The NOAA Profiler Network: Operations and Utility of Profiler Data

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The NOAA Profiler Network Operations and Utility
of Profiler Data

• Jon Harvey
• Ohio University
• August 01, 2006
• Silver Spring, MD

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Outline

• NOAA Profiler Network Background
• Network Operations and Maintenance
• Study of Profiler Data Usage by NWS
• Data Quality Control and Future Plans

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NOAA Profiler Network

• The NOAA Profiler Network (NPN) is a network of
• 404.37 and 449 MHz Doppler wind radars
  
  
• Profilers measure vertical profiles of
  horizontal wind speed and direction from 0.5 km
  to 16.25 km AGL every 6 minutes
  

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NOAA Profiler Network Site Locations
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Advantages of NOAA Profilers

• Fill the observation gap between 0z and 12z
  weather balloon ascents extremely important
  during rapidly changing severe weather
  
• Run unattended for long periods of time during
  most weather conditions
  
• Minimum of moving parts increases reliability
• Remote diagnostic capability increases uptime

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NPN Network

• NPN fully operational since 1992
• NPN transitioned from OAR to NWS April 2006
• Frequency change from 404.37 to 449 MHz needed to
  accommodate deployment of 60 satellites of the
  EU Galileo GPS and US GPS III constellations
  2008?
• Frequency change avoids interference with
  satellites equipped with Search and Rescue
  receivers
  

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• NPN profilers transmit in 3 beams East, North
  and Vertical
  
• Profilers send 6-minute data of radial velocity,
  signal power and velocity variance from 72
  heights for each beam
  
• Eleven profilers are equipped with Radio
  Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) temperature
  capability
  
• Sites also function as stations in the GPS-MET
  water vapor network

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Equipment Shelter
404 MHz Antenna
RASS Transducers
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Operations and Maintenance

• Each Profiler sends data every 6 minutes over
  dedicated landline to the NPN Hub in Boulder, CO
  
• Hub is a cluster of Micro-VAX computers running
  VAX/VMS (1986)
  
• Hub processes data for both local monitoring
  functions and for distribution to remote
  customers
  
• Local display stations used for data quality
  control and failure diagnosis
  
• Since Hub is a single point of failure for entire
  network, it must be closely monitored and
  regularly maintained
  

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NPN Hub Boulder, CO
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Operational Tasks

• Maintain logs of Hub and individual profiler
  failures
  
• Produce weekly status charts
• Calculate weekly NPN performance numbers
• Diagnose hardware problems at profiler sites
• Diagnose and initiate repair of communication
  faults
  

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NPN Data Customers

• NPN data are automatically distributed to
• NWS Weather Forecast Offices for display with
  AWIPS
  
• NCEP Numerical Weather Prediction Models
• NCEP Storm Prediction Center
• NESDIS Satellite Winds
• Federal Research Agencies, Universities and
  Private Institutions
  
• State and Local Organizations

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Study of Profiler Data Usage by NWS Weather
Forecast Offices (WFOs)

• Goals
• Study geographic distribution of WFOs using
  profiler data
  
• Study how WFO Forecasters use Profiler data in
  their decision-making processes
  
• Methods
• Each WFOs Area Forecast Discussion (AFD) was
  automatically searched for the word profiler
  
• Qualifying AFDs were then saved and catalogued

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Area Forecast Discussions (AFDs)

• Issued several times per day at each NWS office
  
  
• Provides means for forecasters to share their
  thought process with later shifts and neighboring
  WFOs
  
• Provides an objective technique to determine data
  usage and value
  

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NWS Offices Identifying the Use of Profiler Data
in Area Forecast Discussions March 14, 2004
through September 5, 2004
Seattle
Milwaukee/ Sullivan
Marquette
Gray
Twin Cities
Gray/Portland
Gaylord
Green Bay
Detroit / Pontiac
La Crosse
Rapid City
Quad Cities
Sioux Falls
Binghamton
Grand Rapids
New York City
Des Moines
Northern IN
Omaha
Sacramento
Cheyenne
North Platte
Baltimore/ Washington D.C.
Chicago
Lincoln
Hastings
Denver
Indianapolis
Kansas City
San Francisco
Topeka
St. Louis
Wakefield
Grand Junction
Goodland
Wichita
Springfield
Hanford
Pueblo
Paducah
Raleigh
Dodge City
Nashville
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Tulsa
Memphis
Flagstaff
Norman
Amarillo
Albuquerque
Lubbock
Jackson
Tucson
Number of AFDs
Fort Worth
Tallahassee
Shreveport
Midland/Odessa
70 51-70 31-50 11-30
El Paso/Santa Teresa
Lake Charles
Melbourne
San Angelo
New Orleans/Baton Rouge
Austin/San Antonio
Houston/Galveston
Corpus Christi
Key West
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Top WFO Offices Using Profiler Data

