The Punta Galea boundary layer profiler:: Intercomparison with radiosonde data and first mesoscale meteorological case studies

The main characteristics, data availability and some case studies observed during the operation of the boundary layer profiler at Punta Galea (Bilbao, Spain) are described together with an intercomparison study with a radiosonde system. The profiler is owned by the Basque Service of Meteorology and it has been in operation since January 1996. It is located at the entrance of the Port of Bilbao, on the right bank of the inlet and it fills the gap in the systematic upper air weather watch. In its present operational mode vertical profiles of horizontal and vertical winds are obtained up to 3000 m with a resolution of 100 and 200 m, together with virtual temperature profiles up to 700-1000 m, every 30 minutes when operating in the RASS (Radio Acoustic Sounding System) mode. The Environment Group at the School of Engineering in Bilbao was charged of the selection and setting up of the equipment and it carried out the experimental evaluation of the wind and virtual temperature records by comparison with those obtained by the radiosonde system. The results show a good agreement between the two measuring systems and the usefulness of the new equipment in, among other applications, the study of the diurnal and/or seasonal evolution of the mixing height, and therefore the analysis of the dispersion of pollutants in view of its capacity to detect vertical layering and document the ventilation conditions of the lower part of the troposphere.