An overview of MADONA: A multinational field study of high-resolution meteorology and diffusion over complex terrain

The multination, high-resolution field study of Meteorology And Diffusion O ver Non-Uniform Areas (MADONA) was conducted by scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands a t Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom, during September and O ctober 1992. The host of the field study was the Chemical and Biological De fence Establishment (CBDE, now part of Defence Evaluation and Research Agen cy) at Porton Down. MADONA was designed and conducted for high-resolution m eteorological data collection and diffusion experiments using smoke, sulphu rhexaflouride (SF6), and propylene gas during unstable, neutral, and stable atmospheric conditions in an effort to obtain terrain-influenced meteorolo gical fields, dispersion, and concentration fluctuation measurements using specialized sensors and tracer generators. Thirty-one days of meteorologica l data were collected during the period 7 September-7 October and 27 diffus ion experiments were conducted from 14 to 23 September 1992. Puffs and plum es of smoke and SF6 were released simultaneously for most of the experiment s to gauge the resultant diffusion and concentration behavior. Some 44 mete orological and aerosol sensors and four source generators were used during each day of the field study. This array of sensors included 14 towers of wi nd cups and vanes, 10 sonic anemometer/thermometers, one boundary layer son de, two lidar, one ion sensor, the CEDE Weather Station, and several one-of -a-kind sensors. Simulations of airflow and diffusion over the MADONA topog raphy (a 9 km by 7.5 km area) were made with a variety of models. Wind fiel ds and wind-related parameters were simulated with several high-resolution (microalpha scale) wind flow models. A tally of the various data-gathering activities indicates that the execution of MADONA was highly successful. Pr eliminary use of the datasets shows the high quality and depth of the MADON A database. This well-documented database is suitable for the evaluation an d validation of short-range/near-field wind and diffusion models/codes. The database was originally placed on CD-ROM in a structured way by CEDE, Port on Down. The database is now available from the Riso National Laboratory, D enmark.