Atmospheric Observing Network Research

Designing, deploying, and evaluating advanced atmospheric observing networks.

This work focuses on designing, deploying, and evaluating advanced atmospheric observing networks to fill critical data gaps in the lower atmosphere (the boundary layer). The primary goals are 1) to improve the understanding and forecasting of high-impact weather, particularly severe convection and 2) to understand requirements for next-generation meteorological observing networks. I pursue both goals by strategically integrating remote sensing platforms (like CLAMPS) and Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS).

A core component of this research involves a series of progressively complex field campaigns to collect high-resolution data in varied environments:

  • Plains Elevated Convection At Night (PECAN) (2015): Deployed the CLAMPS1 system as part of a mobile mesoscale profiling network, embedded within a larger 7-site fixed network, to study nighttime thunderstorms in the Great Plains.

  • Perdigão (2017): Utilized the CLAMPS1 facility in Portugal as part of a comprehensive international campaign, creating an unprecedented high-resolution dataset from a single valley using dozens of towers, remote sensors, and balloons to study complex terrain.

  • SPLASH-SAIL (2021-2022): Deployed the CLAMPS2 facility to the Rocky Mountains to advance weather and water prediction capabilities in complex high-terrain environments.

  • PERiLS Campaign (2022-2023): Deployed CLAMPS facilities alongside CopterSonde UAS in the southeastern U.S. This campaign established a dense “network-in-network” concept, enabling experiments on optimal observation spacing and data denial to evaluate the impact of different observing systems.

Data from these campaigns directly supports ongoing analysis, such as a multi-year project (VORTEX-USA supported) to define the capabilities of profiling systems in the difficult-to-observe environment of the southeastern U.S. and a student-led project using PERiLS data to explore the impacts of terrain and land use on convection in the Mississippi River Delta (Ammon et al, 2025).

This body of work culminates in a strategic effort to design the next generation of operational networks. The “Venturing Into the Vertical” (or VINTO-V) project (2023-2025) is central to this vision. It combines Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) with targeted field components (using UAS and remote sensing) to determine optimal, cost-effective configurations for future profiling networks. This research builds a framework for evaluating network designs at a reduced cost, directly supporting a broader “network testbed” vision.

This testbed vision is now moving toward implementation in collaboration with the National Mesonet Program, the Oklahoma Mesonet, and partners across NOAA and Oklahoma institutions (OU, OSU, NSSL). The immediate goal is to establish regular, operationally-relevant UAS profiling at the OU Kessler Farm. This site, frequently used for remote sensor deployments, will provide a critical opportunity to compare these observation types, explore methods to combine observations, and ultimately inform the blueprint for a future national mesoscale observing system.