Joint Airborne IASI Validation Experiment (JAIVEx) at UW-Madison SSEC/CIMSS

From Bob Wells:

There was an early start for Saturday’s flight B288 with the NASA WB57 but conditions were good with clear skies over Oklahoma for the METOP satellite pass. All instruments and 10 sondes worked well and there are high hopes of good validation data from both aircraft. The 146 operated at higher levels (FL330) than originally planned and as a result a refueling stop at Oklahoma City was needed. The total flying time for the day was 6h 44m.

However, the spectacular result of the flight was the chance observation of the Wynnewood Oil Refinery fire (see attached photos and e.g. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N28362369.htm). Measurements (in particular those of AMS and PSAP) were made in the plume and will hopefully provide very interesting comparison with observations made of the Buncefield pollution.

The SATCOM link continues to present major communication problems. Stratos have escalated the phone problem to supervisor level but the supervisor does not work at weekends. The e-mail and position report problem appears to lie at the Met Office but, despite Jon Taylor’s best efforts, no communication to the aircraft has been possible.

Another flight with the WB57  for METOP and AQUA passes over the Gulf of Mexico is planned for Sunday. The FAAM BAe146 will refuel at Lafayette, Louisiana.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 30th, 2007 at 4:18 pm and is filed under Status Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.