The boundary layer (BL) is the lowest part of the atmosphere where the flow field is directly influenced by interactions among air, heat, and the Earths surface. The structure of flow in the BL is dynamic due to the fact that the atmospheric flow is turbulent. Turbulence in the daytime convective boundary layer (CBL) is primarily caused by buoyancy forced from the heated underlying surface. Wind profilers are one of the many instruments used to study and characterize the atmosphere. In addition to in-situ observations, numerical large-eddy simulations (LES) have been probed to adequately reproduce the CBL under different conditions. The focus of this work is to bring the advantages of LES techniques to assist in the interpretation of data from wind profilers. The present study focuses on an example of flow structure of the CBL as observed in the U.S. Southern Great Plains Atmospheric Rad...

The SOUSY (SOUnding SYstem) radar was relocated to the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO), near Lima, Peru in 2000, where the radar controller and acquisition system were upgraded to state-of-the-art parts to take full advantage of its potential for high-resolution atmospheric sounding. Due to its broad bandwidth (4 MHz), it is able to characterize clear-air backscattering with high spatial resolution (37.5 m). A campaign conducted at JRO during July 2014 aimed to characterize the lower troposphere with a high temporal resolution (8.1 Hz) using the DataHawk (DH) small unmanned aircraft system, which provides in-situ atmospheric measurements at scales as small as 1 m in the lower troposphere, and can be GPS-guided to sample within the beam of the radar. This was a unique opportunity to make coincident observations by both systems, and to directly compare their in-situ and remotely sensed p...

In mountainous regions, snow accumulation on the ground is crucial for mountain hydrology and water resources. The present study investigates the link between the spatial variability in snowfall and in snow accumulation in the Swiss Alps. A mobile polarimetric X-band radar deployed in the area of Davos (Switzerland) collected valuable and continuous information on small-scale precipitation for the winter seasons of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011. Local measurements of snow accumulation were collected with airborne laser-scanning for the winters of 2007/2008 and 2008/2009. The spatial distribution of snow accumulation exhibits a strong interannual consistency that can be generalized over the winters in the area. This unique configuration makes the comparison of the variability in total snowfall amount estimated from radar and in snow accumulation possible over the diverse winter periods. As expe...

Diapositivas presentadas en el XIII Encuentro Científico Internacional, (ECI 2010v), realizado del 5 al 8 de enero de 2010 en la ciudad de Lima.

Informe Técnico Especial

Doppler velocities of 150-km echoes represents the vertical ExB drift velocities at F region altitudes. 150-km observations represent and excelent mean of monitoring the electric fields at equatorial latitudes. Low power observations of 150-km echoes using the JULIA system have been carried out almost continuosly since August 2001 at Jicamarca [e.g., Anderson et al., 2004]. Most of the observations have been done pointing perpendiculat to the magnetic fiel (B) in the magnetic meridian, allowing the measurement of the vertical component of the ExB drift.

Es sabido que la precipitación es una de las variables meteorológicas más importantes en el Perú, puesto que, por un lado, es una de las principales fuentes de agua dulce para el consumo humano y la agricultura y, por el otro, debido a nuestra alta vulnerabilidad pueden causar pérdidas humanas y económicas, tal como ocurre, por ejemplo, cuando se desarrolla el fenómeno La Niña o El Niño. Es principalmente por este motivo que, desde el año 2015, la sede de Huancayo del Instituto Geofísico del Perú - IGP, cuenta con el Laboratorio de Microfísica Atmosférica y Radiación (LAMAR), el cual tiene instrumentos de última generación para medir diferentes parámetros atmosféricos en alta resolución temporal. Para el estudio de las precipitaciones se usan pluviómetros, disdrómetro, papel filtro, radares y satélite, los cuales registran información en alta frecuencia (desde seg...

En la literatura científica los mecanismos de formación de nubes y lluvias en los Andes del Perú son poco documentados. A principios del 2014, el Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP) decidió intensificar los estudios en los Andes centrales para un mejor entendimiento de la microfísica de las nubes y lluvias. A fines del 2015, con la instalación del radar perfilador de nubes y precipitación que opera en la banda Ka (MIRA-35c), el Laboratorio de Microfísica Atmosférica y Radiación (LAMAR) empezó oficialmente sus operaciones en el Observatorio de Huancayo del IGP. En este trabajo, se usan datos del radar MIRA-35c, el perfilador de vientos y lluvias en la banda UHF, denominado CLAIRE (CLear-AIr and Rainfall Estimation), y el perfilador de vientos en la banda VHF, denominado BLTR (Boundary Layer Tropospheric Radar) para estimar la intensidad de lluvia. Se evaluó, para el área de ...

Agriculture is one of the main economic activities in the Peruvian Andes; rainwater alone irrigates more than 80% of the fields used for agriculture purposes. However, the cloud and rain generation mechanisms in the Andes still remain mostly unknown. In early 2014, the Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP) decided to intensify studies in the central Andes to better understand cloud microphysics; the Atmospheric Microphysics And Radiation Laboratory officially started operations in 2015 at IGP’s Huancayo Observatory. In this work, a Ka-band cloud profiler [cloud and precipitation profiler (MIRA-35c)], a UHF wind profiler [Clear-Air and Rainfall Estimation (CLAIRE)], and a VHF wind profiler [Boundary Layer and Tropospheric Radar (BLTR)] are used to estimate rainfall rate at different conditions. The height dependence of the drop size diameter versus the terminal velocity, obtained by the ...

