ER-2 Mission Science Report

3 a/c mission for KAMP, with DC-8, ER-2, and NOAA P3. Duration about 5 hours, and location off west coast of Florida not far north of the Keys.

One objective was to fly over the MIPS several times, regardless of weather. A second was to obtain well-coordinated tracks through precipitation. Both were met very well, with the only disappointment being that the precipitation was not as close to the KAMP radars as desired.

All 3 aircraft began with an E-W pass over the MIPS. Then the P3 scientist (Biggerstaff) chose a NW-SE line a short distance west of the Everglades, which all a/c appeared to fly well stacked. The line was shifted eastward twice, and worked well for about 50 minutes. A second E-W pass over MIPS was accomplished at about 1810 Z. Then a second line (B) was worked on an E-W track for about 40-45 minutes; this line had some moderate turbulence at DC8 altitudes. At about 1850 the ER-2 departed the pattern to return to JAX due thunderstorms in that area. The DC8 and P3 then worked a spiral descent in stratiform echoes near the remains of the first line. ATC issues prevented the DC8 from spiraling over the same location between 24-19000 ft, and the precipitation seemed lighter than on the previous missions spiral. After one last pass over MIPS, and one line through some echoes about 70 km north of the Keys, the DC8 returned to base. The mission was successful, and the coordination led by the P3 scientist and crew was outstanding.