Project #2002-112 IDEAS Phase 2
Instrument Development and Education in Airborne Science
J. Stith, et al.
NSF/NCAR C-130Q Hercules (N130AR)
Archived Mission Status Announcements
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[Ideas2] Today's flight
Fri, 1 Nov 2002 16:35:00 MST
From: Ron Ruth
The C-130Q just landed, completing the last IDEAS2 research flight (RF07).
Ron
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[Ideas2] Today's flight
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2002 12:33:00 MST
From: Ron Ruth
The C-130Q just took off for the last IDEAS2 research flight (RF07).
Check out the real-time flight data web site:
http://raf.atd.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/ion-p?page=ideas2.ion
Ron
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[Ideas2] Tomorrow's flight
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 16:16:43 MST
From: Jeff Stith
The last IDEAS2 flight is planned for tomorrow, with a takeoff
time between 12:00 and 14:00. We will have a flight planning
meeting tomorrow at 8:30 to finalize the flight plan and takeoff time.
We hope to get both cloud and clear air sampling. This will be the last
opportunity for students to fly with us.
Jeff Stith
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[Ideas2] Flight summary and status
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 17:58:34 MST
From: Jeff Stith
We had a good flight today for cloud sampling. We were in cloud for 90%
of the flight. This was the first flight where all the cloudscopes and
the Nezorov instruments were fully working. We did a northbound climb
to 24,000, which was near the tops of widespread cloud, followed by an
approach to the Cheyenne airport, then returned home. Liquid water was
found in the lowest portions of the flight, with abundant ice above, as
one might expect from such a deep cloud system.
We will not fly tomorrow. The next flight is scheduled for Thursday
at a time to be determined at the next flight planning meeting at
9:00 Thursday morning. Takeoff will likely be between 11:00 and 2:00,
however.
Jeff Stith
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[Ideas2] Flight RF06 completed
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 16:30 MST
From: Ron Ruth
RF06 completed. Flight time: 10/29/2002 -- 20:12:21-21:50:36 UTC
Ron
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[Ideas2] Flight Status for Today
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 11:16:49 MST
From: Jeff Stith
If it is not snowing too hard today for pullout and taxi, we are
planning a short flight north of Denver to profile the clouds and
check out the cloudscopes, the fssps, the HVPS, and the Nezorov
instruments. Planned takeoff time is 13:30, but we may delay up
to 15:30 if it is snowing too hard for taxi.
Jeff Stith
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[Ideas2] Next Flight
Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 17:30:29 MDT
From: Jeff Stith
Our next IDEAS meeting will be Tuesday, October 29 at 9:00 in the RAF
conference room. We will go over the status of the instrumentation,
the weather/fire forecast, and plan a possible flight for 1:30 takeoff
on Tuesday or Wednesday. We will also have a brief science discussion.
Jeff Stith
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[Ideas2] Status and RF05 Summary
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 18:37:09 MDT
From: Jeff Stith
We had a short flight to check out the cloud instruments today. We
began by sampling a relatively isolated cloud that provided an echo on
the CHILL radar. It was located near the GIL 330/52 and sampling began
about 21:30 with a pass at cloud top at 17 k and continued downward to
14 k, but we were not able to get below the cloud base due to minimum
IFR altitude requirements. Plate and dendrite crystals were found in
abundance with little supercooled liquid water. The first images on
the new HVPS were seen today.
We then found an isolated cu congestus cloud, just north of I-80, that
was in a growing stage, but were unable to get clearance to get below its
base, again due to the minimum IFR altitude requirements. We did a few
passes through this cloud and another one, before we decided that we
couldn't sample enough of the cloud to completely characterize them.
We had several unusual problems with the PMS instruments today. These
will be discussed at a debriefing meeting tomorrow at 11:00 in the RAF
conference room.
We will not fly before 1:00 PM on Tuesday, October 15, to give us time
to work on the problems that arose during today's flight.
Jeff Stith
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[Ideas2] Status
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 11:10:03 MDT
From: Jeff Stith
The next flight is planned for Thursday 24 October for a 1:00 p.m.
takeoff. A 9:00 a.m. flight planning briefing will be held tomorrow to
finalize the flight plans and the crew list. This flight will likely
sample the clouds from the remains of the storm that is forecast to be
moving out of our area to the east. We are planning for approximately
a 2 hour flight, but this may be updated at tomorrow's meeting.
Jeff Stith
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[Ideas2] Update on Flight Status
Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 16:55 MDT
From: Jeff Stith
Because the weather at the airport will me messy tomorrow and the
prescribed burn that we are interested in has not been lit, we will not
fly tomorrow. We will plan on a possible flight for Thursday, with
the flight plans to be discussed at the meeting tomorrow morning at 9:00.
See most of you tomorrow.
