Evaluation of low altitude rocket dropsondes for shipboard atmospheric profiling and electromagnetic propagation assessment

200 Pages·2.2 MB·en_US

by  Baldauf, Brian Keith.

NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA
THESIS
EVALUATIONOF LOW ALTITUDE ROCKET
DROPSONDES FOR SHIPBOARD
ATMOSPHERIC PROFILING AND
ELECTROMAGNETIC PROPAGATION
ASSESSMENT
by
BrianKeith Baldauf
December, 1996
Thesis Thesis Co-Advisors: Kenneth L. Davidson
B1754
Carlyle H. Wash
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December, 1996 Master'sThesis
4. TITLEANDSUBTITLE 5. FUNDINGNUMBERS
EVALUATIONOFLOWALTITUDEROCKETDROPSONDESFORSHIPBOARD
ATMOSPHERICPROFILINGANDELECTROMAGNETICPROPAGATION
ASSESSMENT
AUTHOR(S) BrianKeithBaldauf
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13. ABSTRACT(maximum200words)
Astudywasperformedontwomeasurementsystemsusedtoobtainprofilesofrefractionfromaship;theradiosonde
andtherocketsonde.RefractiveconditionsmeasuredbytheMarwinRawinsondeSet(MRS)utilizingradiosondeslaunchedfrom
U.S. Navyshipscanyieldmisleadingmodifiedrefractivity(M)versusheightprofiles. MRSobtainedMunitprofiles, when
incorporatedinpropagationlossmodelssuchasRadioPhysicalOptics(RPO),alsomay produceunrepresentativepropagation
lossassessments.Rocketsondeobtainedenvironmentalparameters(temperature,relativehumidity,pressure)aremeasuredaway
fromtheshipsinfluence. Theshipcanmodifytheenvironmentalparametersand affecttemperaturesbyasmuchas3° C
Rocketsondeobtaineddatayieldimprovedfine-scaleverticalresolution. Resolutionapproaching5mobtainedviarocketsondes
isfoundtomostcloselyresembletheactualenvironment.Rocketsondedataisavailabledowntothenear-surfacewhereasthere
isadistinctlackofdatafromthesurfacetothelaunchpointwhenutilizingballoonlaunchedradiosondes.Inaccuraciesininitial
surfacedatadrasticallyimpactrefractiveprofiles.Rocketsondescanbeusedregardlessofseastateorwindconditionsonboard
ship and require no specific ship maneuvering to safely launch. It is found that the rocketsonde canobtainthe requisite
environmentalparametersforrefractiveassessmentondemandinlessthanhalfthetimerequiredtoprepareandlaunchaballoon
guidedradiosonde.
14. SUBJECTTERMSEnvironmentalData,RadioPhysicalOptics,RadarPerformance 15. NUMBEROF
Prediction,Radiosonde,Refraction,Rocketsonde,SHAREM110,SurfaceBasedDuct PAGES158
16. PRICECODE
17. SECURITY 18. SECURITY 19. SECURITY 20. LIMITATION
CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICATION OF
OFREPORT OFTHISPAGE OFABSTRACT ABSTRACT
Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified UL
NSN7540-01-280-5500 StandardForm298(Rev.2-89)
PrescribedbyANSIStd.239-18298-102

Approvedforpublic release; distribution is unlimited.
EVALUATIONOFLOWALTITUDEROCKETDROPSONDESFOR
SHIPBOARDATMOSPHERIC PROFILINGANDELECTROMAGNETIC
PROPAGATIONASSESSMENT
BrianKeithBaldauf
LieutenantCommander, UnitedStatesNavy
B.S., UniversityofDelaware, 1985
Submittedinpartialfulfillment
oftherequirementsforthedegreeof
MASTEROF SCIENCEINMETEOROLOGYAND
PHYSICALOCEANOGRAPHY
fromthe
NAVALPOSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
December 1996

^DLEYKNOXLIBRARY
ABSTRACT
A study wasperformed ontwo measurement systems used to obtainprofiles
ofrefractionfrom a ship; the radiosonde andtherocketsonde. Refractive
conditions measuredby the MarwinRawinsonde Set (MRS) utilizing radiosondes
launched fromU.S. Navy ships canyield misleading modifiedrefractivity (M)
versus heightprofiles. MRS obtained Munitprofiles, when incorporated in
propagationloss models suchas Radio Physical Optics (RPO), also mayproduce
unrepresentativepropagationloss assessments. Rocketsonde obtained
environmentalparameters (temperature, relativehumidity, pressure) are
measured away fromthe ships influence. The ship canmodify the environmental
parameters and affecttemperatures by as muchas 3° C. Rocketsonde obtained
data yield improved fine-scalevertical resolution. Resolutionapproaching 5m
obtainedvia rocketsondes is found to mostclosely resemble the actual
environment. Rocketsonde data is available downto the near-surface whereas
there is adistinctlackofdata from the surface to thelaunchpointwhenutilizing
balloonlaunched radiosondes. Inaccuracies in initial surface data drastically
impactrefractiveprofiles. Rocketsondes canbeusedregardless ofsea state or
wind conditions onboard ship and require no specific ship maneuvering to safely
launch. It is found that the rocketsonde canobtainthe requisite environmental
parameters for refractive assessmentondemand inless thanhalfthetime
required toprepare and launch a balloonguided radiosonde.
VI
.
TABLEOFCONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
I. 1
BACKGROUND
H. 5
A. PURPOSE 5
B. LOWALTITUDEROCKETDROPSONDES 7
m. ATMOSPHERICPROPAGATION 11
A. INDEXOFREFRACTION 11
B. REFRACTIONINTHETROPOSPHERE 12
C. PROPAGATIONCONDITIONS 14
1 StandardRefraction 14
2. Subrefraction 15
3. Superrefraction 15
4. Trapping 15
D. ATMOSPHERICDUCTS 16
1. General 16
2. Surfacebasedducts 17
3. Elevatedducts 17
4. Evaporationducts 17
E. ENVIRONMENTALDATAREQUIREMENTSAT-SEA 18
IV. ASSESSMENTANDMEASUREMENT 21
A. RADIOPHYSICALOPTICS(RPO) 21
1. Verticalresolution 26
B. ROCKETSONDES 30
C. MRSRADIOSONDES 34
D. COMPARISONOFRADIOSONDEANDROCKETSONDE 42
MEASUREMENTS
V. ENVIRONMENTALDATA 49
A SHAREM 110 49
VI. DATACOMPARISON 57
VH.CONCLUSIONSANDRECOMMENDATIONS 71
LISTOFREFERENCES 145
INITIALDISTRIBUTIONLIST 147
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