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We are proud to announce that a LAS scintillometer will be deployed in the SFB/TR32 project 'Patterns in soil, vegetation, Atmosphere interactions' The Transregio 32 works on exchange processes between the soil, vegetation and the adjacent atmospheric boundary layer. The overall research goal is to yield improved numerical models for the prediction of water-, CO2- and energy-transfer by accounting for the patterns occurring at various scales. The scintillometer will be used in subproject D2 'Experimental study of spatio-temporal structures in atmosphere-land surface energy, water and CO2 exchange' The LAS will be installed by end of this year used to measure area averaged fluxes at a site with different crop types. The site is situated close to Julich in Germany: 
Map of installation site. Click to enlarge Land surface atmosphere exchange of energy and momentum but also of water and CO2, is highly variable in space and time. In order to identify spatial and temporal patterns of exchange parameters, an experimental framework will be established which combines continuous ground based in situ measurements with state-of-the-art remote sensing observations and dedicated aircraft campaigns within the Rural catchment. Monitoring and campaign activities will be used to assess long-term regional carbon and water balances and provide boundary layer characteristics necessary for the modeling groups in the SFB/TR. For more infomation, please view the project page at the University of Bonn |
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BSIK-ME2 is a national climate research project that aims to quantify the human induced enhanced greenhouse effect. A full description of the project and how it is embedded in the framework of the BSIK-ME program can be found on the BSIK-ME2 homepage. Transmitter on top of church in Hornhuizen.
Courtesy of Oscar Hartogensis - Wageningen University |
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There is a growing world-wide interest in monitoring surface heat fluxes, the energy balance and evapotranspiration. This is fuelled by the increasing need for the efficient management of drinking water and improving weather forecast models to predict extreme weather. The Dutch remote sensing company Environmental Analysis and Remote Sensing (EARS) has developed an Energy and Water Balance Monitoring System (EWBMS) which utilises Kipp & Zonen Scintillometer systems for measuring sensible heat flux and evapotranspiration. The Yellow River, or Huanghe, is the second longest river in China. It has it’s source in China’s far west, it loops north, bends south, and flows east for approximately 5,500 km until it empties into the sea, draining a basin of 745,000 km², which nourishes 120 million people. In the past 10 years the Yellow river has frequently fallen dry due to insufficient information and lack of control on water distribution. Current hydrological models are sophisticated, but that their performance is restricted due to lack of input data. Current measuring stations are too far apart to create a fair representation of the rainfall field. | 
| The Dutch remote sensing company EARS, has developed the Energy and Water Balance Monitoring System (EWBMS). This system is currently being used in China to predict the Yellow River runoff and to measure the distribution of drought in the Yellow River basin on the basis of satellite data. With this information the allocation of scarce river water can be turned to the needs in a cost-effective way. The system will also be used for high water forecasting. This system will be able to provide daily rainfall maps of the basin at 5 km resolution. Moreover this system is the first in the world to map the evaporation of water from the earth. A scintillometer measures fluctuations in the density of air. These fluctuations are caused by heat and moisture fluxes exchanged between the earth surface and the lower part of the atmosphere. Combined with standard meteorological measurements like wind speed, temperature and humidity, the sensible heat flux is derived. Additional measurement of the net radiation balance and the soil heat flux yield the evapotranspiration. The LAS-ET systems provide an all in one solution. It contains all required measurement instruments and data acquisition. The included EVATION© software package offers a very user friendly interface for processing all the measured data, easy data storage and graphical representation at the click of a button. Further more Kipp & Zonen can provide extensive technical support due to years of experience in the field of scintillometry. |
This article is also featured in our 2nd Newsletter 2 which can be found here |
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