OVERFLY OPEN WATER ON LEG TO SHEBA; REPORT OF SOME CLOUD COVER, BUT ALSO CLEAR CONDITIONS.

Flight track (large image)
 

HIS data

AERI data

MAS data

Sonde data

Notes from Mike King:

ER-2 Flight Log
Author: Dr. Michael King
Mission Scientist: Dr. Michael King
ER-2 Pilot: Jan Nystrom
Takeoff: 27May1998 2010 UTC
Landing: 28May1998 0140 UTC
Flight Duration: 5:30

Objective:

The objective of this mission was to overfly the ARM site and open water west of Barrow, flying roughly parallel to the coast, then continue on to SHEBA (76°31.5’N, 167°56.03’W) and fly two ground tracks of 260 km in length with north-south heading. Return flight flown parallel to NOAA-14 ground track (heading 327.54\060).

Coordinations:

ER-2 take-off was delayed by 70 minutes in order to match the NOAA-14 overpass time on the return leg.  Other coordinations included:
F-14 satellite (2315 UTC)
NOAA-14 satellite (2349 UTC)

Key Flight Legs:

After overflying the ARM site at point 1 (71\06019.37'N, 156\06034.9'W), the ER-2 flew a SW flight line off shore and paralleling the coast to a location of about 70\060N, 163\060W. The aircraft then flew northward to point 2 (75\06000'N, 167\06056.03'W) to begin two north-south overpasses over the SHEBA ice station (point 2 to point 3 and back to point 2). Each flight leg was 260 km in length. After returning to point 2, the aircraft flew a 380 km leg at a heading of 327.54\060 to parallel the NOAA-14 flight track. The return leg overflew the ARM site en route back to Ft. Wainwright.

The AirMISR was turned on for 6 acquisitions: over the ARM site, on the coastal flight leg, twice over SHEBA, and on the NOAA-flight leg, and once again over the ARM site on the return. The AirMISR operated at the following times with pilot notes regarding observed clouds:

2112-2135 (ARM site - low thin scattered clouds)
2137-2146 UTC (Coastal leg - scattered broken)
2250-2259 UTC (SHEBA - overcast multiple layers)
2311-2320 UTC (SHEBA - overcast)
2345-2354 UTC (NOAA-14 - broken clouds)
0010-0019 UTC (ARM - overcast)

Pilot Report:

The ER-2 pilot reported broken clouds over the coastal leg with some clear sky to the western end of the leg, and possibly to the beginning of the leg. Multilayer clouds were reported during the SHEBA overpass.

Meteorology:

The ship reported freezing rain, cloud layers at 2-3.5 and 4.5-5.5 km, with some cirrus at 9 km. Winds at the surface were 20 kts from the east with a surface temperature of -5 C. The surface high pressure system moved east near the Canadian Islands. The upper air ridge over the Beaufort Sea weakened slightly, but is still minimizing cloud cover in the Beaufort Sea. Surface and upper level winds were forecast to be southerly at both Barrow and SHEBA.

Instrument Status:

AirMISR (Airborne Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer): runs 1-4 collected all 9 look angles, run 5 data gathered at all angles but only three (+70.5, + 60, +45.6) with correct angles, run 6 failed
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