• WFO Mentions
• San Francisco, CA 145
• Chicago, IL 92
• Hanford, CA 70
• Wichita, KS 70
• Melbourne, FL 67
• Sacramento, CA 58
• Springfield, MO 58
• Topeka, KS 40
• Kansas City, MO 31

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Total number of mentions during study period 1187
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Examples of Profiler Mentions in AFDs
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
GOODLAND KS 153 AM MDT TUE AUG 3 2004 BOTTOM
LINE...TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL BE SIMILAR TO
THOSE OF YESTERDAY. MODELS BRING A MID LEVEL
SHORT WAVE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. THE
WAVE IS APPARENT IN THE WATER VAPOR IMAGERY...AND
AZTEC NM PROFILER INDICATES WAVE WENT THROUGH
THERE A FEW HOURS AGO. PLATTEVILLE CO PROFILER
ALSO INDICATES THAT WAVE MAY BE SHARPER THAN ETA
INDICATES...MORE IN LINE WITH GFS
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Examples of Profiler Mentions in AFDs

• AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
• NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
• 400 AM CST SUN MAR 28 2004
• TDA
• BUSY NGT. ONGOING PCPN IN SE KS HAS BEEN
• AIDED BY IMPRESSIVE DIFFLUENCE AND RIGHT
• ENTRANCE RGN OF H3JET. PROFILERS HAVE BEEN
• INVALUABLE DURG THE NGT WITH SHORT TERM
• TRENDS

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Examples of Profiler Mentions in AFDs
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
NORTHERN INDIANA 654 PM EST WED AUG 25 2004
LARGE MCS DEVELOPING IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS IN
RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF 80KT H25 JET MAX OVER
THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. LATEST PROFILER DATA
SHOWING A VEERED LOW LEVEL JET OVER EASTERN
OKLAHOMA INTO SOUTHERN MISSOURI FEEDING VERY WARM
AND UNSTABLE AIR INTO THE DEVELOPING MCS
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Specific Uses Commonly Mentioned by NWS
Forecasters

• Validating NWP Model winds
• Validating Satellite winds
• Locating short waves and upper air disturbances
• Measuring depth of marine and boundary layers
• Characterizing strength of low-level jets and
  wind shear during severe weather events
  
• Issuing high wind warnings
• Characterizing warm/cold air and moisture
  advection
  

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Quality Control and Future Plans

• Implement improved RASS quality control by
  calculating climatologically reasonable
  temperatures at the RASS sites
  
• Investigate candidate improvements to the Bird
  Detection Algorithm
  
• Study height coverage of RASS as a function of
  low-level wind speed

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Conclusions

• Profiler data are an integral part of the
  forecasting process at many WFOs
  
• Remote diagnostics are valuable for determining
  hardware and communication faults
  
• Network Operations depend on regular monitoring
  of NPN Hub and profiler faults

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References

• Benjamin, S.G., B.E. Schwartz, E.J. Szoke, Koch,
  S., 2004. The Value of Wind Profiler Data in
  U.S. Weather Forecasting. Bulletin of the
  American Meteorological Society p. 1871-1886
• van de Kamp, D.W., D.M. Grant, 2006. Tracking NWS
  Area Forecast Discussions to Study the
  Subjective Use of Wind and Temperature Profiler
  Data. 21st International Conference on
  Interactive Information Processing Systems
  (IIPS) for Meteorology, Oceanography, and
  Hydrology, San Diego, CA, American
  Meteorological Society
• Many images taken from http//www.profiler.noaa.go
  v
  

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Acknowledgements

• Thanks to NPN staff
• Doug van de Kamp (Mentor)
• Margot Ackley
• Alan Pihlak
• Mike Shanahan
• Jean Tomkowicz

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QUESTIONS?