16 Sept 2010 Global Hawk Platform Scientist Report (Karl) - Rich Blakeslee

16 Sept 2010 Global Hawk Platform Scientist Report (Karl) - Rich Blakeslee

Mission: Global Hawk Flight to Karl Sept 16, 2010

Take Off:  13:13 UTC, September 16, 2010

Landing: 14:26 UTC, September 17, 2010

Duration:  25 hours, 13 minutes, 34 seconds

Platform Scientists: Bjorn Lambrigtsen, Richard Blakeslee

Discussion:  Global Hawk (GH) took off on 13:13 UTC for a flight to Karl, a developing tropical storm in the Bay of Campeche.  All payloads (except dropsonde system which still is not certified for operation) were green.   The GH arrived on station after a 5 hour transit ferry.  In the initial phase there were 6 aircraft observing this storm including the NASA DC8, NASA WB57, NOAA P3 (N42RF), NOAA G-IV (N49RF), and Air Force C130 (see attachment for Screen Capture examples showing aircraft as seen using the Real Time Mission Manager).

At 18:45 UTC, the GH set up for its first pass over the eye, a N-S leg, in close coordination with the DC8.  Following this pass, a series of 5 additional passes were made in continued close formation with the DC8 as the two aircraft completed a butterfly pattern adjusted in real time for the motion of the eye and for the speed differential between the aircraft.  Following the 6th coordinated pass, the DC8 returned to base.  At that point, the GH continued to observe the storm alone for several more hours on station.  During this phase, the butterfly flight patterned was tightened to allow more eye passes, resulting in an additional 14 passes over the eye.  HAMSR real time observations were use to great effect at this time to accurate locate the storm center. We estimate that we had more than a dozen bulls-eyes, and the rest were very close.  Following the completion of pass 20 at 08:30 UTC the GH returned to base, landing at DFRC at 14:26 UTC, September 17.  Total duration for this rather historic mission was 25 hours, 13 minutes, 34 seconds.

In summary, an almost complete aerial survey of Karl was completed during a period of significant intensification, in which the storm went from Tropical Storm to a Category 2 hurricane (and at 0900 UTC, Sept 17 it became a Category 3 hurricane).  During the early period of observation, detailed measurements of the storm and surrounding environment were provided by 6 aircraft.  Subsequently the GH continued to observe the storm for several more hours until its return to base.   All GH instruments and systems worked flawlessly. 

Applying lessons learned from the previous GH mission into AL92/PGI 44, the communication and coordination proceeded smoothly during this flight, with only one minor glitch in guidance following the first GH crew switch-out which was quickly resolved.