In situ airborne measurements of atmospheric parameters and airborne sea surface properties related to offshore wind parks in the German Bight during the project X-Wakes

Abstract

Abstract. Between 14 March 2020 and 11 September 2021, meteorological measurement flights were conducted above the German Bight in the framework of the project X-Wakes. The scope of the measurements was to study the transition of the wind field and atmospheric stability from the coast to the sea, to study the interaction of wind park wakes, and to study the large-scale modification of the marine atmospheric boundary layer by the presence of wind parks. In total 49 measurement flights were performed with the research aircraft Dornier 128 of the Technische Universität (TU) Braunschweig during different seasons and different stability conditions. Seven of the flights in the time period from 24 to 30 July 2021 were coordinated with a second research aircraft, the Cessna F406 of TU Braunschweig. The instrumentation of both aircraft consisted of a nose boom with sensors for measuring the wind vector, temperature and humidity, and additionally a surface temperature sensor. The Dornier 128 was further equipped with a laser scanner for deriving sea state properties and two downward looking cameras in the visible and infrared wavelength range. The Cessna F406 was additionally equipped with shortwave and longwave broadband radiation sensors for measuring upward and downward solar and terrestrial radiation. A detailed overview of the aircraft, sensors, data post-processing and flight patterns is provided here. Further, averaged profiles of atmospheric parameters illustrate the range of conditions. The potential use of the data set has been shown already by first publications. The data of both aircraft are publicly available in the world data centre PANGAEA: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.955382 (Rausch et al., 2023).