CIRES Council of Fellows>

Ben B. Balsley

Ph.D., University of Colorado, 1967
Research Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering

E-mail: balsley@cires.colorado.edu
Office: CIRES 341
Phone: 303-492-1055
Web: Balsley Research Group

Research Interests

Atmospheric dynamics using data obtained from both remote sensing devices (UHF/VHF radars) as well as from in situ instruments suspended from either (1) the CIRES TLS (Tethered Lifting System) or (2) the CIRES powered parachute (PPC). TLS consists of either a high-tech kite or an aerodynamic balloon. All of these platforms can profile high-resolution data from the ground up to a few km altitude. Types of data include wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity, turbulence quantities (Ct2 and Epsilon), as well as atmospheric chemical quantities (ozone, CO₂, etc.). TLS provides long-term single-location profiling capability; the PPC can be used for profiling over specific areas and can carry heavier payloads (~50 kg compared to 5-10 kg).

Current Projects

1. Analysis of the extensive TLS data base gathered during the CASES-99 campaign in Kansas, with focus on the stable nocturnal boundary layer
2. Additional studies of "up-gully surges." This newly-discovered phenomenon consists of a vertical surge of air arising from the narrow end of a gully when the surface wind is flowing in the up-gully direction. The surges produce gravity waves
3. Perfecting the CIRES PPC system of data gathering. Ultimately, we hope to employ an unmanned system operated under ground control for data gathering.

Recent Awards

• Doctor Honoris Causa (Honorary PhD), Universidad de Piura, Piura, Peru, 1994
• Distinguished Engineering Alumnus, University of Colorado, 2002

Selected Publications

• Balsley, B. B., R. G. Frehlich, M. L. Jensen, Y. Meillier, and Andreas Muschinski: Structure and Evolution of Mean and Turbulence Characteristics of the Nighttime Lower Troposphere above Kansas in the Presence of a Low-Level Jet. Submitted to the CASES99 Special Issue of Jour. Atm. Sci. July, 2002.
• Frehlich, R. G. Y. Meillier, M. L. Jensen, B. B. Balsley: Turbulence Measurements with the CIRES TLS (Tethered Lifting System) during CASES99. Submitted to the CASES99 Special Issue of Jour. Atm. Sci., June, 2002.
• Fritts, D. C., C. Nappo, C. M. Riggin, B. B. Balsley, W. E. Eichinger, and R. K. Newsom: Analysis of Ducted Motions in the Stable Nocturnal Boundary Layer during CASES-99. Submitted to the CASES99 Special Issue of Jour. Atm. Sci., June, 2002.
• Balsley, B. B., "Kites" chapter requested for the Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Science, Academic Press, in press 2002.
• B.B. Balsley, D. C. Fritts, R. Frehlich, M. Jones, S. Vadas, and R. Coulter: Up-Gully Flow In the Great Plains Region: A Mechanism for Perturbing the Nighttime Lower Atmosphere, to appear Geophys. Res. Lett., May, 2002.
• J. Sun, D. H. Lenschow, S. P. Burns, R. Banta, R. Newsom, R. Coulter, S. Frasier, C. Nappo, B. B. Balsley, M. L. Jensen, D. Miller, B. Skelly, J. Cuxart, W. Blumen, X. Lee, and X. Z. Hu: Intermittent Turbulence Associated with a Density Current Passage in the Stable Boundary Layer. To appear in Bound. Layer Meteor., 2002
• J. Sun, D. H. Lenschow, S. P. Burns, R. Banta, R. Newsom, R. Coulter, S. Frasier, T. Ince, C. Nappo, B. B. Balsley, M. L. Jensen, D. Miller, B. Skelly, J. Cuxart, W. Blumen, X. Lee, and X. Z. Hu: Intermittent Turbulence in Stable Boundary Layer and Its Relationship with Density Current. Submitted to Bound. Layer Meteor., April 2002.
• G. S. Poulos, W. Blumen, D. C. Fritts, J. K. Lundquist, J. Sun, S. P. Burns, C. Nappo, R. Banta, R. Newsom, J. Cuxart, E. Terradellas, B. B. Balsley, and M. L. Jensen, 2002: CASES-99: A Comprehensive Investigation of the Stable Nocturnal Boundary Layer. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 555-581.
• A. Muschinski, R. G. Frehlich, M. L. Jensen, R. M. Worthington, and B. B. Balsley: Energy Dissipation Rates, Temperature Structure Parameters, and Overturning Length Scales in the Lower Nighttime Troposphere. Submitted to Geophys. Res. Lett., 2000.

Balsley is also one of the CIRES Faculty who teach at the University of Colorado at Boulder with teaching loads equivalent to those of CU faculty rostered solely in departments and programs.