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ICDC
CENIntegrated Climate Data Center ICDC

Photo: getty images/L. Calvetti

Atmospheric Boundary Layer Measurement Tower in Cabauw

Boundary Layer Measurement Tower of the Cesar Observatory
Boundary Layer Measurement Tower of the Cesar Observatory. Copyright: UHH/CEN/AJB

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Access

RESTRICTED: This data is available via the Cesar DataBase Web Portal

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Description

Since 1972 the KNMI and partners have been operating a more than 200 m tall tower for boundary layer structure studies. This tower is located near Cabauw, The Netherlands, at 51.971° N, 4.927° E in a polder, 0.7 m above sea level. Besides the instruments mounted at the mast a number of additional instruments and sensor at the ground allow vertical sounding of atmosphere and clouds as well as the observation of the near surface radiation components. For more information we refer to the Cesar database web page and to the central web page of such observational data and sites in The Netherlands: Ruisdael, see references for the links.

Besides measurements of the typical parameters like wind speed and direction, air and dew point temperature at the mast itself, there is an impressive suite of additional instruments at the surface: a wind profiler [since 1994], the Raman Lidar Caeli (Cesar Water Vapor, Aerosol, and Cloud Lidar) [since 2008], and surface radiation observation station as part of the BSRN [since 2005]. At the 213 m tall tower instruments are mounted at altitudes of 10, 20, 40, 80, 140 and 200 m allowing to measure the change of wind, temperature and humidity with altitude (see references for more information).

Last update of data set at ICDC: December 2020

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Parameters

Parameters of the CESAR data set
NameUnitsince year
air temperature [2m, 10m, 20m, 40m, 80m, 140m, 200m] °C 1986
dew point [2m, 10m, 20m, 40m, 80m, 140m 200m] °C 1986
wind speed [10m, 20m, 40m, 80m, 140m 200m] m/s 1986
wind direction [10m, 20m, 40m, 80m, 140m 200m] deg 1986

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Coverage, spatial and temporal resolution

Period and temporal resolution:

  • since year indicated in the table above or in the documentation
  • temporal resolution: see documentation of the respective data set in the Cesar web portal

Coverage and spatial resolution:

  • Local, Cabauw, The Netherlands
  • Spatial resolution: none, vertical profiles
  • Geographic longitude: 4.927°E
  • Geographic latitude: 51.971°N
  • Dimension: 1 column x 1 row x number of measurements vertically
  • Altitude: (location itself is 0.7 m a.s.l.) 2 m (except wind), 10 m, 20 m, 40 m, 80 m, 140 m, and 200 m

Format:

  • see documentation

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Data quality

The data has gaps in the first years, and is in constant operation since Mai 2000. 

Information about uncertainties and measurement errors can be taken from the documentations available via the Cesar data portal or requested directly from the responsible person.

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Contact

 People responsible for the data sets offered can be found here https://ruisdael-observatory.nl/cesar-database/pages/datasetsKDC.html

Stefan Kern
ICDC / CEN / University of Hamburg
E-Mail: stefan.kern (at) uni-hamburg.de

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References

Websites:

Literature

  • van Ulden, A. P., and J. Wieringa, 1996, Atmospheric boundary layer research at Cabauw. Bound. Lay. Meteorol., 78, 39-69.
  • Beljaars, A. C. M., and F. C. Bosveld, 1997, Cabauw data for the validation of land surface parametrization schemes. J. Climate, 10, 1172-1193.

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Data citation

Please cite the data as follows:

Cesar Observatory boundary measurements provided by KNMI Data Platform (KDP).

and with the following acknowledgments:

Thanks to ICDC, CEN, University of Hamburg for data support.

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