ER-2 Flight Summary for 07/27/2005
Sortie Number: 05-9035
Take off: 0600
Landing: 1145
Mission Description:
27 July 2005 Aqua/Aura Underpass and Convection North of Panama Report by Dan Cecil and Robbie Hood Mission Description 0600 UTC takeoff; first overfly SJO at altitude for comparison with 0600 UTC ticosonde; then underfly Aqua and Aura satellite overpasses south of Guatamala. After the underflight, find an MCS to study and then return to overfly SJO at altitude again before 1200 UTC landing.
Mission Objectives:
Calibration / validation of airborne and satellite instruments using Aqua, Aura, and Ticosonde; sampling of nocturnal oceanic Mesocale Convective System.
Mission Notes:
Ticosonde overflight and satellite underflights went as planned; apparently there was lots of the necessary clear air for the underflights and the track was well positioned. After launch, we identified potential target MCSs north of Panama near 9.5, 82.0; south of Panama near 7.0, 82.0; and south of Panama near 7.5, 79.0 (Panama Bight). After the underflights, we determined that the northern MCS (just off the NW coast of Panama) was the most promising due to cold cloud tops in satellite imagery and lightning activity sampled by the ground-based lightning network. As the ER-2 began to overfly MCS (from west to east), lightning exploded on the western end of the MCS. Cloud tops cooled rapidly on the western end, and the pilot reported severe turbulence at 68000 feet. For safety considerations, the pilot flew north along 81.33 W, away from the convective line. For the remainder of the mission, the intense convection remained in the area between 9.5-10.0N, 82.5-82.0 W (at least according to the IR and lightning data we had available). To avoid the most intense convection, the ER-2 pilot was directed to fly a box pattern with sides at ~10.0 N, 80.75 W, 9.0 N, and 83.0 W. The pilot reported that the north to south leg on the eastern end of the box was also turbulent at 68,000 ft. He stated that the west-east line of lightning activity extended further east than his box pattern. While traveling from east to west on a line south of the original convection, he experienced turbulence again at 68,000 ft. As sunrise approached, the pilot did not observe any embedded convection or overshooting tops in the MCS. He did observe a several upshooting cloud formations that were bending to the west. He stated they look like a series of hooks and was not a cloud he had ever observed previously. Mission concluded with overflight of SJO near 1115 UTC.
Other Mission Assets:
Ticosonde launches at 00, 06, 12, 18 UTC. Aerosonde has ended its operations and the team visited SJO.
Flight Track:
Navigation Data
Instrument Status:
| Instrument Acronym | Status during sortie | Full Report | Quicklooks |
| CRS | Green |
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| EDOP | Green |
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| HAMSR | Green |
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| MAS | Green |
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| MTP | Green |
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