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AVAPS® Dropsonde System Overview

The NCAR AVAPS® Dropsonde System is a small electronic device that measures vertical profiles of ambient temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction. The parachuted GPS dropsonde is launched from an aircraft and descends to the surface. In-situ data collected from the sonde’s sensors are transmitted back in real time to an onboard aircraft data system via a radio link. The GPS dropsonde is the airborne counterpart to the conventional radiosonde providing a detailed vertical profile of the atmosphere's thermodynamics with winds. Systems are available on the NSF/NCAR aircraft, the University of Wyoming King Air as well as many research aircraft around the world.

Configuration: NSF/NCAR GV, NSF/NCAR C-130, UWY King Air

Number of available systems: 3

NCAR AVAPS Dropsonde System Contact

Dr. Holger Vömel / voemel@ucar.edu / (303) 497-8837

https://www.eol.ucar.edu/observing_facilities/avaps-dropsonde-system

NSF/NCAR C-130 Overview

The NSF/NCAR C-130 is a four-engine, medium-size utility aircraft that has been extensively modified for research applications. The C-130 has a 10-hour flight endurance, a 2,900 nautical mile range at up to 27,000 ft, and a payload capacity of up to 13,000 lbs. This versatile research platform has a roomy fuselage that can accommodate payloads across an area of 414 square feet. In addition to standard thermodynamic, microphysics and radiation sensors, the C-130 has a range of inlets and optical ports. 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 C-130 Contacts

Dr. Patrick Veres / pveres@ucar.edu / (303) 497-1028 (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 on airborne instrumentation list available airborne sensors and measurements, and indicate on which aircraft they can fly. 

RAF can supply several types of trace gas and small aerosol inlets (HIMIL unheated, HIMIL anti-iced, HIMIL aft facing, Solid diffuser SDI aerosol inlet, and the SMAI aerosol inlet, 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.

In building an aircraft payload, note that the payload consist of:

1. Standard instrumentation: This is a suite of instruments that is permanently installed on the NSF/NCAR C-130 airplane, and these instruments provide data on all airborne projects. See the table below.
2. Requestable instruments: This an extensive list of instruments that are requestable to fly on the NSF/NCAR C-130, and are provided by NCAR/EOL and NCAR/ACOM. See the table below.
3. User-supplied instruments: PIs may request to include their own instruments in the payload that complement the NCAR part of the payload. See the LAOF Aircraft User-Supplied Airborne Instrumentation Form that is uploaded in PRESTO in the facility request form.

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 / Desirable
Not Requested 

Wing Store Configurations 

Basic information on possible wing store configurations, rack space requirements, and operator status is included in the tables. There are a total of 10 wing pod canister positions, three on each of the large C-130 wing pods, two on each wing tip.

User-supplied Instrumentation 

Detailed information on specific systems and platform infrastructure related to mounting user-supplied equipment can be found in the C-130 Investigator Handbook. All user-supplied equipment must meet RAF safety and design specifications. 

REQUEST GV-HSRL

HSRL Overview

The NCAR High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) is an eye-safe calibrated lidar system that can measure backscatter cross-section, extinction, and depolarization properties of atmospheric aerosols and clouds. The system can be deployed on the NSF/NCAR HIAPER GV aircraft. It is installed in the front of the GV cabin and occupies slots for four instrument racks. The lidar points either up or down (in the aircraft coordinate frame) and can be changed during flight.

Number of available systems: 1

Configuration: NSF/NCAR HIAPER GV aircraft

Not available for ground based operations. See MPD for ground based HSRL options.

Observational limits:

• Resolution:  7.5 m x 0.5 second [range x time]
• Maximum Range: 10 km or optical depth exceeding 1.0
• Minimum Range: 350 m
• Wavelength: 532 nm
• Data Products:
  • Cloud and aerosol backscatter coefficient (10^-7 to 10^-3 m^-1 sr^-1),
  • Cloud and aerosol depolarization,
  • Cloud extinction (15 m x 1 second resolution, 10-4 to 10^-1 m^-1)
• Look angle: Either Up or Down. Changed manually during flight operations.
• Cloud and aerosol data products: Backscatter coefficient, depolarization
  
   
• Cloud only data products:  Extinction coefficient, optical depth
• Data capture resolution: 7.5 m (range) x 0.5 sec (time)
• Wavelength: 532 nm (Green)

NCAR High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) Contact

Science: Matt Hayman / mhayman@ucar.edu / (303) 497-1087

Data: eol-datahelp@ucar.edu

Request HCR

The NCAR HIAPER Cloud Radar (HCR) is an airborne millimeter (W-band) wavelength radar that provides high spatial and temporal resolution remote sensing capabilities on the NSF/NCAR HIAPER aircraft. The HCR is housed in a 20 inch diameter wing pod and is capable of estimating winds and microphysics over a 15 km radius with 40 meter gate spacing. HCR can be operated in scanning and fixed-pointing modes for detecting cloud boundaries and cloud liquid and ice. The HCR beamwidth is 0.7 deg and range resolution is between 40 and 150 m.

