be a hazard to human and plant health. Most VOC studies focus on VOCs produced by trees but little is known …

Data collected by the Galápagos Islands' Doppler wind profiler using 100- and 500-m pulse lengths do not yield the same wind profiles. The longer 500-m pulse length profiles are displaced in height from those of the shorter 100-m pulse. The standard radar equation used to assign heights to measured …

The purpose of this project is to create a three-dimensional animation of the thermohaline circulation (THC), also known as the great ocean conveyor belt, based on output data from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Parallel Climate Model (PCM) for the years 2000 to 2099. The goal o…

Ozone is an important atmospheric gas that has positive and negatives effects on the Earth System. Recent studies have demonstrated that the total amount of ozone in the troposphere has increased by 36% since 1750. These changes are of concern because tropospheric ozone is a toxic or dangerous gas t…

Tropical cyclones, often called hurricanes or tropical storms, can cause thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in damages to home and businesses. Research on the formation of tropical cyclones, while spanning decades, has been limited compared to research on the dynamics and prediction of matu…

Our scientific understanding of global warming greatly depends on our ability to accurately measure the concentrations and fluxes of the carbon in the atmosphere. NOAA's CO2 measuring site network is randomly arranged around the globe. In this project, we redesigned this network through the use of t…

The goal of the research was to improve the sensitivity and speciation of the Peroxy Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (PerCIMS) technique used in measuring the concentration of hydroperoxy (HO₂) and organic peroxy (RO₂) radical in the atmosphere. It is important to know the concentration of the…

The vertical distribution of ozone layer over the Amazon rainforest, especially within the mixed layer of the planetary boundary layer, is not well understood. During the month of June 2001, ozone profiles were collected as a part of the Large-Scale Biosphere Atmosphere Experiment (LBA) in Amazonia …

The Global Positioning System is a navigational tool developed by the U.S Department of Defense to help determine position, time, and velocity on or above the surface of the earth. Most of the positioning work is done with the transfer of radio signals from satellites to receivers. Since the launchi…

Doppler radar and lightning observation of thunderstorms that occurred during the Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study (STEPS) stationed on the High Pains in the summer of 2000 will be discussed. Detailed radar and lightning datasets were collected during this field project to…

During the TRAnsport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific-2001 (TRACE-P-2001) aircraft mission, formaldehyde (CH₂O) and acetaldehyde (CH₃CHO) were measured along with an extensive suite of other atmospheric parameters. CH₃CHO was measured with two different instruments, one developed by NCAR and …

Our understanding of the troposphere and stratosphere when compared to our knowledge of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT ~80-110 km) region is limited. This research attempts to fill this observational knowledge gap by helping in the development of a new 40.475MHz meteor radar located at P…

Current global climate models are very capably of simulating the present climate conditions and providing comprehensive projection of the future. Unfortunately, the results of global climate model historical simulations and realistic future projections provide a great deal of information so they are…

A single Doppler radar wind retrieval technique, Ground Based Velocity Track Display (GBVTD), was used to retrieve the primary circulation of Hurricane Bret. Radar data from Brownsville (KBRO) and Corpus Christi (KCRP), TX from 22:22:32 UTC to 23:03:03 UTC were used in the application of GBVTD and t…

Nitric oxide (NO), which is produced in the thermosphere as well as in other layers of the atmosphere, is known to destroy stratospheric ozone. Production of NO in the thermosphere is proportional to the amount of available solar energy, which fluctuates due to long-term variability such as the 11-y…

Tropospheric ozone (O₃) is one of the most important atmospheric constituents. It is fundamental in determining oxidation processes in the atmosphere. It also severs as a major greenhouse gas, thus playing a key role in the energy balance of the atmosphere. Recent research had revealed springtime oz…

Mexico City is one of the largest cities in the world and also one of the most polluted. It routinely exceeds standards for tropospheric ozone (O₃). O₃ is created by the oxidation of hydrocarbons in the presence of nitrogen oxides NOx (= NO + NO₂) and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Mexico City's locati…

The computation of atmospheric transmission can contribute to the calculation of infrared spectra used in atmospheric research. Mankin (1979) constructed an algorithm that computes atmospheric transmission using the Fourier transform method that allows for continuous variation of the pressure along …

The Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study (STEPS) too place between 17 May 2000 and 20 July 2000 in eastern Colorado and western Kansas. One goal of STEPS is to find a relationship between the microphysics and dynamics of severe storms on the High Plains and their unusual posit…

Structure and variability of temperatures in the tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (~10-30) are studied based on Global Positioning System Meteorology (GPS/MET) observations during April 1995-February 1997. Comparisons with several hundred co-located radiosondes demonstrates the high…

Simultaneous and precursory signals in sea surface temperature (SST) associated with anomalous precipitation over North, Central and South America are examined with seasonal mean data. The relationships are documented for SST variations in three regions: the equatorial Pacific (NIÑO3), the tropical …

Distribution of pollution concentration is dependent on turbulent conditions of the atmosphere. Turbulence found in the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) is both thermally generated and wind shear driven; it can be viewed as random motion consisting of different size eddies. The purpose of this researc…

Numerical weather prediction – currently the most widely-used tool for weather forecasting – relies on observations and computer models to produce forecasts. To produce accurate forecasts, computer models require an accurate initial state. The initial state is comprised of the previous model run's o…

Thunderstorm models can assimilate data to include the evolution and structure and more recently, the cloud chemistry of storms. To further understand the effect of thunderstorm processing on the chemical composition of the middle and upper troposphere, nonmethane hydrocarbon (NMHC) chemistry was ad…

Variations in the earth's magnetic field have been measured for over a century with the aid of magnetometers. The major contributors to the earth's magnetic field are the electric currents within the earth's interior because the earth is a conductor. Although the electric currents within the earth c…