NOAA Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies

NOAA Seminar Series: Evaluation of Wind Profile and Boundary Layer Height from an Airborne Doppler Lidar
2026-01-08 13:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York)
Title: Evaluation of Wind Profile and Boundary Layer Height from an Airborne Doppler Lidar for Atmospheric Dynamics, Weather and Air Quality

Presenter(s): Kevin Herrera, CESSRST II Graduate Fellow
Remote Access: Video call link: https://meet.google.com/vqj-aqdf-afz

Abstract:
The planetary boundary layer (PBL) regulates the exchange of momentum, heat, moisture, and pollutants between the Earth’s surface and the free atmosphere, making accurate identification of the PBL height critical for weather forecasting, air quality assessment, and climate studies. This project was motivated by the need to better understand both the physical basis and practical limitations of PBLH retrievals derived from Doppler wind lidar. Using airborne observations from the2023 Coastal Urban Plume Dynamics Study (CUPiDS) over the New York City region and ground-based measurements from the Pick-Up based Mobile Atmospheric Sounder(PUMAS) collected during the 2024 Airborne Methane Mass Balance Emissions in Colorado (AMMBEC) campaign along the Colorado Front Range, this study examined boundary-layer structure across urban, coastal, and continental environments. The analysis applied the Haar wavelet covariance method to range-corrected lidar intensity as a gradient-based approach for identifying the PBL top, alongside variance-based diagnostics, including vertical velocity variance and velocity azimuth display fit variance to characterize turbulence and flow heterogeneity. Results show that while Haar-based methods can reliably identify PBL transitions under ideal conditions, their performance degrades in the presence of clouds and multi-layered aerosol structure. Variance-based products provide valuable complementary context, with fit variance being a promising ,but underexplored diagnostic that qualitatively echoes established vertical velocity variance behavior. These findings contribute to improved understanding of foundational PBL height retrieval techniques and support the development of more robust approaches relevant to NOAA OAR’s role in developing and validating new measurement strategies and improving interpretation of complex observations for purposes of weather, air quality, and climate. The results presented are from the NOAA EPP/MSI CSC NERTO graduate internship project conducted under the mentorship of Brian Carroll and Steven Brown, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Chemical Sciences Laboratory.

Seminar on Building Coastal Research Partnerships with NOAA
2026-03-06 13:00 - 14:30 | Grove School of Engineering, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY, 10031, United States
Seminar on Building Coastal Research Partnerships with NOAA,
Date: March 6, 2026 from 1:00pm
Location: Exhibit Room, Steinman Hall, Grove School of Engineering
Presenter(s): Dr. Lonnie Gonsalves (NOS), Artara Johnson, Dr. Veeshan Narinesingh, and Matthew Harrison (GFDL)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87612364051?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 876 1236 4051
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Line offices across NOAA will engage in a seminar and networking session aimed at strengthening collaboration and building coastal research partnerships across mission areas.

Dr. Lonnie Gonsalves, Division Chief within NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS), and Artara Johnson will address priority mission areas, key technical skill areas, and the communities served across NOS offices. Lonnie will focus predominantly on NCCOS, with connectivity to work in coastal states, national marine sanctuaries, disaster response, and forecasting. Tara will discuss environmental intelligence and prediction from the F4 offices perspective, with applications to economic services (ports and shipping), resilience, and disaster response.

Additional perspectives will be provided by Physical Scientists Dr. Veeshan Narinesingh, and Matthew Harrison of NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL). They will highlight research and operational integration across OAR and GFDL, with discussion of observing systems, modeling, remote sensing, engineering innovations, and applications relevant to environmental intelligence and Earth system science.
