Planetary Boundary Layer Height Estimation: Methodology and Case Study Using NAST-I FIREX-AQ Field Campaign Data

The ratio of potential temperature (T<sub>p</sub>) and dewpoint temperature (T<sub>d</sub>), which is derived from retrievals of infrared hyperspectral measurements, is adopted as a new parameter for better estimating planetary boundary layer height (PBLH). A case study, cond...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hyun-Sung Jang, Daniel K. Zhou, Xu Liu, Wan Wu, Allen M. Larar, Anna M. Noe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10962543/
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Summary:The ratio of potential temperature (T<sub>p</sub>) and dewpoint temperature (T<sub>d</sub>), which is derived from retrievals of infrared hyperspectral measurements, is adopted as a new parameter for better estimating planetary boundary layer height (PBLH). A case study, conducted with National Airborne Sounder Testbed-Interferometer (NAST-I) measurements obtained during the Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality field campaign, is presented herein. We use NAST-I geophysical parameter retrievals from the Single Field-of-view Sounder Atmospheric Product algorithm, which ensures higher vertical resolution of temperature and moisture profiles as well as accurate surface temperature and emissivity, to estimate PBLH with a higher horizontal spatial resolution of 2.6 km. As a result of using the ratio of potential and dewpoint temperatures, instead of individual thermodynamic retrievals, a more robust parameter for estimating PBLH is obtained. A quality control process is developed to filter out abnormal outliers. Additionally, those outliers are modified using statistics from nominal distributions of the T<sub>p</sub>/T<sub>d</sub> ratio and PBLH. A high consistency between NAST-I thermodynamically-retrieved PBLH and that from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis-5, which uses both dynamic and thermodynamic information, successfully supports the validity and significance of our approach.
ISSN:1939-1404
2151-1535