Vertical Profiles of Ozone Concentration Collected by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and the Mixing of the Nighttime Boundary Layer over an Amazonian Urban Area
The nighttime boundary layer was studied in an urban area surrounded by tropical forest by use of a copter-type unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in central Amazonia during the wet season. Fifty-seven vertical profiles of ozone concentration, potential temperature, and specific humidity were collected f...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2019-10-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/10/10/599 |
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| author | Patrícia Guimarães Jianhuai Ye Carla Batista Rafael Barbosa Igor Ribeiro Adan Medeiros Rodrigo Souza Scot T. Martin |
| author_facet | Patrícia Guimarães Jianhuai Ye Carla Batista Rafael Barbosa Igor Ribeiro Adan Medeiros Rodrigo Souza Scot T. Martin |
| author_sort | Patrícia Guimarães |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The nighttime boundary layer was studied in an urban area surrounded by tropical forest by use of a copter-type unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in central Amazonia during the wet season. Fifty-seven vertical profiles of ozone concentration, potential temperature, and specific humidity were collected from surface to 500 m above ground level (a.g.l.) at high vertical and temporal resolutions by use of embedded sensors on the UAV. Abrupt changes in ozone concentration with altitude served as a proxy of nighttime boundary layer (NBL) height for the case of a normal, undisturbed, stratified nighttime atmosphere, corresponding to 40% of the cases. The median height of the boundary layer was 300 m. A turbulent mixing NBL constituted 28% of the profiles, while the median height of the boundary layer was 290 m. The remaining 32% of profiles corresponded to complex atmospheres without clear boundary layer heights. The occurrence of the three different cases correlated well with relative cloud cover. The results show that the standard nighttime model widely implemented in chemical transport models holds just 40% of the time, suggesting new challenges in modeling of regional nighttime chemistry. The boundary layer heights were also somewhat higher than observed previously over forested and pasture areas in Amazonia, indicating the important effect of the urban heat island. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T15:52:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6faf4c657a7f4d35ba645b63d3faa152 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T15:52:24Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-6faf4c657a7f4d35ba645b63d3faa1522022-12-22T01:42:45ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332019-10-01101059910.3390/atmos10100599atmos10100599Vertical Profiles of Ozone Concentration Collected by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and the Mixing of the Nighttime Boundary Layer over an Amazonian Urban AreaPatrícia Guimarães0Jianhuai Ye1Carla Batista2Rafael Barbosa3Igor Ribeiro4Adan Medeiros5Rodrigo Souza6Scot T. Martin7Post-Graduate Program in Climate and Environment, National Institute of Amazonian Research and Amazonas State University, Manaus, Amazonas 69060-001, BrazilSchool of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USAPost-Graduate Program in Climate and Environment, National Institute of Amazonian Research and Amazonas State University, Manaus, Amazonas 69060-001, BrazilPost-Graduate Program in Climate and Environment, National Institute of Amazonian Research and Amazonas State University, Manaus, Amazonas 69060-001, BrazilPost-Graduate Program in Climate and Environment, National Institute of Amazonian Research and Amazonas State University, Manaus, Amazonas 69060-001, BrazilSchool of Technology, Amazonas State University, Manaus, Amazonas 69065-020, BrazilSchool of Technology, Amazonas State University, Manaus, Amazonas 69065-020, BrazilSchool of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USAThe nighttime boundary layer was studied in an urban area surrounded by tropical forest by use of a copter-type unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in central Amazonia during the wet season. Fifty-seven vertical profiles of ozone concentration, potential temperature, and specific humidity were collected from surface to 500 m above ground level (a.g.l.) at high vertical and temporal resolutions by use of embedded sensors on the UAV. Abrupt changes in ozone concentration with altitude served as a proxy of nighttime boundary layer (NBL) height for the case of a normal, undisturbed, stratified nighttime atmosphere, corresponding to 40% of the cases. The median height of the boundary layer was 300 m. A turbulent mixing NBL constituted 28% of the profiles, while the median height of the boundary layer was 290 m. The remaining 32% of profiles corresponded to complex atmospheres without clear boundary layer heights. The occurrence of the three different cases correlated well with relative cloud cover. The results show that the standard nighttime model widely implemented in chemical transport models holds just 40% of the time, suggesting new challenges in modeling of regional nighttime chemistry. The boundary layer heights were also somewhat higher than observed previously over forested and pasture areas in Amazonia, indicating the important effect of the urban heat island.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/10/10/599ozoneamazoniauavboundary layer |
| spellingShingle | Patrícia Guimarães Jianhuai Ye Carla Batista Rafael Barbosa Igor Ribeiro Adan Medeiros Rodrigo Souza Scot T. Martin Vertical Profiles of Ozone Concentration Collected by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and the Mixing of the Nighttime Boundary Layer over an Amazonian Urban Area Atmosphere ozone amazonia uav boundary layer |
| title | Vertical Profiles of Ozone Concentration Collected by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and the Mixing of the Nighttime Boundary Layer over an Amazonian Urban Area |
| title_full | Vertical Profiles of Ozone Concentration Collected by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and the Mixing of the Nighttime Boundary Layer over an Amazonian Urban Area |
| title_fullStr | Vertical Profiles of Ozone Concentration Collected by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and the Mixing of the Nighttime Boundary Layer over an Amazonian Urban Area |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vertical Profiles of Ozone Concentration Collected by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and the Mixing of the Nighttime Boundary Layer over an Amazonian Urban Area |
| title_short | Vertical Profiles of Ozone Concentration Collected by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and the Mixing of the Nighttime Boundary Layer over an Amazonian Urban Area |
| title_sort | vertical profiles of ozone concentration collected by an unmanned aerial vehicle and the mixing of the nighttime boundary layer over an amazonian urban area |
| topic | ozone amazonia uav boundary layer |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/10/10/599 |
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