The OASIS Project: Oklahoma Atmospheric and Surface/Layer Instrumentation System

Under the Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI), the Principal Investigators upgrade and improve an existing weather observational network known as the Oklahoma Mesonetwork. The Mesonet is an internationally recognized network of remote environmental-monitoring stations. It consists of 114 sites that have operated continuously since March of 1994. With sensors that extend from 10 m above ground to 75 cm below ground, the Mesonet has archived more than 99.95% of all observations possible since commissioning (over 45 million observations). The Oklahoma Legislature provides primary funding for the maintenance and operation of the network. The work accomplished under this MRI is termed the Oklahoma Atmospheric & Surface-layer Instrumentation System (OAISIS) Project. The OASIS Project advances the frontier of mesoscale and storm-scale meteorological research by: (1) development of a system of surface-flux stations using the 114 operating sites in the Oklahoma Mesonetwork; (2) development of a new generation of low powered, low cost and low maintenance field mills, deployed over the 42 sites of a Micronetwork of stations embedded within the boundaries of the Mesonetwork and located within the Little Washita watershed (southwest of Oklahoma City). The new, unique data sets resulting from these upgrades will address a number of key questions not previously answered with today's lack of observations. For example, quantitative assessment of the surface energy budget for the entire state will provide better initialization for the Advanced Regional Prediction System, developed by the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms at the University of Oklahoma, one of the NSF Science and Technology Centers. This will allow, among other advantages, tests of the relative importance of surface energy fluxes under various conditions. Electric-field data from the newly developed field mills will enable investigations of variations in electrical activity from storm-to-storm, and relati ons of electrical activity to other meteorological observables in storms, such as radar reflectivity. Data acquired from the basic and upgraded Meso- and Micronetworks will be archived and made available to the research community.