Meteorological Monitoring Plan
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Meteorological Monitoring at Los Alamos LA-UR-03-8097 November 2003 Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the United States Department of Energy under contract W-7405-ENG-36 Cover: (Top) Net radiation (shortwave and longwave) measurements at Technical Area (TA) 6. (Middle) Multiple measurement levels on the TA-6 tower. (Bottom) Typical tower instrumentation including a horizontal vane/propeller, a vertical propeller, and an aspirated thermometer with a solar radiation shield. An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither The Regents of the University of California, the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by The Regents of the University of California, the United States Government, or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of The Regents of the University of California, the United States Government, or any agency thereof. The Los Alamos National Laboratory strongly supports academic freedom and a researcher’s right to publish; as an institution, however, the Laboratory does not endorse the viewpoint of a publication or guarantee its technical correctness. 2 LA-UR-03-8097 Progress Report Meteorological Monitoring at Los Alamos Meteorology and Air Quality Group (RRES-MAQ) Prepared by Jeremy Rishel Scot Johnson Darrell Holt With contributions from Melissa Coronado Bill Olsen 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE......................................................................................................................................................5 METEOROLOGY ........................................................................................................................................5 A. RATIONALE AND MONITORING REQUIREMENTS ....................................................................6 B. DESIGN CRITERIA................................................................................................................................7 1. MONITORING STATIONS ...............................................................................................................................8 2. ADEQUACY OF THE TOWER NETWORK .......................................................................................................11 C. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION......................................................................................................11 1. MEASUREMENTS ........................................................................................................................................11 a. Instrumentation.....................................................................................................................................11 b. Observed Variables ..............................................................................................................................13 c. Sampling ...............................................................................................................................................23 2. DATA MANAGEMENT .................................................................................................................................23 a. Description of the Data Management Component ...............................................................................23 b. Hardware and Software........................................................................................................................24 c. Routine Data Acquisition and Processing ............................................................................................25 3. DATA ANALYSIS AND FORECASTING..........................................................................................................28 4. MODELING .................................................................................................................................................28 5. DATA ACCESSIBILITY.................................................................................................................................31 6. PROGRAM CHANGES SINCE THE 1998 EMP ...............................................................................................32 a. Measurements.......................................................................................................................................32 b. Data Management ................................................................................................................................32 c. Data Analysis and Forecasting.............................................................................................................32 d. Modeling...............................................................................................................................................32 e. Data Accessibility .................................................................................................................................32 f. Quality Assurance .................................................................................................................................32 D. QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL....................................................................33 E. ANTICIPATED PROGRAM ENHANCEMENTS .............................................................................33 1. MEASUREMENTS ........................................................................................................................................33 2. DATA MANAGEMENT .................................................................................................................................33 3. DATA ANALYSIS AND FORECASTING..........................................................................................................33 4. MODELING .................................................................................................................................................33 5. DATA ACCESSIBILITY.................................................................................................................................34 F. TOWER LOCATIONS IN VARIOUS COORDINATE SYSTEMS .................................................34 G. REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................................35 4 Preface “Meteorological Monitoring at Los Alamos” is Chapter 13 of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMP). The EMP is required by Department of Energy (DOE) Order 450.1 (DOE 2003), including an update every three years. This document supersedes “Meteorological Monitoring at Los Alamos,” by Baars et al. (1998), and is published separately from the EMP for ease of use and distribution by the meteorological monitoring program. Chapter 13 describes all aspects of the meteorological monitoring program (referred to in this document as the “program”) as of April 2003. Additional information on the program can be obtained by calling (505) 667-7079, by visiting the program’s internal website http://weather.lanl.gov, or public website http://www.weather.lanl.gov. Meteorology Meteorological monitoring at Los Alamos originally began in 1910, when daily maximum and minimum temperatures, as well as precipitation data, were recorded and archived. In 1979, a comprehensive tower network was installed to measure temperature, wind, humidity, pressure, precipitation, and insolation as required for DOE facilities. During the early 1990s, the network was revised, with additional towers sited throughout the facility to augment the data collection program, as well as to increase the spatial resolution of the observation domain. Subsequent to this time, more sophisticated instrumentation has been employed, including the use of sodar, to measure meteorological variables within the boundary layer. All measured data are archived continually and made accessible to Laboratory personnel for use in various projects and programs. For example, the collected data play a critical role in emergency planning in the event of a chemical or radiological release, demonstrating regulatory compliance in the areas of air quality, water quality, and waste management, as well as supporting monitoring programs in biology, hydrology, and health physics. Archived meteorological data are also used in numerous investigative studies (Baars 1997, Bowen et al. 2000, Stone 1998), for support of Laboratory operations and are the foundation for the comprehensive climatological study of Los Alamos compiled by Bowen (1990, 1992). Meteorological data requests come from a wide variety of customers, both internal and external to the Laboratory. The program’s website, called the “Weather Machine” (http://weather.lanl.gov), is instrumental in servicing many of these requests, with its data request forms, graphical and tabular data displays, and relevant links to additional Web resources and tools. Other data