The Coastal Land-Air-Sea-Interaction (CLASI) project aims to develop a new coast-aware atmospheric boundary and surface layer scheme, adapted to the complex land-sea transition, through an innovative campaign of field studies and cutting-edge numerical experiments. The goal of this work is to improve coastal weather, climate, and environmental forecasting and the performance of radar communication and operational systems in this domain.
The CLASI field work has two distinct phases: (1) Monterey Bay, occurring Summer and Fall of 2021 and 2022; and (2) Florida Gulf Coast, planned for the Winter of 2023. These campaigns will involve deploying an extensive network of ocean- and land-based surface stations to capture the upper ocean and atmospheric surface layer variability within a few kilometers of the coastline. Additional sampling will be done using a suite of other platforms, including research aircraft, UAVs, small boats, and regular weather balloon launches in order to fill-in the spatial and mesoscale context to the local, nearshore dynamics captured by the fixed ocean/land stations. The CLASI team also aim to better characterize and understand the electromagnetic properties of the coastal atmosphere using direct propagation measurements in tandem with the extensive environmental sampling.
The goal of the observational campaign is to provide a rich dataset for assimilation and validation of coupled large eddy simulation (LES) and coastal numerical weather prediction (CNWP) numerical experiments. Operational CNWPs (e.g. COAMPS) are known to be deficient in coastal areas, in large part due to their surface layer schemes missing the distinct physics at the land-sea boundary. By coordinating operational model forecasting with both robust observations and data-assimilating LES experiments, CLASI was purposefully designed to streamline the transition from basic research and discovery, to operation use and implementation.
The CLASI field work has two distinct phases: (1) Monterey Bay, occurring Summer and Fall of 2021 and 2022; and (2) Florida Gulf Coast, planned for the Winter of 2023. These campaigns will involve deploying an extensive network of ocean- and land-based surface stations to capture the upper ocean and atmospheric surface layer variability within a few kilometers of the coastline. Additional sampling will be done using a suite of other platforms, including research aircraft, UAVs, small boats, and regular weather balloon launches in order to fill-in the spatial and mesoscale context to the local, nearshore dynamics captured by the fixed ocean/land stations. The CLASI team also aim to better characterize and understand the electromagnetic properties of the coastal atmosphere using direct propagation measurements in tandem with the extensive environmental sampling.
The goal of the observational campaign is to provide a rich dataset for assimilation and validation of coupled large eddy simulation (LES) and coastal numerical weather prediction (CNWP) numerical experiments. Operational CNWPs (e.g. COAMPS) are known to be deficient in coastal areas, in large part due to their surface layer schemes missing the distinct physics at the land-sea boundary. By coordinating operational model forecasting with both robust observations and data-assimilating LES experiments, CLASI was purposefully designed to streamline the transition from basic research and discovery, to operation use and implementation.
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Hug the shore; let others try the deep. -Virgil |
