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The University of Washington
Convair-580 Research Aircraft is maintained and operated by the Cloud
and Aerosol Research Group within the Department
of Atmsopheric Sciences. |
Instruments aboard the University of Washington's Convair-580 research aircraft in the IMPROVE field studies. |
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(a) Navigation and Flight Characteristics |
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Parameter Measured |
Instrument Type |
Manufacturer/Model |
Performance |
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Latitude, longitude, ground speed, horizontal winds |
GPS and Trimble TANS Vector |
Trimble TANS Vector |
No major problems. |
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True airspeed |
Variable capacitance |
Rosemount Model F2VL 781A |
No major problems in IMPROVE-I. Iced over on some IMPROVE-II flights. |
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Heading |
Standard GPS |
Trimble TANS Vector |
No major problems. |
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Pressure |
Variable capacitance |
Rosemount Model 830BA |
No major problems. |
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Altitude above terrain |
Radar altimeter |
Bendix Model ALA 51A |
No major problems. |
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Altitude |
Standard GPS |
Trimble TANS Vector |
No major problems. |
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Pitch and roll |
Standard GPS |
Trimble TANS Vector |
No major problems. (Cont.) |
Table (continued) |
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(b) General Meteorological Parameters |
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Parameter Measured |
Instrument Type |
Manufacturer/Model |
Performance |
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Total air temperature |
Platinum wire resistance |
Rosemount Model 102CY2CG and 414 L Bridge |
Did not provide reliable measurements in IMPROVE-I. |
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Static air temperature |
Reverse-flow thermometer |
In-house |
No major problems. |
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Dew point |
Cooled-mirror dew point |
Cambridge System Model TH73-244 |
No major problems. |
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Absolute humidity |
IR optical hygrometer |
Ophir Model IR-2000 |
Values sometimes too high in IMPROVE-I. No major problems in IMPROVE-II. |
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UV hemispheric radiation, up and down |
Diffuser, filter (0.295 to 0.390 µm) |
Eppley Lab. Inc. Model TUVR |
Some noisy signals in IMPROVE-I. |
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VIS-NIR hemispheric radiation, up and down |
Eppley thermopile (0.3 to 3 µm) |
Eppley Lab. Inc. Model PSP |
Some noisy signals in IMPROVE-I. |
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Surface radiative temperature |
IR radiometer 1.5 FOV (8 to 14 µm) |
Omega Engineering OS3701 |
No major problems when aircraft was close to surface. |
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Video image |
Forward-looking camera and time code |
Ocean Systems Splash Cam |
No major problems. (Cont.) |
Table (continued) |
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(c) Aerosol |
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Parameter Measured |
Instrument Type |
Manufacturer/Model |
Performance |
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Size spectrum of particles |
35 to 120 deg light-scattering |
PMS PCASP-100X |
No major problems. |
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Size spectrum of particles |
Forward light-scattering |
PMS FSSP-100 |
No major problems. |
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Number concentration of particles |
Condensation particle counter |
TSI Model 3022A |
Problems on some flights in IMPROVE-II. |
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Number concentration of particles |
Condensation particle counter |
TSI Model 3025A |
Problems on some flights in IMPROVE-II. |
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Light-scattering coefficient |
Integrating 3-wavelength nephelometer with backscatter shutter |
MS Electron 3W-02 |
Noisy in some of IMPROVE-I flights. |
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Cloud condensation nucleus spectra |
Thermal diffusion chamber |
University of Wyoming/NCAR |
Not aboard for IMPROVE-I. No major problems in IMPROVE-II. (Cont.) |
Table (continued) |
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(d) Cloud Physics |
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Parameter Measured |
Instrument Type |
Manufacturer/Model |
Performance |
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Cloud and precipitation particle imagery |
Digital camera |
SPEC Inc. Model CPI-230 |
Not installed on first four flights of IMPROVE-I. Did not work well on IMPROVE-II flights. |
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Size spectrum of precipitation particles |
256 photodiode CCD array |
SPEC Inc. HVPS |
No major problems. |
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Size spectrum cloud particles |
Forward light-scattering |
PMS FSSP-100 |
No major problems. |
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Size spectrum of cloud and precipitation particles |
Diode occultation |
PMS OAP-200X (1D-C) |
Concentrations may be low on some flights. |
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Images of cloud particles |
Diode imaging |
PMS OAP 2D-C |
No data for first four flights in IMPROVE-I. |
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Liquid water content |
Hot wire resistance |
Johnson-Williams |
Data usable through ~0910 UTC (when aircraft was struck by lightning) on UW Flight 1859. |
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Liquid water content; particle surface area; effective droplet radius |
Optical sensor |
Gerber Scientific Ins. PVM-100A |
No major problems. |
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Liquid water content |
Hot wire |
Droplet Measurement Technologies |
Excessive drift in low liquid water contents (LWC) clouds and in clear air, but good for high LWC in IMPROVE-I. Unreliable data in IMPROVE-II. (Cont.) |
Table (continued) |
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(e) Remote Sensing |
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Parameter Measured |
Instrument Type |
Manufacturer/Model |
Performance |
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Radar reflectivity |
Pulsed 35 GHz radar |
In-house |
Installed but data not recorded until end of UW Flight 1852 in IMPROVE-I. Not installed for IMPROVE-II. |
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Weather radar |
Pilot's radar |
Bendix/King |
Data not recorded. |