tbsimet
Tethered Balloon System iMet (tbsimet)
Browse DataThe tethered balloon system (TBS) is composed of a variety of winches, balloons, and instrumentation. The TBS operates up to 7,000 above ground level (AGL) within ARM s Restricted Airspace R-2204 at AMF3, sited at Oliktok Point, North Slope of Alaska. The typical balloons used are Skydoc Model #28 aerostats and 35 m3 Allsops helikites. The TBS is operated intermittently between April and November and the instrumentation deployed varies with conditions. ARM began TBS activities at the Southern Great Plains site in 2019.
The TBS operates within clouds at AMF3 and collects in situ data related to horizontal wind, ice microphysics, turbulence, thermodynamic state, aerosols, and the cloud top environment. Typical sensors deployed on the TBS are tethersondes that provide thermodynamic and wind-speed measurements, wetness sensors that indicate the presence of water and its state, supercooled liquid water content sensors, and radiosondes and a fiber-optic-based, distributed temperature-sensing system that provide thermodynamic measurements. The TBS also includes a continuously operated ground station that measures surface pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and 1-minute average and gust wind speeds.
Measurements
Location
- Latitude: 36.607322
- Longitude: -97.487643
- Publication Date: 2019-04-25
- Start Date: 2019-04-25
- End Date: 2020-02-21
- Last Updated: 2020-02-24
Instrument Mentor
Yan Shi
Pacific Northwest National LaboratoryDarielle Dexheimer
Sandia National LaboratoriesDOI / Citation
Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility. 2019, updated hourly. Tethered Balloon System (TBSIMET). 2019-04-25 to 2020-02-21, Southern Great Plains (SGP) Central Facility, Lamont, OK (C1). Compiled by E. Cromwell and D. Dexheimer. ARM Data Center. Data set accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.5439/1426242.