NSF/NCAR HIAPER Overview
The NSF/NCAR High-Performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research (HIAPER) is an extensively modified Gulfstream V business jet available for airborne research. HIAPER has a 10-hour flight endurance, a range of 5,000 nautical miles and a payload capacity of 5,600 lbs. The aircraft includes one up- and two downward looking optical ports, aperture pads, and wing mounting points. Capable of reaching altitudes above 45,000 feet, the aircraft enables scientists to collect data at the tops of storms and the lower edge of the stratosphere. The Earth Observing Laboratory operates the aircraft within the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Configuration: Airborne research platform
Number of available systems: 1
NSF/NCAR HIAPER GV Contacts
Dr. Pavel Romashkin / pavel@ucar.edu / (303) 497-1027 (Requests & Schedules)
Airborne Instrumentation
Each research payload is unique and will typically consist of some combination of EOL, ACOM (Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling) and user-supplied instrumentation. The tables below list available airborne sensors and measurements. For a more detailed description of the airborne instrumentation, see www.eol.ucar.edu/aircraft-instrumentation. Please note that different instruments require different levels of support.
RAF can supply several types of trace gas and small aerosol inlets (HIMIL unheated, HIMIL anti-iced, aft-facing, all with PFA or stainless steel tubing, with or without sample line heating).
IMPORTANT NOTE
Prior to submitting this request, it is required to communicate with the appropriate airborne instrumentation contact(s) about the instruments listed below to determine if the basic payload request can be supported and/or if it will require additional resources.
[EOL] Dr. Julie Haggerty / haggerty@ucar.edu / (303) 497-1090
[ACOM] Dr. Sam Hall / halls@ucar.edu / (303) 497-1899
In building an aircraft payload, note that the payload consist of:
Project-specific limitations of the capabilities of the standard instruments and requestable instruments will be identified by EOL and ACOM at the time of the feasibility study and will be discussed with the requesting investigators.
Payload Limitations
The number of requested instruments routinely exceeds the available space on the aircraft. We, therefore, ask PIs to indicate the priority of each measurement in addressing their research goals. The rating to be used is as follows:
Mission Critical
Useful / Desireable
Not Requested
Wing Store Configurations
Basic information on possible wing store configurations, rack space requirements, and operator status are included in the tables. There are a total of 12 wing pod canister positions. On the HIAPER GV, there are three basic wing store configuration options:
Configuration 1: 6 pylons (12 canisters)
Configuration 2: 2 pylons (4 canisters)
Configuration 3: 6 pylons (8 canisters and 2 large pods)
User-supplied Instrumentation
Detailed information on specific systems and platform infrastructure related to mounting user-supplied equipment can be found in the NSF/NCAR HIAPER GV Investigator Handbook. All user-supplied equipment must meet RAF safety and design specifications.
NSF/NCAR HIAPER GV STANDARD INSTRUMENTATION - Provided on all projects | ||||
Description | Max. Data Rate | Location | Sensor Quantity | Operators |
Pitot-static Pressures | 25 sps | Fuselage | 1 | 0 |
Static Pressure | 25 sps | Fuselage | 2 | 0 |
Dynamic Pressure | 25 sps | Fuselage and radome | 2 | 0 |
Cabin Pressure | 1 sps | Electronics bay | 1 | 0 |
Ambient Temperature | 1 sps | Fuselage | 2-4 | 0 |
Chilled Mirror Dew Point Temperature | 1 sps | Radome | 2 | 0 |
Aircraft Position, Altitude, Ground Relative Speeds, Accelerations and Attitude Angles (IRU) | 1 – 50 sps | Electronics bay | 2 | 0 |
GPS w/ TerraStar C accuracy | 10 sps | ADS rack | 1 | 0 |
3-Dimensional Wind Fields | 25 sps | Radome | 1 set | 0 |
Gas Dump Manifold Pressures | 1 sps | Wall tubes | 2 | 0 |
Forward Digital Video (only with pylons installed) | 1 fps | Wing pylon | 1 | 0 |
SATCOM | N/A | ADS rack | -- | -- |
XCHAT | N/A | N/A | -- | -- |
Real-time Data Transfer to Ground | Variable | N/A | -- | -- |
Real-time Display incl. maps, video, time series etc. | N/A | N/A | -- | -- |
NSF/NCAR HIAPER GV INSTRUMENTS BY REQUEST [EOL] | ||||
CLOUD MEASUREMENTS | ||||
Description | Inlet or Max. Data Rate | Location | Rack Space | Operators |
Cloud Droplet Probe (CDP) (2 – 50 μm range), water droplets, ice crystals | 10 sps | Wing pod canister | 0 | 0 |
OAP 2DS Cloud Probe (2D-S stereo probe, 10 - 1280 µm resolution, 128 bins), ice, water | Asynchronous | Wing pod canister | ¼ | 0 |
OAP HVPS-3 Precipitation Probe (150 µm resolution, 128 bins) | Asynchronous | Wing pod canister | ¼ | 0 |
HOLODEC-II Cloud Particle Imager | 3 sps | Wing pod canister | ¼ | 0 |
King Probe Cloud Liquid Water Content | 25 sps | Wing pylon | 0 | 0 |
Rosemount Icing Detector (RICE) (presence of supercooled cloud water) | 1 sps | Wing pylon | 0 | 0 |
Counterflow Virtual Impactor (CVI) (water vapor TDL) | Special | Cabin w/ aperture | 1 | 1 |
OAP 2D-C 10 μm [EOL] | ||||
OAP 2D-C 25 µm (2-D imaging spectrometer) : 50 - 1600 µm, ice, water, special considerations B | N/A | Wing pod canister | 0 | 0 |
RADIATIVE MEASUREMENTS [EOL] (unless otherwise noted) | ||||
Description | Inlet or Max. Data Rate | Location | Rack Space | Operators |
Remote (infrared) Sky Temperature (KT19.85 Heimann radiometer), 0 up, 1 gerdown, not stabilized | 1 sps | Cabin w/ aperture | 0 | 0 |
Remote (infrared) Surface Temperature (KT19.85 Heimann radiometer), 0 up, 1 down, not stabilized | 1 sps | Cabin w/ aperture | 0 | 0 |
Radiometric Air Temperature | 1 sps | Cabin w/ aperture | 0 | 0 |
Shortwave (solar) irradiance (CMP22 Pyranometer - visible broadband radiometer), 1 up / 2 down*, not stabilized, fixed | 1 sps | Special aperture | 0 | 0 |
Infrared irradiance (CGR4 Pyrgeometer - infrared broadband radiometer), 1 up / 2 down*, not stabilized, fixed | 1 sps | Special aperture | 0 | 0 |
HIAPER Airborne Radiation Package (HARP) (spectrally resolved actinic flux and irradiance) [ACOM] | 0.17 sps and 1 sps, resp. | Tail, cabin & special aperture | 1 | 0 |
Microwave Temperature Profiler (MTP) | 0.06 sps | Wing pod canister | ⅛ | 0 |
*Mounting positions for the CMP22 and CGR4 can be used interchangeably for either sensor.
