DPG Meteorology assists with inversion study

Photo By Albert Vogel | The 100-foot meteorological tower at Ouray National Wildlife Refuge with the setup crew. Left to right: Edward Martin and Bradley Hunsaker of DPG Meteorology, and Stephen Aagard of Jacobs at Dugway Proving Ground. This piece of equipment was loaned to the Bureau of Land Management to assist with a two-year study on the inversion.  

DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, UT, UNITED STATES

11.17.2020

Story by Albert Vogel 

U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground

Meteorological equipment and instruments were recently loaned by Dugway Proving Ground to assist a study of ground-level ozone at the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Utah.
The Data Science Division, Meteorology Branch of DPG’s West Desert Test Center provided the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) a 100-foot tower fitted with meteorological sensors at varying levels, a microwave radiometer and a sonic detection and ranging wind profiler.
The study will measure the low level atmospheric characteristics that lead to the trapping of locally emitted pollutants. The primary pollutants in the Uintah Basin are volatile organic compounds created by oil and gas drilling and refinement processes, which develop into ground level ozone pollution.
While ozone in the upper atmosphere beneficially reduces the Sun’s damaging ultraviolet light from reaching the Earth’s surface, near ground level ozone is a potent respiratory hazard and pollutant to plants and animals.
“The EPA has limits for ozone, which have been exceeded during winter time inversions,” said Daniel Ruth, lead meteorologist at DPG. “Once the standards are exceeded, they have to work on a mitigation plan for that.”
In 2014, the federal government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report noting wintertime levels of ozone in the Uintah Basin exceeding federal health standards. The goal of the study is to better understand the atmosphere that is trapping the pollutants so that adequate measures can be developed to prevent this from happening.
The microwave radiometer, “Basically gives us a temperature and humidity profile up through the atmosphere,” said Ruth. “The sonic detection and ranging wind profiler emits an acoustic signal into the atmosphere, measuring the Doppler shift on that signal that is used to calculate the direction and velocity of upper level winds.”
DPG uses these sophisticated meteorological instruments to monitor the atmosphere at Dugway, which is critical during outdoor tests of chemical or biological detectors (using simulated agent), Unmanned Aircraft Systems, etc.
The BLM is the primary investigator for a study of the ozone levels on or near the surface of the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, partnering with Utah State University, the Utah Department of Air Quality and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which manages the wildlife refuge.

• Date Taken: 11.17.2020
• Date Posted: 11.17.2020 13:51
• Story ID: 383212
• Location: DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, UT, US
• Hometown: DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, UT, US