With the increase of spatial resolution of weather forecast models to order O(1 km), the need for adequate observations for model validation becomes evident. Therefore, we designed and constructed ...the "KITcube", a mobile observation platform for convection studies of processes on the meso-? scale. The KITcube consists of in-situ and remote sensing systems which allow measuring the energy balance components of the Earth's surface at different sites; the mean atmospheric conditions by radiosondes, GPS station, and a microwave radiometer; the turbulent characteristics by a sodar and wind lidars; and cloud and precipitation properties by use of a cloud radar, a micro rain radar, disdrometers, rain gauges, and an X-band rain radar. The KITcube was deployed fully for the first time on the French island of Corsica during the HyMeX (Hydrological cycle in the Mediterranean eXperiment) field campaign in 2012. In this article, the components of KITcube and its implementation on the island are described. Moreover, results from one of the HyMeX intensive observation periods are presented to show the capabilities of KITcube.
As part of the Dynamics-Aerosol-Chemistry-Cloud Interactions in West Africa (DACCIWA) project, extensive in-situ measurements of the southern West African atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) have been ...performed at three supersites Kumasi (Ghana), Savè (Benin) and Ile-Ife (Nigeria) during the 2016 monsoon period (June and July). The measurements were designed to provide data for advancing our understanding of the relevant processes governing the formation, persistence and dissolution of nocturnal low-level stratus clouds and their influence on the daytime ABL in southern West Africa. An extensive low-level cloud deck often forms during the night and persists long into the following day strongly influencing the ABL diurnal cycle. Although the clouds are of a high significance for the regional climate, the dearth of observations in this region has hindered process understanding. Here, an overview of the measurements ranging from near-surface observations, cloud characteristics, aerosol and precipitation to the dynamics and thermodynamics in the ABL and above, and data processing is given. So-far achieved scientific findings, based on the dataset analyses, are briefly overviewed.
Our group at KIT has been developing data acquisition (DAQ) systems for many years mainly for large physics experiments like the KATRIN neutrino experiment or the Pierre Auger cosmic ray observatory. ...The DAQ systems were continuously enhanced as new technologies became available. The core of the DAQ systems are field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Trigger functions running on the FPGAs select relevant events out of the permanent data stream of the ADCs and pass it over PCI bus to a embedded Linux computer for further analysis and storage. Modern experiments have raising requirements in both data rate and complexity of trigger and analysis function. To achieve a flexible and fast data link we developed a PCI to PCI Express (PCIe) adapter board which can be connected to any PC equipped with a standard PCIe plug-in adapter. We use this adapter to replace the embedded Linux system and to connect external GPU servers directly to the DAQ system. With this powerful data processing facility at the end of the data chain we can run complex third level trigger functions, reconstruction algorithms and analysis calculations. With PCIe as fast data link and GPU computing together with the well established FPGA unit we achieved a substantial enhancement of our DAQ system.
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