Planetary Boundary Layer Height Estimates From ICESat-2 and CATS Backscatter Measurements
The lowest layer of the atmosphere in which all human activity occurs is called the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL). All physical interactions with the surface, such as heat and moisture transport, pollution dispersion and transport happen in this relatively shallow layer. The ability to understand a...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-09-01
|
Series: | Frontiers in Remote Sensing |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2021.716951/full |
id |
doaj-22c62c95e0304d4ca8dd9453d940189b |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-22c62c95e0304d4ca8dd9453d940189b2021-09-13T05:43:46ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Remote Sensing2673-61872021-09-01210.3389/frsen.2021.716951716951Planetary Boundary Layer Height Estimates From ICESat-2 and CATS Backscatter MeasurementsStephen P. Palm0Patrick Selmer1John Yorks2Stephen Nicholls3Edward Nowottnick4Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD, United StatesScience Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD, United StatesNASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United StatesScience Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD, United StatesNASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United StatesThe lowest layer of the atmosphere in which all human activity occurs is called the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL). All physical interactions with the surface, such as heat and moisture transport, pollution dispersion and transport happen in this relatively shallow layer. The ability to understand and model the complex interactions that occur in the PBL is very important to air quality, weather prediction and climate modeling. A fundamental and physically important property of the PBL is its thickness or height. This work presents two methods to obtain global PBL height using satellite lidar data from the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) and the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS). The first method is a straightforward backscatter threshold technique and the second is a machine learning approach known as a Convolutional Neural Network. The PBL height retrievals from the two methods are compared with each other and with PBL height from the NASA GEOS MERRA-2 reanalysis. The lidar-retrieved PBL heights have a high degree of spatial correlation with the model heights but are generally higher over ocean (∼400 m) and over northern hemisphere high latitude regions (∼1,000 m). Over mid-latitude and tropical land areas, the satellite estimated PBL heights agree well with model mid-day estimates. This work demonstrates the feasibility of using satellite lidar backscatter measurements to obtain global PBL height estimates, as well as determining seasonal and regional variability of PBL height.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2021.716951/fullplanetary boundary layer heightICESat-2CATSmachine learningLiDAR remote sensingMERRA-2 PBL height |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Stephen P. Palm Patrick Selmer John Yorks Stephen Nicholls Edward Nowottnick |
spellingShingle |
Stephen P. Palm Patrick Selmer John Yorks Stephen Nicholls Edward Nowottnick Planetary Boundary Layer Height Estimates From ICESat-2 and CATS Backscatter Measurements Frontiers in Remote Sensing planetary boundary layer height ICESat-2 CATS machine learning LiDAR remote sensing MERRA-2 PBL height |
author_facet |
Stephen P. Palm Patrick Selmer John Yorks Stephen Nicholls Edward Nowottnick |
author_sort |
Stephen P. Palm |
title |
Planetary Boundary Layer Height Estimates From ICESat-2 and CATS Backscatter Measurements |
title_short |
Planetary Boundary Layer Height Estimates From ICESat-2 and CATS Backscatter Measurements |
title_full |
Planetary Boundary Layer Height Estimates From ICESat-2 and CATS Backscatter Measurements |
title_fullStr |
Planetary Boundary Layer Height Estimates From ICESat-2 and CATS Backscatter Measurements |
title_full_unstemmed |
Planetary Boundary Layer Height Estimates From ICESat-2 and CATS Backscatter Measurements |
title_sort |
planetary boundary layer height estimates from icesat-2 and cats backscatter measurements |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Remote Sensing |
issn |
2673-6187 |
publishDate |
2021-09-01 |
description |
The lowest layer of the atmosphere in which all human activity occurs is called the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL). All physical interactions with the surface, such as heat and moisture transport, pollution dispersion and transport happen in this relatively shallow layer. The ability to understand and model the complex interactions that occur in the PBL is very important to air quality, weather prediction and climate modeling. A fundamental and physically important property of the PBL is its thickness or height. This work presents two methods to obtain global PBL height using satellite lidar data from the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) and the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS). The first method is a straightforward backscatter threshold technique and the second is a machine learning approach known as a Convolutional Neural Network. The PBL height retrievals from the two methods are compared with each other and with PBL height from the NASA GEOS MERRA-2 reanalysis. The lidar-retrieved PBL heights have a high degree of spatial correlation with the model heights but are generally higher over ocean (∼400 m) and over northern hemisphere high latitude regions (∼1,000 m). Over mid-latitude and tropical land areas, the satellite estimated PBL heights agree well with model mid-day estimates. This work demonstrates the feasibility of using satellite lidar backscatter measurements to obtain global PBL height estimates, as well as determining seasonal and regional variability of PBL height. |
topic |
planetary boundary layer height ICESat-2 CATS machine learning LiDAR remote sensing MERRA-2 PBL height |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2021.716951/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT stephenppalm planetaryboundarylayerheightestimatesfromicesat2andcatsbackscattermeasurements AT patrickselmer planetaryboundarylayerheightestimatesfromicesat2andcatsbackscattermeasurements AT johnyorks planetaryboundarylayerheightestimatesfromicesat2andcatsbackscattermeasurements AT stephennicholls planetaryboundarylayerheightestimatesfromicesat2andcatsbackscattermeasurements AT edwardnowottnick planetaryboundarylayerheightestimatesfromicesat2andcatsbackscattermeasurements |
_version_ |
1717381401912803328 |