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[Ideas2] Status
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 17:30:38 MDT
From: Jeff Stith
A test flight was conducted today to test John Hallett's instrument and
to do speed runs for its calibration. After climbing to 17.5 kfeet
northbound and completing the speed runs, we noticed a large fire
northwest of Fort Collins. So, we proceeded over the fire at 17.5 kfeet
to view it on AMIR and to set a waypoint. We then did cross wind
plume traverses at three distances downwind at the approximate plume
vertical midpoint. We also called CHILL Radar and they brought their
system up and observed the fire plume on radar. We then made an along
plume traverse from about 35 miles downwind to over the fire (i.e. a
northwest run from downwind to upwind in the plume), and then repeated
that run 1000 feet lower in the opposite direction until we flew out of
the downwind plume near Greeley. Although we were short some
instruments, this was a useful fire sample for the CCN measurements.
We also flew over Marshall for AMIR calibration.
We will now review the data for presentation at a data review meeting at
9:00 in the RAF conference room on Wednesday, October 23. The earliest
we will fly again will be on 23 October, with flight plans to be
discussed at the Wednesday morning meeting. Another planned burn is
scheduled for next week, and we may wish to plan a flight around such an
event.
Jeff Stith
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[Ideas2] Status
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 04:31pm MDT
From: Ron Ruth
C-130 just landed at Jeffco concluding RF04.
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[Ideas2] Status
Date: Thursday, 17 Oct 2002 2:30pm MDT
From: Ron Ruth
C-130 just departed Jeffco beginning RF04.
Real-time data are available at the URL
http://raf.atd.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/ion-p?page=ideas2.ion
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[Ideas2] Status
Date: Thursday, 17 Oct 2002 9:00am MDT
From: Dave Rogers
TODAY
Short flight in clear air to check modifications on Pacman probe.
2:00 pm take-off.
FLIGHT PLAN
From Jeffco, fly NNE and climb to ~15000 ft
Level speed runs 180, 200, 220kt
If there are any clouds nearby, then few cloud passes
Return to Jeffco; pass over Marshall if possible for MCR & AIMR calib.
WEATHER
Continuing pattern with long wave trof over Missippi River and ridge
over west coast.
OUTLOOK
Clear and dry in most of Colorado through early next week. Weak cutoff
low AZ moving east, making clouds and pcp in NM late Thursday and
through Friday. For Colorado, Indian summer, warm, dry, sunny, few
clouds and no precip.
TOMORROW and BEYOND
No flights until next week, possibly Tuesday or Wednesday.
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[Ideas2] Status
Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 04:45pm MDT
From: Ron Ruth
C-130Q just landed at Jeffco concluding RF03.
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[Ideas2] Status
Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 03:25pm MDT
From: Ron Ruth
C-130Q just departed Jeffco beginning RF03.
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[Ideas2] Status
Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 09:50am MDT
From: Dave Rogers
TODAY
Short flight in clear air to check modifications on MCR, exhaust system,
CloudScope, and trace gas instruments.
3:00-3:30 pm take-off.
FLIGHT PLAN
1. From Jeffco, fly northeast in boundary layer, 7500ft, 5 minutes
2. Climb to 17500
3. Level speed runs southbound, 180, 200, 220kt
4. Descend to 12500, then level E-W for 5 min
5. Descend to 9500, then level W-E for 5 min
6. Descend to 7500, then level E-W for 5 min in Denver plume
7. Return to Jeffco; pass over Marshall if possible
WEATHER
Continuing pattern with long wave trof over Missippi River and ridge
over west coast. Cold front passage Eastern CO puts us in stable
airmass, clear sky, N-NE flow sfc to 12000 ft.
OUTLOOK
Clear and dry in most of Colorado through early next week. Weak
cutoff low moves from CA into AZ, making some clouds and pcp in NM late
Thursday and Friday. For Colorado, Indian summer, warm, dry, sunny,
few clouds and no precip.
TOMORROW
Possible remote sensing flight to central NM.
If weather looks favorable, then 8am briefing for early flight, 10am
take-off.
If weather is not favorable for Thursday flight, then cancel flights until
next Wednesday.
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[Ideas2] Status
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 10:10am MDT
From: Dave Rogers
No flight today. Forest Service plans no prescribed burns today or until
after next precip event.
Tomorrow - short flight to check modifications on MCR, exhaust system,
CloudScope, and trace gas instruments. Weather forecast is not favorable
for clouds.
9am briefing, 1pm take-off.
Weather outlook for rest of week - strong long wave ridge off west coast,
with a weak closed low under it, off northern CA. Ridge is progged
to stay along coast, and low will move southeast into AZ late Thursday and
NM Friday. Some clouds and precip in northern NM Friday. For Colorado,
Indian summer, warm, dry, sunny, few clouds and no precip.
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[Ideas2] Status
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 12:40pm MDT
From: Dave Rogers
No flight today because plans for the prescribed burn were cut short.
Tomorrow - short flight likely if the burn goes. 9am briefing, 1pm take-off.
Wednesday or Thursday - longer flight likely, depending on weather and
instrument status.
