Integrated Sounding System (ISS)

ISS combines surface, sounding and remote sensing instrumentation to provide a comprehensive description of lower atmospheric thermodynamics and winds.  The ISS includes a fully integrated set of the following instruments: a GAUS rawinsonde system; a 915 MHz Doppler clear air wind profiling radar that provides near continuous, high-resolution measurements of horizontal and vertical wind components from the surface to the mid troposphere; a Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) that provides profiles of virtual temperature over the lower 1-2 km with the same time coverage as the Doppler wind profiles; and an enhanced surface meteorological station that collects radiation and precipitation data in addition to standard measurements of temperature, pressure, humidity and wind.

Each of the four ISS include communications, data processing and display infrastructure to provide raw data and data products in real time or near real time to researchers remotely or on site. In addition, EOL has developed a variation of the ISS called Multiple Antenna Profiler (MAPR), which uses spaced antenna techniques to measure high time resolution wind profiles as short as 30 seconds compared with 15 minutes or longer from traditional profiling techniques. MAPR is well suited to study air motion around frontal boundaries and other small-scale features and precipitation particle dynamics. ISS portability enables deployments in a variety of temperate and tropical locations, from ships and remote islands to the arctic tundra.