High Resolution Atmospheric Data Retrieval

This effort will develop principles and methodologies for remotely collecting high resolution atmospheric data to support simulations with data from live play exercise areas. The principles will be based on analyses of high resolution atmospheric data sets and cloud imagery. The innovative core of the research is the application of fractal analysis to ground-based digital cloud imagery obtained at visible wavelengths. Fractal parameters will be correlated with the atmospheric data sets using three-dimensional visualization software and data correlation tools. This is based on the hypothesis that clouds can be used as visual cues to the physical and dynamic state of the local environment, and consequently can provide an inference model of the atmosphere at a scale on the order of the size of the cloud elements or localized cloud field. The four-dimensional atmospheric data sets will be generated using a mesoscale dynamic model in a "relaxation/nudging" mode. The fractal analysis parameters will then be used to create a virtual cloud field that is highly correlated with the cloud field in the live play area.