| NSF Org: |
AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 31, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 31, 2018 |
| Award Number: | 1844426 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Nicholas Anderson
nanderso@nsf.gov (703)292-4715 AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | August 15, 2018 |
| End Date: | July 31, 2019 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $47,293.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $47,293.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
21 N PARK ST STE 6301 MADISON WI US 53715-1218 (608)262-3822 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1225 W Dayton St, AOSS 1549 Madison WI US 53706-1612 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Physical & Dynamic Meteorology |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
The Stable Atmospheric Variability and Transport field experiment will be conducted in the Fall of 2018 in central Illinois. The goal of the campaign is to measure very low-level air flow in gentle terrain. This kind of study requires high-density temperature measurements of the field site. This award will provide airborne measurements of surface temperature from an infrared camera that will help to fill in the gaps between the ground-based measurements. The camera will be mounted on an ultralight aircraft, which is able to fly very low and very slow, while not running into the same restrictions as many unmanned aircraft. The additional instruments will enhance the ability of the project to answer questions about micro-meteorological conditions that are relevant to agriculture and hazardous materials release. The project will also serve as an initial demonstration for a new observing platform and provide valuable field research opportunities for students.
This award is for the collection of airborne radiometric observations of surface skin temperatures during the Stable Atmospheric Variability and Transport (known as SAVANT) field campaign. SAVANT is an NSF-funded field study investigating the dynamics of radiatively-driven cold air drainage flows in shallow gullies. The campaign has a variety of ground based sensors for temperature and this award will enhance those measurements by providing 2D maps of surface skin temperature using a FLIR Duo Pro R thermal camera. The novel aspect of the campaign is that the camera would be flown on a manned ultralight aircraft, which is a platform that does not have significant usage in the atmospheric science community. The researchers will also deploy a UAS that is capable of carrying the camera as a risk mitigation strategy.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This is a one-year EAGER grant that allowed the University of Wisconsin-Madison, on short notice, to participate in the SAVANT (Stable Atmospheric Variability ANd Transport) field experiment held in central Illinois during fall 2018. The experiment had already been funded by NSF to investigate night-time near-surface air flows over farm fields featuring gullies and rolling hills. UW-Madison participation consisted of the following components:
1) As part of a course on meteorological instruments and measurements, nine undergraduate students (5 females, 4 males) and two graduate students, supervised by the PI Ankur Desai and Co-PI Grant Petty contributed instruments (e.g., weather stations, aerosol sensors, temperature sensors, and weather balloons) and new scientific objectives that were "piggybacked" onto the main experiment during the intensive observing period. They traveled to Illinois and worked in teams, mostly through the night, to obtain measurements that complemented the instrumentation already in place. They also toured the field site and were introduced by SAVANT personnel to the lidar, sodar, tower, and other advanced instrumentation. Upon return to Wisconsin, they quality-controlled and analyzed their own data collected in conjunction with selected measurements made by the SAVANT team, tested hypotheses, and gave oral presentations on their results. Overall, this exercise was part of an ongoing effort by UW-Madison to expose advanced undergraduates to hands-on, real-world meteorological research, to teamwork, and to effective scientific communication.
2) Co-PI Grant Petty made three trips to the SAVANT field site during fall 2018 and spring 2019 to fly a fixed-wing small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) carrying a FLIR Duo Pro camera that ultimately captured over 4200 images of the approximately 500-acre area of interest at centimeter resolution. This images were utilized to generate both a high-resolution orthophoto of the entire area (a reduced resolution version is attached to this report) and a digital elevation model (DEM; contoured rendering attached). The DEM, which will be useful to SAVANT scientists for microscale modeling and/or interpretations of the air flows and exchange processes, had not previously been available from other sources. The orthophoto, DEM, and documentation are now available through the public data archive assigned to SAVANT.
3) PI Ankur Desai was a participant in the Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN) Day of Science week, which coincided with the SAVANT intensive observation period, and used social media to promote images of students conducting field research.
Last Modified: 08/14/2019
Modified by: Grant W Petty
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