Configuration: NSF/NCAR HIAPER GV aircraft

Number of available systems: 1

Contacts

Science: Dr. Ulrike Romatschke / romatsch@ucar.edu / (303) 497-8817

Data: eol-datahelp@ucar.edu

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. Patrick Veres / pveres@ucar.edu / (303) 497-1028 (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 on airborne instrumentation list available airborne sensors and measurements, and indicate on which aircraft they can fly. 

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.

In building an aircraft payload, note that the payload consist of:

1. Standard instrumentation: This is a suite of instruments that is permanently installed on the NSF/NCAR GV airplane, and these instruments provide data on all airborne projects. See the table below.
2. Requestable instruments: This an extensive list of instruments that are requestable to fly on the NSF/NCAR GV, and are provided by NCAR/EOL and NCAR/ACOM. See the table below.
3. User-supplied instruments: PIs may request to include their instruments in the payload that complement the NCAR part of the payload. See the LAOF Aircraft User-Supplied Airborne Instrumentation Form that is uploaded in PRESTO in the facility request form.

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 / Desirable
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. 

Integrated Surface Flux System (ISFS) Overview

The NCAR Integrated Surface Flux System (ISFS) is designed to study exchange processes between the atmosphere and Earth’s surface. This includes the direct measurement of fluxes of momentum, sensible and latent heat, trace gases (carbon dioxide is standard) and radiation, as well as standard atmospheric and surface variables. ISFS sensors include a mix of commercial and EOL in-house designed instruments. The ISFS can be deployed as a widely distributed network of surface weather stations - measuring the surface energy budget, fluxes, and some soil parameters. Alternatively, it can be deployed in closely spaced arrays to support intensive micrometeorological research at a single site. Solar and wind power along with cellular, and satellite data transmission permit ISFS to operate in almost any location.

Configuration: Ground-based, fixed

Number of available systems: 30

NCAR Integrated Surface Flux System (ISFS) Contact

Dr. Steven Oncley / / (303) 497-8757


ISFS: https://www.eol.ucar.edu/observing_facilities/isfs


ISFS Sensor List: https://www.eol.ucar.edu/content/isfs-sensor-list

Request Form Questions

The request form questions are to determine the EOL resources required to carry out your project.  We are asking so that we can determine:

• Which sensors are required (determining the level of complexity and time to calibrate sensors).
• The type of tower structure needed to mount these sensors.
• The source of electrical power needed for each station.
• The type of data communication to be used at each station.
• How each site will be physically accessed.
• The amount of data processing that will be needed.
• The level of staffing needed.
• Any unusual risk factors.

Assuming that the experiment design is described adequately in the Facility Request, only summary information is required in the ISFS portion of the form. If there are any questions, ISFS staff will contact the requestor.

If approved, ISFS staff will want to participate with the PI in a pre-project site survey, to assist in determining the optimal (scientifically and logistically) site location and to identify any unique issues.

Integrated Sounding System (ISS) Overview

The NCAR Integrated Sounding System (ISS) is a dynamic meteorological observing system that combines surface, sounding, and remote sensing instrumentation to provide a comprehensive description of lower atmospheric thermodynamics and winds. The core instruments are a balloon-borne rawinsonde sounding system, a radar wind profiler for high-resolution measurements of wind components from the surface to the mid-troposphere (915, 449 and 1290 MHz), a radio acoustic sounding system for virtual temperature profiles, a scanning Doppler wind lidar, ceilometers, and a meteorological station that collect surface wind, pressure, thermodynamics, radiation and precipitation data. Other instruments may be added if additional measurements are needed. The ISS can be deployed at a fixed, land-based site, onboard a research vessel, or as part of a rapidly deployable trailer-based system. 

Configuration: Ground-based; fixed, mobile and shipborne

Number of available systems: 3

Please see the Request Lower Atmosphere web page for information on requesting this equipment.

NCAR Integrated Sounding System (ISS) Contact

Dr. William “Bill” Brown / wbrown@ucar.edu / (303) 497-8774)

https://www.eol.ucar.edu/observing_facilities/iss

REQUEST S-Pol

NCAR's S-band, polarimetric (S-Pol) radar combines dual-polarization and Doppler measurements on a single radar platform. It is capable of discriminating and classifying various types of precipitation (e.g., rain, hail, ice crystals, graupel, etc.). S-Pol also quantifies low level moisture content (via ground clutter targets) as well as rain rainfall rates. S-Pol can be disassembled, packed into seven sea containers, transported and deployed to anywhere in the world and is remotely operable. It is one of two dual polarimetric, transportable, high data quality S-band weather radar in the world that is capable of describing air motions, boundary layer humidity, cloud initiation, and precipitation microphysics.

Configuration: Ground-based; transportable, fixed
Number of available systems: 1

Contacts

Science: Dr. John Hubbert / hubbert@ucar.edu / (303) 497-2041
Data: eol-datahelp@ucar.edu