Advances in meteorological instrumentation for air quality and emergency response

Air quality forecasting and emergency response are receiving increasing emphasis in the US and elsewhere; both share similar but not identical needs for advanced meteorological observations. At the same time, there has been a steady increase in the performance characteristics of ground-based remote sensing systems as well as ground-based and airborne in situ measurement systems. The structure of the planetary boundary layer is summarized in the context of implications for transport and diffusion, along with the measurement requirements for dispersion modeling. We then review the current state-of-the-art of operational and quasi-operational measurement systems with a focus on boundary layer measurements. Measurement systems discussed include: meteorological radar, radar wind profilers, radio acoustic sounding systems, lidar, sodar, GPS receivers, microwave radiometers, radiosonde systems, commercial aircraft measurements, and traditional near-surface in situ sensors.