STATE PARAMETERS and WIND MEASUREMENTS [EOL] | ||||
Description | Inlet or Max. Data Rate | Location | Rack Space | Operators |
Fast Ambient Temperature | 25 sps | Fuselage | 0 | 0 |
Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) Hygrometer | 25 sps | Aperture | 0 | 0 |
All-Weather Wind Gust Pod (anti-iced) | 25 sps | Wing pod canister | 0 | 0 |
Laser Air Motion Sensor (LAMS ) [1, 3, and 4 (beam(s)] | 50 sps | Wing pod canister | ½ | 0 |
AEROSOL MEASUREMENTS [EOL] | ||||
Description | Inlet or Max. Data Rate | Location | Rack Space | Operators |
Condensation Nucleus (CN) Counter – (Butanol, low altitude only) | 25 sps | Cabin w/ aperture | ¼ | 0 |
Ultra-High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer (UHSAS), 0.06 - 1 µm, aerosols | 10 sps | Wing pod canister | ⅛ | 0 |
GAS MEASUREMENTS [EOL and ACOM] | |||||
Description | Inlet or Max. Data Rate | Location | Rack Space | Operators | Special Considerations* |
Picarro (CO₂), Methane (CH₄), Carbon Monoxide (CO), and Water Vapor [ACOM] | Custom HIMIL, 0.7 sps | Cabin w/ aperture | ½ | 0 | D |
Aero-Laser Carbon (CO)^ [ACOM] | Custom HIMIL, 0.5 sps | Cabin w/ aperture | ½ | 0 | D |
Aerodyne CO and Nitrous Oxide (N₂O) | Custom HIMIL, 1-10 sps | Cabin w/ aperture | ½ | 0 | D |
Water Vapor Isotopic Analyzer (WVISO) [EOL] | HIMIL, SDI, CVI, 5 sps | Cabin w/ aperture | ½ | 0 | |
Fast Ozone (O3) [ACOM] | HIMIL, 1 - 10 sps | Cabin w/ aperture | 3/4 | 0 | D |
Total Organic Gas Analyzer (TOGA) (C2 - C10 organic range) [ACOM] | HIMIL, 0.015 sps | Cabin w/ aperture | 1 | 1 | A,D |
Airborne Whole Air Sampler (AWAS) [EOL] | HIMIL, asynchronous | Cabin w/ aperture | 1 | 0/1 | |
Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (CIMS) (SO2, HNO3, HNO4, HNO2 and others) [EOL] | HIMIL, 1 sps | Cabin w/ aperture | 1 | 1 | B,C,D |
Medusa Flask Sampler [EOL] | Custom HIMIL, 32 samples per flight | Cabin w/ aperture | 1 | 0/1 | A,B,C,D |
Airborne Oxygen Analyzer (AO2) [EOL] | Custom HIMIL, 0.2 sps | Cabin w/ aperture | 1 | 1 | A,B,C,D |
NO and NO2 [ACOM] | HIMIL, 0.3 sps | Cabin w/ aperture | 1 | 0 | C,D |
^The Aerodyne is preferred for CO measurements when only one instrument is required.
*Special Considerations:
A Instrument requires a dedicated operator on board the aircraft.
B Special software tools are required for routine processing, display and analysis of the data acquired by this instrument.
C Data recorded on a separate data acquisition system, not on RAF's ADS.
D Data acquired by this instrument requires unique post-processing.
E This instrument requires a separate request form
RAF can supply several types of gas and small aerosol inlets (HIMIL unheated, HIMIL anti-iced, aft facing, all with PFA or stainless steel tubing, with or without sample line heating).
IN SITU VERTICAL PROFILING [EOL] | ||||
Description | Inlet or Max. Data Rate | Location | Rack Space | Operators |
Dropsonde profiles of pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and winds. | 2 Hz thermodynamic, 4 Hz winds | Dropsonde launcher | 1 | 1 (may be remote) |
OTHER MEASUREMENTS | ||||
Description | Inlet or Max. Data Rate | Location | Rack Space | Operators |
Digital Video (forward, down, side) with optional date/time stamp | 1 fps | Standard windows | 0 | 0 |