The Role of Tethered Balloons in Boundary Layer Studies: Current Status and Potential Development

Abstract:

Tethered balloons as a sensor platform for planetary boundary layer (PBL) measurements have many advantages over some other ground-based systems, such as lidar, radar, unmanned aerial vehicle etc. With appropriate sensor packages, it can provide high resolution profiling for the meteorological and radiative properties over the entire PBL from the surface to its top. The balloon can remain at one location for hours, thus is able to provide time series of PBL variables, which is very important for studying boundary layer transition, surface-air interaction, and PBL process parameterization.

In this presentation, we will provide a review on the role of tethered balloon measurements in different aspects of PBL studies, including boundary clouds, thermodynamic structure evolution, aerosol and trace gases etc. Advancements in the parts of the tethered balloon system and potential future applications will also be discussed.