Tras “El Niño Costero 2017”, el IGP desarrolló el proyecto “Modelado hidrogeodinámico (lluvias, huaicos y deslizamientos) en Chosica, Lima”, cuyo objetivo fue desarrollar una campaña de medición de lluvias usando un radar meteorológico para el modelado de lluvias y huaicos en la cuenca del río Rímac. Este proyecto; que contó con la participación de 3 direcciones del IGP: Ciencias de la Atmósfera e Hidrósfera (CAH), Ciencias de Tierra la Sólida (CTS) y el Radio Observatorio de Jicamarca; fue financiado por el Fondo para Intervenciones ante la ocurrencia de Desastres Naturales (Fondes)” del Instituto Nacional de Defensa Civil (Indeci). Para desarrollar el proyecto, el IGP, mediante colaboración con el Centro de Investigaciones Avanzadas de Radar (ARRC, por sus siglas en inglés), de la Universidad de Oklahoma, rentó un radar de doble polarización de banda X (PX-10...

Poster presented at the 2023 SWOL Workshop, Ushuaia, Argentina, October 2-6.

Poster presented at the 2023 CEDAR Workshop, San Diego, CA, USA, June 25-30

Poster presented at the 2023 SWOL Workshop, CADIC, Ushuaia, Argentina, October 2-6.

El radar SOPHy (Scanning-system for Observation of Peruvian Hydrometeorological) es el primer radar meteorológico de banda X (9.345 GHz) y doble polarización construido en el Perú por el Instituto Geofísico del Perú. Este radar tiene como objetivo investigar la microfísica involucrada en las precipitaciones sólidas y líquidas, así como las condiciones atmosféricas en el Perú, monitorear las precipitaciones y, a la par, ser una herramienta sustancial para la prevención de desastres. Para lograr estos objetivos, es necesario que las mediciones del radar SOPHy pasen por un control de calidad previo que corrija la atenuación causada por las gotas de lluvias intensas. En este estudio se evalúa el impacto de la corrección de la atenuación en dos eventos de lluvias ocurridos en Piura. Los resultados preliminares muestran una ligera mejora al aplicar la corrección; sin embargo, ...

Poster presented at the 2023 CEDAR Workshop, San Diego-CA, USA, June 25-30.

Se presentan los avances en el desarrollo del primer prototipo de radar meteorológico de banda X completamente desarrollado en el Perú. El sistema es compacto y transportable y cuenta con una antena parabólica de 1.2m de diámetro de doble polarización instalada sobre un posicionador, que permite el movimiento en azimut y elevación. Además, los sistemas de transmisión y recepción del radar están basados en tecnologías SDR (Software Defined Radio) para mayor flexibilidad en su configuración. El objetivo del radar es realizar mediciones de las precipitaciones en una determinada región, cubriendo un área de varias decenas de kilómetros alrededor del radar para así poder realizar investigaciones sobre las condiciones atmosféricas en esta región. La construcción de este prototipo viene siendo realizada por el Instituto Geofísico del Perú, en su sede del Radio Observatorio ...

Poster presented at the 2022 CEDAR Workshop, Austin-TX, USA, June 19-24

Orographic lifting of air masses and other topographically modified flows induce cloud and precipitation formation at larger scales and preferential deposition of precipitation at smaller scales. In this study, we examine orographic effects on small‐scale snowfall patterns in Alpine terrain. A polarimetric X‐band radar was deployed in the area of Davos (Switzerland) to determine the spatial variability of precipitation. In order to relate measured precipitation fields to flow dynamics, we model flow fields with the atmospheric prediction model “Advanced Regional Prediction System.” Additionally, we compare radar reflectivity fields with snow accumulation at the surface as modeled by Alpine3D. We investigate the small‐scale precipitation dynamics for one heavy snowfall event in March 2011 at a high resolution of 75 m. The analysis of the vertical and horizontal distribution of r...

Weather radar calibration is a crucial factor to be considered for quantitative applications, such as QPE (Quantitative Precipitation Estimation), which is used as input for weather risks management. The present work proposes a novel approach to the end-to-end radar calibration method through the characterization of the radar weighting functions. These are Gaussian functions that model an additional attenuation factor to the radar received power. This approach, based on the inclusion these parameters, allow the obtainment of a calibrated equivalent reflectivity factor expression for a Doppler dual-polarization weather radar that operates in the X band. To calculate these parameters, a UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) was implemented for suspending the calibration target with a well-defined cross-section and for measuring its inclination due to wind using an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit)....

A vertically pointing Ka-band radar (Metek MIRA-35C) installed at the Instituto Geofísico del Perú, Atmospheric Microphysics and Radiation Laboratory (LAMAR) Huancayo Observatory, which is located at an elevation of 3.3 km MSL in the Andes Mountains of Peru, is used to investigate the effects of terrain on satellite-based precipitation measurement in the Andes. We compare the vertical structure of precipitation observed by the MIRA-35C with Ka-band radar measurements from the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) on board the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission core satellite using an approach based on Taylor’s hypothesis of frozen turbulence that attempts to reduce the impact of spatiotemporal offsets between these two radar measurements. From 3 April 2014 to 20 May 2018, the DPR measured precipitation near LAMAR during 15 of its 157 coincident overpasses. There were s...