2014-08-07 (Flight #2057) |
Aircraft Flight SummaryDate: 2014-08-07 |
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Flight Mission Details
This was P-3B eighteenth flight out of Bloomfield Municipal Airport, Colorado. The aircraft took measurements over the six D-AQ sites: Fort Collins/site-1, Platteville/site-2, Golden NREL/site-3, BAO Tower/site-4, Denver/La Casa/site-5, and Chatfield Park/site-6.
Key instruments on P-3B include:
1. LARGE (Langley Aerosol Research GroupE): aerosols.
2. PDS (Project Data System): base meteorological and navigational measurements.
3. TD LIF: NO2, HNO3, PNs, ANs;
4. DLH (Diode Laser Hygrometer), H20.
5. DACOM (Differential Absorption CO Measurement): CO, CH4
6. DFGAS (Difference Frequency Generation Absorption Spectrometer): CH20
7. Chemiluminescence (NCAR 4-channel Chemiluminescence Instrument): O3, NO2, NO, NOy
8. PTR-MS (Proton-Transfer-Reaction Mass Spectrometer): non-methane hydrocarbons.
9. AVOCET (Atmospheric Vertical Observations of CO2 in the Earth's Troposphere): CO2.
10. CAR (Cloud Absorption Radiometer): scattered light and surface radiance that is reflected off of surfaces.
11. Fast Ethane Spectrometer: ethane, methane.
Flight Path, Timing, and Measurements
Approximate time in UTC (Colorado, -6 hours). Activities during CAR flight 2057 on August 7, 2014 out of Bloomfield Municipal Airport. Observations by CAR operator/PI, Charles Gatebe.
13:00 -- preflight checks conducted.
13:15 -- preflight completed. All systems ok. CANS collecting the data.
13:40 -- aircraft door closed.
13:43 -- aircraft engines on.
13:46 -- CAR instrument power on.
13:48 -- start taxiing.
13:49 -- cryopump on.
13:51 -- filter wheel channels unstable.
13:55 -- take off.
13:56 -- CAR door opening.
13:58 -- CAR in science mode. A cloud deck above. Surface looks very dark. Filter wheel channel looks ok.
14:00 --- Filter wheel set at 1.6 µm.
14:02 -- low level transit to Fort Collins. Alt. = 1952 m.
14:06 -- Sky almost overcast.
14:07 -- Alt. = 1575 m. Missed approach at the Christman Air Field, Fort Collins. Spiral up begins.
14:10 -- pictures taken over Fort Collins. Cloudy.
14:12 -- Nav. temp = 23°C. CAR fans turned on. Current draw = 2.11 A.
14:14 -- cloud opening in some areas.
14:16 -- clouds breaks in some areas.
14:17 -- Denver area is very busy as reported by the air traffic controllers.
14:18 -- flying below a nice isotropic cloud.
14:19 -- strong signal/Ch. 9. Interesting/investigate.
14:20 -- cloud base. Could climb higher.
14:21 -- end of the spiral over Fort Collins.
14:22 -- heading towards Platteville. Alt. = 5551 m. Scattered cloud at this level.
14:24 -- almost overcast. Cloud optical thickness < 3.
14:27 -- over Platteville.
14:28 -- heading towards Greely for the spirals as directed by air traffic controllers. Almost overcast sky.
14:32 -- Alt. = 5554 m.
14:33 -- Start of spirals over Greely.
14:36 -- seems like a very interesting BRDF case. One side cloudy, while the other side was very clear sky. Sections of shadows/no shadows on the surface.
14:40 -- Filter wheel math error problem observed in the dark current. Some values go to -7500 counts. signal looked better when dark current values was round -5000 counts.
14:42 -- Nav temp. = 13 deg.
14:46 -- end of the spiral.
14:48 -- missed approach at the Weld County airport, Greeley. Alt. = 1428 m. Some scattered clouds.
14:52 -- heading towards Platteville at low level, Alt. = 1748 m. Sky partly cloudy.
14:53 -- over Platteville. Nav temp. = 19°C. Partly cloudy.
15:02 -- La Casa partly cloudy. Almost clear over Denver city.
15:03 -- heading towards Golden.
15:05 -- spiral up over Golden. Broken clouds.
15:09 -- cloudy with large clear sky openings.
15:11 -- current draw, 2.08 A, which dropped from 2.11A.
15:16 -- end of spiral over Golden. Heading to BAO tower.
15:18 -- dark current too high. Math problem seems to be the cause.
15:19 -- spiral over the BAO tower.
15:21 -- broken clouds over the BAO tower during the spiral down.
15:25 -- pictures of clouds over the BAO site. Aircraft pitch during the spiral = -1.85° (or below -2 deg.).
15:28 -- dark current seems to be oscillating.
15:34 -- missed approach at the Parkland airport. Lowest alt. =1571 m. Head toward La Casa.
15:35 -- scattered clouds.
15:37 -- approaching La Casa. Current draw = 2.12 A. Nav. temp. = 20°C.
15:40 -- start spiral up over La Casa. Scattered clouds.
15:44 -- broken clouds over La Casa. Taken some pictures.
15:50 -- thin scattered Cu above our flight level. Alt. = 4920 m.
15:53 -- end of spiral. Alt. = 5539 m.
15:54 -- heading towards Chatfield.
16:07 -- Alt. 2744 m. Broken clouds, but almost overcast.
16:10 -- end of the spiral. Rain reported over Golden.
16:12 -- at Balloon site/Golden.
16:13 -- CAR in imaging mode to avoid rain coming down, sometime heavy.
16:17 -- no more rain. Broken clouds.
16:27 -- CAR in starboard imaging mode.
16:28 -- Missed approach at the Christman Air Field, Fort Collins. Spiral up begins.
16:33 -- cloudy, but a large clear sky hole over Fort Collins.
16:34 -- Cloudy as seen in the CAR data. Current draw change from 2.08 A to 2.05 A.
16:41 -- Alt. 5544 m. Relative humidity > 140. End of the spiral over Fort Collins. Heading towards Platteville.
16:44 -- prolonged math error problem.
16:47 -- almost overcast.
16:48 -- start of the spiral over Platteville. Overcast sky.
16:51 -- took pictures of the overcast sky. Can see blue sky towards the horizon.
16:55 -- Cryopump problem. Current draw = 2.13A.
17:01 -- end of the spiral down. Heading towards Greely. Broken clouds.
17:03 -- broken clouds above. Going for missed approach.
17:05 -- Cryopump problem.
17:06 -- Missed approach at Weld County airport, Greeley. lowest alt. =1422 m.
17:07 -- Cryopump reset.
17:11 -- over Platteville.
17:14 -- raining again (drizzle). CAR in the imaging mode to shield from the rain.
17:16 -- Cryopump problem.
17:18 -- broken clouds.
17:19 -- dark current math problem.
17:20 -- over Golden.
17:22 -- spiral up over Golden. CAR in the starboard imaging mode. Lots of Cbs especially over the mountain.
17:25 -- very cloudy over Golden, but clear sky in some directions. Current draw = 2.03 A.
17:31 -- Colorful Cb on one side seen during spiral up.
17:34 -- end of spiral over Golden heading to BAO.
17:38 -- start of spiral down.
17:42 -- very good cloud measurements. Spiraling through a cloud 'hole.'
17:44 -- cryopump problem or math problem.
17:48 -- turn off filter wheel.
17:53 -- end of spiral.
17:54 -- CAR door closed and instrument turned off.
17:57 -- landed.
17:59 -- stop taxiing.
18:01 -- complete stop.
18:02 -- aircraft engines power off. CANS power off.