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[Ideas2] Flight Summary and Status
Date: Wed, 09 Oct 2002 16:33:31 MDT
From: Jeff Stith
A successful IDEAS mission was concluded today, mostly for remote
sensing and testing of several chemistry instruments for Teresa, Eric,
and Britt. We flew from JefCo to the area of the Hayman fire in the
boundary layer west of Denver, made a low (9500') pass over the burn
area, then continued east over the area of the Black Forest, while
staying in the BL as the terrain decreased. We made passes over these
regions (Black Forest and Burn area) at mid levels (10.5 k') around
1948. At 2009 we climbed to 17.5 for reverse tracks over these
regions. This was followed by airspeed and pitch maneuvers at 17.5
between 2034 and 2045.
Although we had planned for mostly clear air, Cu humulus and slightly
larger cu were found in the sampling region and we made several passes
through a few of them while collecting slide samples (and CCN) on the
sides and below the cloud. Drop concentrations were high (800 cm-3) and
the air below the base was somewhat polluted.
We finished with a pass over Marshall for calibration of AIMR against
the ground source, which appeared to be successful.
Most systems appeared to be working properly today. Our next IDEAS
meeting will be at 9:00, next Monday, October 14. We will conduct a
brief status, weather review, flight planning for the week, and a review
of past data. The earliest we will consider flying is 1300 on Monday,
but this will be finalized at the morning meeting.
Jeff Stith
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[Ideas2] Status and flight plan for today
Date: Wed, 09 Oct 2002 11:25:24 MDT
From: Jeff Stith
Today we will have a short flight (1.5 to 2 hours) departing at 1:00.
The objectives will be for clear air chemistry and remote sensing.
The flight plan will be VFR and will include:
1. Boundary Layer sampling in the foothills west of Denver between
JefCo and the area of the Hayman fire at approximately 100 AGL
2. A low pass (approx. 1000' AGL) over the Hayman fire and continuing
east over the area of the Black Forest.
3. A return low pass, if needed.
4. Climb to an intermediate altitude over the Black Forest and Hayman
Fire and make at least one pass over these areas at this altitude
5. Climb to 17.5 kfeet and make one to two passes over the area of the
Black Forest and Hayman Fire regions.
6. Return to base, leveling off for approx., 10 minutes at about 9.5 k
feet, then descend to approx. 1000 AGL.
7. Overfly Marshall at 1000' AGL before landing.
The next Ideas meeting will be at 9:00 Monday, October 14. The agenda
will be:
1. A summary of status.
2. Review of weather and flight plans for the week.
3. Review of data from previous flights.
The earliest we will plan to fly is 1:00 on Monday, October 14, but we
will update this schedule at the Monday morning meeting.
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UPDATE Thursday 3 October 2002 4:47 p.m. MDT - (Ron R)
From: Ron Ruth
C-130 departed BJC on a research mission
@ 1:00 p.m. MDT 3 October 2002 and returned @ 4:42 p.m. MDT.
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UPDATE Thursday 3 October 2002 11:10am MDT - (Ron R)
From: Jeff Stith
Subject: [Ideas2] today's flight status
Folks,
We will plan for a 13:00 takeoff today and a 2 to 4 hour flight as
discussed at the 9:30 meeting this morning. We should get a good
profile of clouds between about 8000 MSL and 16,000 MSL (about -10 C).
We hope to do some clear air airspeed/sideslip runs above the cloud
tops, followed by a step-down profile through the clouds. If,
especially at the end of the flight, it is VFR, we will attempt a pass
over the Marshall site, and some boundary layer sampling.
Doors will close about 12:30 for the 1:00 flight.
Jeff Stith
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UPDATE Tuesday 1 October 2002 12:10PM MDT - (Dave R)
Today's flight CANCELLED due to weather.
Plans for tomorrow's flight are still valid:
09:30 wx briefing
12:30 be on board
13:00 take-off
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UPDATE Tuesday 1 October 2002 11:00AM MDT - (Dave R)
Today's flight delay continues, due to weather.
Revised take-off time: noon (Latest possible flight for today)
Be on board .......... 11:30am
Doors close .......... 11:35am
Plans for tomorrow's flight are still valid. If there is no flight
today, then tomorrow's flight will start as a test flight and could
continue as a research flight (unless major instrument issues appear).
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UPDATE Tuesday 1 October 2002 9:00AM MDT
Today's flight has been delayed due to weather.
Revised take-off time: 11:00am
Be on board .......... 10:30am
Doors close .......... 10:35am
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Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2002 15:30:06
From: Jeff Stith
This is a summary of the planning meeting held on 30 September, 2002
There are a few issues that we are working on (data system, final
plumbing), but things should be ready to fly after another day's work.
So we are planning a short (1 hour) flight on Wednesday at 9:00. For
those that have not flown with us, a safety briefing will be held at
8:00 (Henry or designee, lead) and is required before the flight.
People need to be on the aircraft and ready to fly by 8:30, as the doors
will close shortly after.
The first research flight is planned for 1300 on Thursday. We will
plan for a 5 hour flight, which will likely have both clear air and
cloud objectives. A brief weather and flight plan review meeting will
take place at 9:30 on Thursday. John Hallet will need a safety
briefing (Henry or designee) before the flight.
A safety/training session will be held on 4 October.
Please give any ideas (!) you have for the IDEAS2 web page to Ron Ruth
Jeff Stith