INDOEX 1999: SABL Known Problems

The range delay (the time between when the first sample is taken and when the laser pulse actually happens) was measured and is correct on all projects except INDOEX and MAP. On these projects the first gate is sampled 106.4 m before the laser pulse. So, the true distance to a gate, when the sampling rate is 40 MHz is given by:

d = -106.4 + 3.53 * gate_number.

The gate number should start with 0. The -106.4 m range delay will hold for all sample rates. So, for example, the distance to a gate sampled at 30 MHz would be calculated by:

d = -106.4 + 5.0 * gate_number.

FLIGHT

DATE

TIME

PROBLEM

RF01

16-Feb-99

-

This flight the laser burned up on and only worked sporadically before that. The raw data exit but this flight was never processed.

RF02

18-Feb-99

-

No SABL data available

RF03

20-Feb-99

-

No SABL data available

RF04

24-Feb-99

02:45-11:40

06:30 & 06:55 Data gaps probably due to dense clouds in the near field.

RF05a

25-Feb-99

04:00-05:41

In general, RF05 was very problematic and the system only worked sporadically during the flight. We changed the laser power supply after this flight. 04:38 - 05:20 Oscillation in color background caused by flying through regularly oscillating clouds or a laser problem.

RF05b

25-Feb-99

06:38-07:17

OK

RF06

27-Feb-99

04:30-12:58

09:42 - 10:30 Down looking in boundary layer makes hard to explain data. 10:40 - 10:45 Loss of signal due to flying through clouds.

RF07

28-Feb-99

05:25-11:30

OK

RF08a

04-Mar-99

03:11-10:11

07:30 - 07:45 Big data gap of unknown cause. 08:40 - 09:20 Oscillation in color background caused by flying through regularly oscillating clouds (or thick aerosol) or a laser problem.

RF08b

04-Mar-99

10:40-11:50

OK

RF09

07-Mar-99

04:20-12:55

OK

RF10

09-Mar-99

03:36-12:20

06:52 - 07:14 Data gaps probably due to dense clouds in the near range 10:56 - 11:36 Oscillation in color background caused by flying through regularly oscillating clouds (or thick aerosol) or a laser problem.

RF11

11-Mar-99

03:48-07:52

06:38 - 08:04 Data gaps due to dense clouds in the near range.

RF12a

13-Mar-99

03:48-07:52

05:00 - 05:19 line at 7.5 Km due to laser after pulse. 07:25 - 07:59 Data gaps due to dense clouds in the near range 07:38 - 08:04 Line approximately 6 Km from aircraft due to laser after pulse.

RF12b

13-Mar-99

09:00-12:21

09:00 - 10:02 Line approximately 6 Km from aircraft due to laser after pulse. 09:10 - 10:02 Line approximately 3.3 Km from aircraft due to laser after pulse. 10:08 - 11:12 Lines approximately 6 Km and 3.3 km from aircraft due to laser after pulses. 10:08 - 11:12 Lines approximately 6 Km and 3.3 km from aircraft due to laser after pulses. 11:51 - 12:40 Lines approximately 6 Km and 3.3 km (double line) from aircraft due to laser after pulses.

RF13

16-Mar-99

02:30-11:43

04:16 - 05:26 Line approximately 6 Km from aircraft due to laser after pulses. 07:56 - 07:60 Line approximately 6 Km from aircraft due to laser after pulses.

RF14a

18-Mar-99

03:44-09:06

05:44 - 05:26 Line approximately 6 Km from aircraft due to laser after pulses. 06:10 - 08:28 Line approximately 6 Km from aircraft due to laser after pulses. 07:17 - 07:20, 07:33 - 07:35, 07:40 - 08:02, 08:23 - Complete loss of signal probably due to flying through thick clouds or water on the window. 08:49 - 09:18 Downward looking data are labeled as up looking.

RF14b

18-Mar-99

09:36-10:24

09:36 - 10:32 Line approximately 6 Km from aircraft due to laser after pulses. 10:08 - 10:32 Downward looking data are labeled as up looking.

RF15

19-Mar-99

-

No SABL data exist for this flight.

RF16a

21-Mar-99

03:58-09:08

06:38 - 08:52 Down looking at low altitude makes data hard to understand.

RF16b

21-Mar-99

09:18-12:39

10:15 - 10:35 Oscillation in color background caused by flying through regularly oscillating clouds (or thick aerosol) or a laser problem. 11:30 - 12:00 Oscillation in color background caused by flying through regularly oscillating clouds (or thick aerosol) or a laser problem. 12:09 - 12:50 Line approximately 6 Km from aircraft due to laser after pulses.

RF17a

24-Mar-99

04:00-09:32

04:05 - 04:34 Oscillation in color background caused by flying through regularly oscillating clouds (or thick aerosol) or a laser problem. 09:18 - 09:32 Line approximately 6 Km from aircraft due to laser after pulses.

RF17b

24-Mar-99

08:16-12:51

09:18 - 09:32 Line approximately 6 Km from aircraft due to laser after pulses. 10:46 - 12:33 Oscillation in color background caused by flying through regularly oscillating clouds (or thick aerosol) or a laser problem.

RF18a

25-Mar-99

03:39-07:38

OK

RF18b

25-Mar-99

07:42-13:03

07:42 - 09:40 Downward looking data tagged as up looking 13:03 - 13:06 Line approximately 6 Km from aircraft due to laser after pulses.