Automated Mobile Meteorological Observing System (AMMOS) - TO2015 Pan and Parapan American Games

Three hybrid vehicles equipped with AMMOS units were deployed during the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games as part of the high-resolution atmospheric monitoring network, the Mesonet, built by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) in support of the Games. AMMOS vehicles travelled prescribed routes (often simultaneously) between the Lake Ontario shore in Toronto and suburban/rural areas to the north and west. These three mobile stations collected data in locations where fixed stations cannot, such as along roadways surrounded by large buildings in downtown Toronto known as “urban canyons.”

The AMMOS units collected temperature and humidity (aspirated), pressure, wind speed and direction, GPS location and vehicle speed, insolation, and black globe temperature at one-second intervals. The AMMOS vehicles also carried fine particulate air quality sensors, and one AMMOS vehicle carried a prototype AirSENCE air quality sampling system. Note that the Legacy Archive dataset only provides quality-controlled meteorological data averaged at 1-minute intervals. Other data may be obtained by contacting the lead scientist.

The AMMOS mobile observations complemented those from the Mesonet, helped monitor weather and air quality conditions during the Games, and thoroughly sampled lake-breeze fronts for study post-Games. Three summer students and 6 ECCC scientists operated the 3 vehicles, mostly in pairs (1 student with 1 scientist). Nearly 10 000 km were travelled over 22 intensive observation days.