Significant Inversions and Rapid In Situ Cooling at a Well-Sited Oklahoma Mesonet Station

Abstract

The El Reno Oklahoma Mesonet (ELRE) site is one of a few Oklahoma Mesonet sites that has measured inversions of 10°C or greater between 1.5 and 9 m. Historical analyses revealed that strong inversions at ELRE have occurred because of rapid cooling near the surface shortly after sunset when conditions are calm, clear, and dry. In addition, ELRE is a very well sited station and is located on very slightly sloped terrain with no obstructions nearby. Four Portable Automated Research Micrometeorological Stations (PARMS) were deployed along a transect orthogonal to ELRE for 3 months in the spring of 2005 to quantify the micrometeorological processes that caused rapid cooling and subsequent strong inversions to form. One-minute data collected from the PARMS and ELRE during the study verified the variability and duration of strong inversion events. Analyses from the field study also revealed that significant horizontal and vertical differences in air temperature and wind speed existed during periods of differential wind speeds between the PARMS and ELRE.