Abstract

The changing thermodynamic and chemical properties of the atmosphere are largely controlled by the exchange of heat, moisture, and momentum within the land and ocean boundary layers. Understanding anthropogenic impacts on air quality and the climate requires knowledge of the sources, sinks, and turbulent exchange processes for pollutants and greenhouse gases. Present knowledge of these processes largely depends on flux measurements acquired using in situ sensors on aircraft, towers, and tethered balloons, or by radar, sodar, and lidar remote sensors. Large eddy simulation models (Moeng and Wyngaard, 1988) have added significantly to current understanding of these turbulent exchange processes, but significant improvements in the spatial, temporal, and velocity resolution of current measurement capabilities for wind and concentration fluctuations are needed to provide adequate data sets from which improved theories and models of turbulent transfer can be developed and verified. Remote measurement instruments with sufficient resolution would enable flux measurements by eddy correlation techniques, satisfying these needs.

© 1993 Optical Society of America