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Notes from Mike King:
ER-2 Flight Log
Author: Dr. Michael King
Mission Scientist: Dr. Michael King
ER-2 Pilot: Jim Barrilleaux
Takeoff: 26May1998 1900 UTC
Landing: 27May1998 0125 UTC
Flight Duration: 6:25
Objective:
The objective of this mission was to fly repeated ground tracks over and near the SHEBA ice station (76°27.96’N, 167°30.1’W) and nearby sea ice of the Chukchi Sea.
Coordinations:
The ER-2 flew three parallel and repeating ground tracks of 261 km in length that were parallel and at a heading of 330°.
The bulk of the flight tracks over the Chukchi Sea were cloudy, with
thick cirrus between 4 and 10 km with underlying Arctic stratus on some
occasions. Other coordinations included:
F-14 satellite (2146 UTC)
NOAA-14 satellite (2219 UTC)
Key Flight Legs:
After overflying the ARM site at point 1 (71°19.37’N, 156°34.9’W), the ER-2 flew a NW flight line from point 2 (75°37’N, 164°00’W) to point 3 (77°20’N, 168°00’W), then reversed course. The aircraft then flew a parallel track displaced 40 km to the west with two round trip flight legs, between point 4 (75°27’N, 165°15’W) and point 6 (77°30’N, 170°10’W), overflying the SHEBA ice station (point 5). Each flight leg was 261 km in length. The flight tracks were all parallel and on a heading of 330°/150°. Finally, the ER-2 flew a third flight line displaced 40 km further west between point 7 (75°16’N, 166°30’W) and point 8 (77°20’N, 171°35’W). The return leg overflew the ARM site en route back to Ft. Wainright.
The AirMISR was turned on for 8 acquisitions over the Barrow ARM site
and flight legs in the vicinity of SHEBA, including acquisitions when the
sun was in the plane of the ground track, and when the NOAA-14 and F-14
satellites passed over the area. The AirMISR operated at the following
times:
2003.25-2019.25 (ARM–broken cirrus)
2052-2053.5 UTC (eastern line)
2116-2131 UTC (eastern line)
2138.75-2154 UTC (SHEBA, F-14, central line; broken cloud)
2207-2222 UTC (SHEBA, NOAA-14, central line)
2232-2247 UTC (western line)
2259.75-2315 UTC (western line)
2352.75-0008 (ARM)
Pilot Report:
The ER-2 pilot reported thick cirrus clouds over the ice up to the northern extent of the flight lines at 77°N, where the clouds started to break up. The Brooks Range had thin to moderately thick cirrus over it on the way out and thin cirrus with some underlying altostratus on the return leg to Fairbanks.
Meteorology:
Cirrus moved over the ice camp during the morning. Lower stratus occurred over the camp during the previous evening. Both cirrus and stratus were highly broken and covered the camp throughout the mission. Winds at the surface were 13 kts from the southeast and temperatures dropped from Monday’s high of -2° to -4°C during the night.
The surface high-pressure system east of the camp was moving slowly to the east. The upper air ridge that kept the cloud cover away from the camp on Sunday was moving slightly to the east. Upper level winds and clouds were from the south.
Instrument Status:
AirMISR (Airborne Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer): The 1st and
2nd scenes failed, but all remaining scenes collected all 9 look angles
AMPR (Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer): Worked well
CLS (Cloud Lidar System): Worked well
HIS (High-resolution Interferometer Sounder): Worked well
MAS (MODIS Airborne Simulator): Worked well
MIR (Millimeter-wave Imaging Radiometer): Worked well
SSFR (Solar Spectral Flux Radiometer): Worked well