FUAV

This IOP will provide data for several users:

• Radiometric data at the 'top of the box' and cloud advection data on upwind 'side of the box' for SCM/CRM use.
• Cirrus remote and in-situ data especially at the thinnest top regions for comparison to ground radar and lidar data.
• Radiance data in limited spectral bands for comparison to GOES irradiance retrievals assumptions.

Activity Summary

During this deployment, ARM-UAV accomplished 12 science flights and flew a total of 77 hours, acquiring the planned scientific data with the extensive instrument suite, including instruments new to the ARM-UAV Program such as the University of Wisconsin “S-HIS” column water vapor instrument, the University of Massachusetts' “CMR” 95 GHz cloud radar, “Cloud Aerosol Precipitation Spectrometer (CAPS)” aerosol measurement system, the “Spectral Radiance Package (SRP)”, the “Video Ice Particle Sampler (VIPS)”, the “Nevzorov Probe” total and liquid water measurement system, and the “Cloud Integrating Nephalometer (CIN)”. A significant addition to the ARM-UAV payload was the Sonoma Design stable radiometer platform, that was developed under DOE/ARM-UAV funding, to maintain the zenith radiometers in a level attitude during small aircraft maneuvers. This capability significantly improved the quality of airborne radiometer data and reduced the effort required to process the data. All of these new instruments were in addition to the suite of meteorological instruments and radiometers flown in earlier ARM-UAV missions.

For the new payload, data acquisition and payload control were different from earlier payloads and missions. The new approach emphasized on-board storage of the primary flight data and use of the Iridium satellite phone system for low data rate transmission of instrument and payload state-of-health data, aircraft location, and payload commands from the ground to the aircraft. This system allowed communication with the payload virtually anywhere. The payload system used an airborne local area network to manage data and commands in the aircraft and automatically switched to fastest available link (Iridium, Freewave wireless modem, or Ethernet cable for ground data transfer following flight). The “quick look” data brought to the ground by the Iridium link was available in near real time over the Internet and was monitored by interested parties across the country during flights.

From an operational standpoint, the FY03 flight series included several significant accomplishments that represent an improved capability. Flights were conducted from Ponca City, Oklahoma, primarily over the SGP CART site but also over-the-horizon with monitoring and control of the payload as far away as Colorado and the Gulf of Mexico.

Timeline

Campaign Data Sets