28 Aug 2010 Tri-Agency Mission Scientist Report

 Tri-agency mission summary for Saturday August 28

IFEX
The G-IV is tasked to fly into T.S. Earl at 1730 UTC on Saturday and Sunday, August 28-29. NOAA 43 is flying an IFEX mission Saturday, August 28 into T.S. Earl with a 2000 UTC takeoff. NOAA-42’s first flight into T.S. Earl will be an 0800 UTC takeoff Sunday August 29.  P-3 flights will repeat at 12-hr intervals through the NOAA-42 flight at 0800 UTC Monday August 30. Later flights into PGI36 might begin late Monday or Tuesday, with subsequent flights every 12 hrs.

GRIP
The DC-8 arrived about 1635 UTC Saturday August 28 in Saint Croix (STX). A flight is planned for 1400 UTC Sunday August 29. At present this is planned as a 10-h flight into T.S. Earl. A second 10-h flight is planned for 1400 UTC Monday August 30 in Earl. Both flights could be slightly earlier depending upon the track of Earl. In addition, if Earl forces evacuation of STX on Monday, the second flight will return to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) on Monday. From FLL, the plan on Tuesday, August 31 is to fly in TS Earl. If the DC-8 is not forced to return to FLL on Monday, the plan Tuesday is to fly either Earl or PGI36 from STX, and then to return the same day to FLL.  
The Global Hawk flew into decaying Hurricane Frank (now below tropical depression strength) today, takeoff 1300 UTC. As this is being written, the aircraft is flying repeatedly over a convective feature in Frank with cloud-top temperatures colder than -50C. It has encountered no turbulence; the cloud tops appear about 10,000 feet below the aircraft. That flight is scheduled to end 0700 UTC on Sunday. In local time both Sunday and Monday are no-fly days for the Global Hawk. A low altitude dropsonde test might be carried out on Tuesday August 31.
No operations were planned for the WB-57 on Saturday and Sunday, August 28-29. A transit flight to Tampa is planned for Monday, August 30, with a final flight decision Monday morning. From Tampa the WB-57 would fly as many as three consecutive days in TS/H Earl.
 

PREDICT
Saturday August 28 was a no-fly day for the G-V. An evacuation flight from STX to Barbados is possible on Sunday August 29. The plan is to fly PGI36 from Barbados on Monday, August 30, returning to STX if possible. Either way, another flight into PGI36 is planned on Tuesday, August 31. These Monday-Tuesday flights will likely be carried out even if the storm has reached tropical depression or tropical storm stage.

--John Molinari