COPS Measurements
The measurement phase of COPS was a German-led international field campaign held in the summer of 2007 in the Black Forest and Swabian Jura of south-west Germany and Vosges Mountains of eastern France. The heights of these mountains are similar to the larger ranges of mountains in the UK. The region was chosen by the COPS community because of the severe thunderstorm activity, but low skill of numerical weather forecasts in the region. This is typical of such regions of complex and varied terrain. COPS offered a unique opportunity to address scientific questions that could not be addressed without the large number of German, other European and US ground-based instruments and aircraft facilities.
The UK contribution to the COPS field measurements included ground based aerosol characterisation at the Hornisgrinde supersite in the Black Forest (Manchester), remote sensing of vertical wind profiles at the Murg Valley site using the FGAM wind profiler (Manchester), the provision of radiosonde systems for use at several of the supersites (Manchester, Met Office), doppler lidar (Salford) and sodar (Leeds) measurements in the Rhine Valley, an array of automatic weather stations (Met Office) and the involvement of the FAAM aircraft.