NASA Langley Flight Ops Center, Bangor Maine
Atlantic THORpex Regional Campaign
Alliance Icing Research Study II

Mission Summary for Nov 19, 2003

The NASA ER-2 and UND Citation flew coordinated flight profiles coincident with the AQUA satellite 1745 GMT overpass. Scenes varied from clear at the southernmost portion of the ER-2 track to multi-layered cloud conditions at the northernmost portion, and the multi-sensor dataset is expected to be very useful in the development and validation phase of NAST retrievals under cloudy conditions. The ER-2 reported that after a turbulent ascent, conditions were "smooth as silk" at altitude. The Citation was able to achieve a flight altitude of FL370, and 4 dropsondes were released along the AQUA/ER-2 ground-track. No instrument failures were reported for either aircraft. Preliminary quicklook analysis from the CPL team indicates great instrument performance, and that CPL detected "thin cirrus" in the southernmost region that appeared clear visually.

GOES-12 vis image (19 Nov 03 18:15 Z) showing NASA ER-2 and Univ ND Citation flight track

ER-2 tracks on   visible and infrared image.   Citation tracks on   visible and infrared image. Convair tracks on   infrared image.

• NASA ER-2 Flight Track overlayed on GOES-12 satellite
  
  • JavaScript Loop:   Visible,   Infrared
    
  • Animated GIF Loop:   Visible,  Infrared
    
  • VIS image:   15:15,  15:32,  15:45,  16:02,  16:15,  16:32,  16:45,  17:02,  17:15,  17:32,  17:45,  18:15,  19:02,  19:15,  19:32,  19:45,  20:02,  20:15,  20:32,  20:45,  21:15,  21:32,  21:45, 
    
  • IR image:   15:15,  15:32,  15:45,  16:02,  16:15,  16:32,  16:45,  17:02,  17:15,  17:32,  17:45,  18:15,  19:02,  19:15,  19:32,  19:45,  20:02,  20:15,  20:32,  20:45,  21:15,  21:32,  21:45, 
    

• UND Citation Flight Track overlayed on GOES-12 satellite
  
  • JavaScript Loop:   Visible,   Infrared
    
  • Animated GIF Loop:   Visible,  Infrared
    
  • VIS image:   15:32,  15:45,  16:02,  16:15,  16:32,  16:45,  17:02,  17:15,  17:32,  17:45,  18:15,  19:02,  19:15,  19:32,  19:45,  20:02,  20:15,  20:32, 
    
  • IR image:   15:32,  15:45,  16:02,  16:15,  16:32,  16:45,  17:02,  17:15,  17:32,  17:45,  18:15,  19:02,  19:15,  19:32,  19:45,  20:02,  20:15,  20:32, 
    

• Canadian Convair Flight Track overlayed on GOES-12 satellite
  
  • JavaScript Loop:   Visible,   Infrared
    
  • Animated GIF Loop:   Visible,  Infrared
    
  • VIS image:   19:45,  20:15,  20:45,  21:15,  21:45,  22:15,  18:45,  22:45,  23:15,  23;45 
    
  • IR image:   19:45,  20:15,  20:45,  21:15,  21:45,  22:15,  22:45,  23:15,  23;45 
    

• GOES-12 Derived Cloud Products from NASA Langley (Pat Minnis's group).

• Aircraft Navigation Data:   
  • Citation navigation and meteorological data written in NASA Ames format
  • NASA ER-2 (flight 04-6017)

• UND Citation Dropsondes:   
  • JPEG of dropsonde 1    Time of launch: 17:14:21       Location of launch: 41:09 N 70:54 W
  • JPEG of dropsonde 2    Time of launch: 17:41:46       Location of launch: 39:05 N 70:16 W
  • JPEG of dropsonde 3    Time of launch: 18:01:22       Location of launch: 37:31 N 69:48 W
  • JPEG of dropsonde 4    Time of launch: 18:34:08       Location of launch: 39:45 N 70:27 W

• Ice Crystal Images from UND Citation:   
  • PNG image of ice crystals at 16,000 ft temp=-14C
  • PNG image of ice crystals at 37,000 ft temp=-54C