Mission Plan :

The plan for this mission onboard N42RF was to fly into TS Kyle and then sample AL94 - a convective area off the N. Carolina coast. This research flight mission was a combination Ocean Vector Winds/TDR (Tail Doppler Radar). The plan was to sample the eastern side of the system where most of the convection was present and then ferry to sample AL94.

Mission Summary :

Fig1. GOES-12 Visible Satellite image of AL93 on Sept. 25, 2008 at 2115Z.

We took off from Tampa (MacDill AFB) at 1955 UTC on 25 September 2008. AL93 is now TS Kyle. The surface pressure at 21Z is 1003 mb. We flew at 8,000 feet. Kyle continued to be an asymmetric storm and was still experiencing moderate shear. Most of the convection was on the eastern size of the storm. This area contained most of the convection (Figs. 1 & 2). We started on the southwest and headed toward the center. We spent a few minutes trying to determine where the surface center was located. We then headed towards to NE and then south. We made one last pass through the circulation center before ferrying out to AL94. The system did not organize much throughout the time we were out there. Below are two satellite images of how the system looked like while we were sampling it. Kyle did not exhibit organized convection at this time (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. GOES-12 infrared satellite image of TS Klye on Sept. 25, 2008 at 0102Z.

On our way towards AL94, we climbed up to 14,000 feet. As we were ferrying through the mid-Atlantic, we experienced clear air turbulence (CAT) around 0118Z. It was an 8 m/s updraft followed by a 4 m/s downdraft. Luckily no one onboard was hurt. The flight director said that he saw overshoot tops right below us. That may have caused the CAT.

We did a downwind leg through AL94. The plan was to descend to 8,000 ft but the FAA had blocked it because the Air Force Hurricane Hunters were also sampling the system. We had to fly at 11,000 ft. We dropped 3 sondes on the downwind leg and also created a radar analysis. The system was over the Gulf Stream. There wasn't much convection in AL94. We landed in MacDill at 0455Z (9/26).

Expendables and Transmitted operational data:

Total number of GPS sondes used: 9
Total number of GPS sondes processed (in-flight): 9
Total number of GPS sondes transmitted: 8
Total number of Tail Doppler Radar analyses transmitted: 2
Total number of Tail Doppler Radar SuperObs (SO) transmitted: 2

Problems :

The LF radar is still not working. We are still using a borrowed trackball mouse from Jim Roles (AOC) since the HRD workstation trackball mouse is broken. We experienced clear air turbulence in the middle of the Atlantic on our ferry to sample AL94 off the coast of N.Carolina.

Shirley Murillo
Nov. 24, 2008

Mission Data :