Acoustic Tomography as a Remote Sensing Method to Investigate the Near-Surface Atmospheric Boundary Layer in Comparison with In Situ Measurements

Abstract

The acoustic tomography method is applied in the atmospheric surface layer to observe near-surface temperature fields. Important advantages of this technique are the remote sensing capacity and the possibility of directly deriving area-average meteorological quantities. Combined observations of the air temperature using an acoustic tomography system and point measurements were carried out to validate the tomographic method. Results were used to compare representativeness for a designated area of direct measurements with the tomographic solution. The results demonstrate agreement between the two different measurement methods, except for some deviations of absolute values mainly caused by an imperfectly sheltered and ventilated thermocouple device.