Final Report 

NASA Grant NAG8-881 

Surface Energy Budget and Evapotranspiration Measurement Support 

June 1992 

Eric A. Smith 

Department of Meteorology 

The Florida State University 

Tallahassee, FL 32306-3034 

Tel: 904-644-4253 

Fax: 904-644-4253 

E-Mail: ESMITH@METSAT.MET.FSU.EDU 

SOC. Sec. NO: m 

<bYkSA-CR-B900!531 SURFACE ENERGY BUDGET AND 

EVWPOTRAP4SPIRATSON MEASUREMENT SUPPORT Final 

Report (Florida Stake Univ-1 11 p 
One of the primary aims of the Convection and

Precipitation/Electrification (CAPE) experiment held on the Kennedy Space

Center (KSC) during the summer of 1991 was to correlate the sensible and

latent heat flux from the vegetation canopy on Merritt island with satellite

imagery of the development and maturation of the thunderstorms which

grow over KSC. The sensing systems which were used to collect surface

observations of radiation, sensible heat flux, latent heat flux, and soil heat

flux at two locations on Merritt Island were acquired and assembled as a part

of this grant. The observing systems which were built are called Surface

Radiation and Energy Budget Systems (SREBS) and are integrated observing

platforms comprised of five sub-systems. The five sub-systems and their

capabilities are:

1) The Bowen ratio sub-system

Measures the temperature and moisture gradients immediately

above the canopy.

2) The radiation sub-system

Measures the long and short wave radiation reaching the surface

from the atmosphere and sun, and the long and short wave radiation

being being emitted and reflected by the canopy

3) The soil sub-system

Measures the soil temperatures at four different levels down to

40cm, the heat flux through the soil surface to the surface, and the soil

moisture at two levels.

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4) The meteorological sub-system

Measures the standard meteorological variables of pressure,

temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, wind speed and direction.

5) The electronics sub-system.

Monitors the inputs from the sensors described above, using a

micro-processor-controlled data logger, a Campbell Scientific model

CR-7. The CR-7 programming module also calculates nominal

statistical quantities. A standard cassette recorder is interfaced with the

data logger for permanent storage.

A complete description of an SREBS can be found in Smith et. al. (1992).

Using both of the SREBS assembled under this grant (figure 1), we have

obtained a complete picture of the distribution and partitioning of the various

components in the surface energy budget at two sites during CAPE. An

example of the kinds of data recorded by the SREBS during the experiment is

shown in figures 2-5. The equipment was assembled from scratch and tested

in Tallahassee before deployment in the field at KSC.

Assuming responsiblity for archiving GOES satellite data obtained by

FSU during the CaPE experiment was also a part of the proposal. The field

experiment plan required that infrared, visible and water vapor channel data

be retrieved and stored every half hour, 24 hours a day, for the duration of the

campaign. In order to accomplish this, an OS/2 ingestor PC had to be reprogrammed to sectorize the full disk GOES imagery that we recieve every

half hour from our Direct Readout Ground System (DRGS). In addition to

the archiving, a written log was kept, describing weather conditions observed

in the satellite imagery. This record is now proving to be quite helpful in our
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current analysis of the CaPE data, in which we are defining operational days

in terms of the degree to which they were disturbed by large-scale weather

systems. The satellite data were archived on an MOD, and recorded on

magnetic tape as a backup. Satellite imagery was archived every half hour, 24

hours a day, during the experimental period. An example of the archived

visible imagery is shown in figure 6.

The SREBS deployment took place on time, and the archiving process

was carried out smoothly and successfully. The satellite data that was

archived has aleady been used to provide the basis for one publication (see

Cooper and Smith, 1992), and is proving to be invaluable in assessing the

nature of the overall meteorological conditions under which the SREBS

observations were taken. The SREBS data which were obtained are currently

being analyzed as part of the graduate thesis of Mr. Michael Rubes.

Ms. Ann Yersavitch, a summer Space Grant student at FSU,

participated in the Annual Meeting of the National Society of Engineering

Science, which was held in Gainesville, Florida in November of 1991. She

presented a poster which used data collected by the FSU satellite reciever and

the FSU SREBS systems deployed on Merritt island under this grant, to

describe the conditions surrounding the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis.

Her daily description of the meteorological conditions surrounding the Cape

as seen from the GOES satellite and a detailed compilation of the kinds of data

she archived for the project can be found in the report "FSU GOES Satellite

Data Archive for the NASA CaPE Project", by Ann Yersavitch and E.A.

Smith, which can be obtained from FSU.
References

Smith, E. A., W. L. Crosson, and B. D. Tanner, 1992: Estimation of surface

heat and moisture fluxes over a prairie grassland. Part 1: In situ

energy budget measurements incorporating a cooled mirror dew point

hygrometer. J. Geophys. Res., in press.

Cooper, H. J., and E. A. Smith, 1992: The importance of short term forecasting

of thunderstorms to launch operations at Cape Canaveral. Submitted

to Bull. Am. Met. Soc.

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Figu:re 1 (a) Assembling the Surface Radiation and Energy

Budget Systems (SREBS) in Tallahassee

Figure 1 (b) One of the FSU SREBS as it was deployed at the

North site on Kennedy Space Center during CaPE

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