A Preliminary Assessment of the Monostatic Acoustic Sounder as a Forecast Aid in the Prediction of Advection Fogs at a Massachusetts Coastal Station

摘要

A monostatic acoustic sounder was installed at the AFGL Weather Test Facility at Otis AFB, Massachusetts. Data were collected during 18 fog cases that occurred during the 1979 fog season. These data were used to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the usefulness of the monostatic acoustic sounder for predicting the occurrence and dissipation of east coast maritime fogs, and to learn more about the structure and evolutionary processes of the fog life cycle. Results indicate that the inversion height data obtained from the sounder, and information on the lifting condensation level, can be used to predict the occurrence of stratus and the probability of a fog event. The sounder provides no information, however, that would be useful in predicting the onset time of the fog event. There is some evidence of turbulent mixing causing the fog to lift, and low level convergence causing the fog to form. (Author)