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ATD's observing systems, which include research aircraft, radars,
lidars, atmospheric sounding systems, and automated surface systems,
supported twelve different field projects in FY 1998. ATD facilities
were deployed within the continental U.S., in Canada, and in Panama, and
went as far afield as the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. Four
of ATD's portable Integrated Surface Flux Facilities (ISFF) served on
the drifting ice in the Beaufort Sea for an entire year, in support of
the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) experiment. The
Solar Corona experiment in early 1998 posed a different challenge.
This project was essentially a three-minute experiment in which
scientists deployed a new infrared camera in the unpressurized cabin
of the C-130 to study the sun's magnetic field during the total solar
eclipse on 26 February 1998.ATD's engineers and technicians continued to improve the performance of several of ATD's facilities last year. The NCAR C-130 aircraft now has a second-generation Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS-II) to alert pilots of other air traffic, especially in uncontrolled airspace. INMARSAT satellite communication systems were installed on the C-130 and on the NCAR Electra aircraft, significantly improving communication capabilities especially in remote areas. The S-Pol radar received upgrades to the VIRAC signal processor, modifications to the receivers, and a new radar control center. A software package that efficiently post-processes dropsonde data and a re-designed telemetry chassis further enhanced the GPS Dropsonde system. Due to funding constraints, the ASTER towers and PAM Flux stations were combined to a single system, the ISFF, integrating data transmission, archival, and display software while at the same time still retaining capabilities of each system.
ATD staff devoted considerable effort to instrument and sensor development in FY 1998. Instruments such as the Multichannel Cloud Radiometer (MCR), the Scanning Aerosol Backscatter Lidar (SABL), and the Airborne Imaging Microwave Radiometer (AIMR) received significant upgrades. ATD continued work with NOAA on a solid-state High-resolution Doppler Lidar (HRDL).
ATD scientists collaborated with scientists from universities, other government laboratories and other NCAR divisions, particularly ACD, RAP, and MMM, on a variety of projects in FY 1998. Research topics included water vapor measurements, severe weather research including cyclones, hurricanes and severe thunderstorms, radiation, and surface flux measurements. Significant effort continued on the analysis of data collected during previous field experiments such as FASTEX (1997), Flatland/LIFT (1996), and VORTEX (1995), going as far back as TOGA COARE (1992/93). ATD, working with Vaisala, developed a correction algorithm for humidity measurements in the COARE rawinsonde data set and applied the algorithm to ATD data collected in the COARE intensive flux array. ATD and Vaisala work on developing a more general correction scheme applicable to world-wide rawinsonde data.
At the end of FY 1998, ATD management and technical staff submitted a plan for a next-generation NSF research aircraft that ATD hopes to acquire and bring into service within the next five years. The aircraft, called HIAPER (High-Performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research), will accommodate a wide range of scientific needs with its capabilities to reach remote regions, to fly in the the tropopause region and lower stratosphere over much of the globe, and to carry a broad suite of state-of-the-art sensors and instruments.
None of this excellent project support, innovative instrument development, or bold facility planning would have happened without the energy, expertise, and dedication of ATD staff. As this is written, preparations have already started for three new, large-scale, multi-national, multi-agency experiments that will take place in FY 1999. ATD continues to play an important and effective role in supporting the observational needs of the atmospheric research community.
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