Mission Summary
20160809I1 Aircraft 43RF
Tropical Storm Javier
Doppler Wind LIDAR

Aircraft Crew (43RF)
Aircraft CommanderScott Price
Co-pilotCathy Martin
Co-pilotNate Kahn
NavigatorTim Gallagher
Flight EngineerKen Heystek
Flight EngineerPaul Darby
Flight DirectorRich Henning
Data TechnicianTodd Richards
Data TechnicianTerry Lynch
Elec. TechnicianJoe Greene
Scientific Crew (43RF)
LPSLisa BucciHRD
RadarPaul ReasorHRD
DropsondeBrad KlotzHRD



Figure 1.TS Javier in relation to DL flow


Figure 2.TS Javier in relation to shear

Mission Plan :

The mission is to conduct a DWL experiment into Tropical Storm Javier. The 40kt system is located off the coast of the Baja Peninsula, Mexico in the East Pacific and moving NNE at about 5 knots (Figure 1). It is located under a high pressure system (Figure 2), with shear ranging between 5 to 10 knots. Satellite presentation shows decreasing convection in all quadrants as the storm encounters dry air and cool SSTs. Track guidance show Javier will continue to travel up the coast of the Baja Peninsula until dissipating in the next 2-3 days (Figure 3).



Figure 3.Forecast tracks for Javier


Figure 4a.Proposed track Figure 4a.Actual track

Given the long transit time and proximity to land, the plan calls for a single Figure-4 pattern with an initial point (IP) to the east (Figure 4a). Upon completion of the mission, the plane will return to Harlingen, TX.

TDR MISSION PLAN: Javier
Prepared by the Hurricane Research Division File: current1.ftk
August 20, 2015
Aircraft: N43RF
Proposed takeoff: 09/0600Z
DROP LOCATION TABLE
# LAT LON RAD/AZM Time
deg min deg min n mi/deg hr:min
1S 22 36108 59 90/090 3:26
2S 22 36112 13 90/270 4:12
3S 21 06110 36 90/180 4:45
4S 24 06110 36 90/000 5:30
Mission Summary :

Take off Landing
Harligen, TX 05:57 UTC Harligen, TX 12:33 UTC

A Figure-4 pattern was flown, however the IP was shifted to the SE quadrant making the end point over the NE (Figure 4b). The majority of the storm was cloud and precipitation free making it ideal for the DWL. The strongest surface and flight level winds were located in the NNW. Radar composites show little convection, however there were some weak (Figure 5). Dropsondes in the north and western portions of the circulation showed significant dry air most likely responsible for the lack of convection within the storm.



Figure 5.Doppler wind analyses for flight

A total of 9 sondes were dropped and 2 radar analyses were completed.

Mission Evaluation:

This mission collected DWL observations successfully and captured the second snapshot of a tropical cyclone spinning down. Within the storm, the DWL initially collected wind profiles both above and below the plane (4 conical scans downward, 1 upward), however there the signal pointed upward was not strong. Therefore, the observations were switched to only collecting data below the aircraft. No specific calibration flight was needed given the long commute over Mexico when observations were also collected.

Problems :

Old radar files were present in the current mission folder causing the radar analysis to fail until the files were deleted.

Lisa Bucci
October 19, 2016


Mission Data :


Final flight track

Final flight track detail

Flight track

Temperature and Moisture

Wind and Atlitude

LPS log | Radar log | DWL log | Dropsonde log
Flight Director's log | Flight Director's manifest | serial data | NetCDF data | 1 second data


Page last updated Nov. 09, 2016
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