CSIOLYMPEX

Use of AAF CSI Probe in OLYMPEX

1 September 2015 - 31 December 2015

Lead Scientist: Michael Poellot

Observatory: AAF, OSC

The ARM AAF CSI probe was flown on the University of North Dakota (UND) Citation aircraft to support the OLYMPEX measurement campaign in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. The overall purpose of the campaign was to improve remote sensing retrievals of cloud and precipitation properties in winter storms from over the ocean to over complex terrain. These measurement were obtained in support of the NASA Global Precipitation Measurment (GPM) mission and the ACE (Aerosols, Clouds, and Ecosystem) RADEX (Radar Definition EXperiment). This work represented a continuation of research by UND supported by the AAF during the spring 2014 season over North Carolina and the adjacent coastal waters. The aircraft program ran from 10 November 2015 to 22 December 2016. The CSI will provide total water content measurements that will be used to complement a host of other microphysical probes on the UND Citation. Total cloud/precipitation condensate is a critical parameter for accurate modeling of current and future states of the atmosphere. Remote sensing retrievals of this parameter from space and ground-based instruments must be improved and validated to better represent cloud processed in numerical models. Other observing platforms to be deployed for OLYMPEX include the NASA DC-8 and ER-2 aircraft for airborne remote sensing and dropsondes, along with ground-based radars, rawinsondes, and surface precipitation sensors.