Goal 5, Priority 3: Installing Initial Instrument Suite and Beginning Operations of the NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V (GV) Aircraft
FY2006 heralded the debut of the nation's most advanced research aircraft, the NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V (or GV, formerly referred to as HIAPER). In FY2007, the GV began flying, performing its mission of serving the National Science Foundation’s and our university community’s environmental research needs for the next several decades.
FY2007 Accomplishments
PACific Dust EXperiment (PACDEX) – PACDEX represents the first true deployment of the GV as originally envisioned. See Goal 1, Priority 1 for more information on this project.
Click to enlarge. Stith, a principal investigator on the Pacific Dust Experiment (PACDEX), was featured in a number of interviews discussing how dust and pollutants can interact with clouds. (Photo by Carlye Calvin)
HAIS Instrumentation - In FY2007, HIAPER Airborne Instrumentation Solicitation (or HAIS) instruments started to arrive for installation and testing on the GV. The first of these instruments (Small Ice Detector, version 2 (SID-2H), HIAPER Airborne Radiation Package (HARP), and a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser Hygrometer (VCSEL)) are operating in PACDEX and making important contributions to that project. In addition to PACDEX instrumentation, Advanced Whole Air Sampler (AWAS), Fast Ozone, Microwave Temperature Profiler (MTP), Ozone Photometer were delivered in FY2007.
Cloud Radar - The GV cloud radar is an airborne millimeter-wavelength radar that will serve the atmospheric science community by providing remote sensing capabilities to the GV aircraft. During FY2007, we expect to complete the detailed design of the receiver, begin the design of the data system and procure a transmitter.
Laser Air Motion Sensor (LAMS) - EOL scientists and engineers have been developing a new, high-accuracy, state-of-the-art wind velocity instrument for the GV over the past year. This instrument utilizes measurements of Doppler shifts in backscattered, near-IR laser radiation caused by the 3D wind field. It will improve upon the accuracy of airborne wind velocity measurements over current technology based upon differential gust probes. The accuracy for the latter, which is severely compromised by aircraft flow perturbations, becomes a particular problem on the GV. The new instrument solves this problem by remotely detecting the wind fields well in front of the airplane, resulting in anticipated flow velocity accuracies around 0.1 m/sec. In FY2007, EOL anticipates completion of the single channel demonstration phase, including airborne testing, of this new instrument on the GV.
The Microwave Temperature Profiler (MTP) – The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has been tasked with building a customized MTP for theGV. Julie Haggerty, EOL/RAL, is working with JPL investigators to certify and install the sensor. The MTP measures brightness temperature at multiple frequencies and elevation angles; retrieval algorithms applied to the measurements yield temperature profiles above and below the aircraft.
FY2008 Plans for Strategic Priority 3
EOL scientists are working with Gulfstream to develop four pylons similar to the two installed for PACDEX. Plans are to install these pylons in January 2008. EOL also expects to add the large pods in 2008, but funds are unsecured.
Initial reports from PACDEX indicate that the plane is staying cooler than expected, so the cooling system upgrade will be postponed until FY2009. Development of optical ports is intended to be complete in FY2008, and EOL plans include testing the instrumentation and infrastructure upgrades. One test run occurred July 2007; the other is planned for February 2008. Further testing of GV instrumentation will occur in 2008 after the quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS), High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL), three-view cloud particle imager (3V-CPI), and GPS are delivered. The Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA), and Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (ToF-AMS) are scheduled to be delivered in FY2009, which means an additional test period will likely be needed in late 2008 or early 2009.
EOL anticipates completion of the remaining electronic design, mechanical design, fabrication and subsystem testing of the GV Cloud Radar in FY2008. System integration will start in FY2008 and culminate in FY2009, with flight testing to be completed in April 2009.
Upon completion of the Laser Air Motion Sensor single channel demonstration and testing phase, EOL anticipates embarking on full development of a three-channel system for measurements of all three wind velocity components.
Related Lab Annual Report Sections:
Goal 5, Priority 3