University of Washington Convair-580

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.
(a) Navigation and Flight Characteristics
Parameter Measured	Instrument Type	Manufacturer/Model	Performance
Latitude, longitude, ground speed, horizontal winds	GPS and Trimble TANS Vector	Trimble TANS Vector	No major problems.
True airspeed	Variable capacitance	Rosemount Model F2VL 781A	No major problems in IMPROVE-I. Iced over on some IMPROVE-II flights.
Heading	Standard GPS	Trimble TANS Vector	No major problems.
Pressure	Variable capacitance	Rosemount Model 830BA	No major problems.
Altitude above terrain	Radar altimeter	Bendix Model ALA 51A	No major problems.
Altitude	Standard GPS	Trimble TANS Vector	No major problems.
Pitch and roll	Standard GPS	Trimble TANS Vector	No major problems. (Cont.)

Table (continued)
(b) General Meteorological Parameters
Parameter Measured	Instrument Type	Manufacturer/Model	Performance
Total air temperature	Platinum wire resistance	Rosemount Model 102CY2CG and 414 L Bridge	Did not provide reliable measurements in IMPROVE-I.
Static air temperature	Reverse-flow thermometer	In-house	No major problems.
Dew point	Cooled-mirror dew point	Cambridge System Model TH73-244	No major problems.
Absolute humidity	IR optical hygrometer	Ophir Model IR-2000	Values sometimes too high in IMPROVE-I. No major problems in IMPROVE-II.
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.
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.
Surface radiative temperature	IR radiometer 1.5 FOV (8 to 14 µm)	Omega Engineering OS3701	No major problems when aircraft was close to surface.
Video image	Forward-looking camera and time code	Ocean Systems Splash Cam	No major problems. (Cont.)

Table (continued)
(c) Aerosol
Parameter Measured	Instrument Type	Manufacturer/Model	Performance
Size spectrum of particles	35 to 120 deg light-scattering	PMS PCASP-100X	No major problems.
Size spectrum of particles	Forward light-scattering	PMS FSSP-100	No major problems.
Number concentration of particles	Condensation particle counter	TSI Model 3022A	Problems on some flights in IMPROVE-II.
Number concentration of particles	Condensation particle counter	TSI Model 3025A	Problems on some flights in IMPROVE-II.
Light-scattering coefficient	Integrating 3-wavelength nephelometer with backscatter shutter	MS Electron 3W-02	Noisy in some of IMPROVE-I flights.
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)
(d) Cloud Physics
Parameter Measured	Instrument Type	Manufacturer/Model	Performance
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.
Size spectrum of precipitation particles	256 photodiode CCD array	SPEC Inc. HVPS	No major problems.
Size spectrum cloud particles	Forward light-scattering	PMS FSSP-100	No major problems.
Size spectrum of cloud and precipitation particles	Diode occultation	PMS OAP-200X (1D-C)	Concentrations may be low on some flights.
Images of cloud particles	Diode imaging	PMS OAP 2D-C	No data for first four flights in IMPROVE-I.
Liquid water content	Hot wire resistance	Johnson-Williams	Data usable through ~0910 UTC (when aircraft was struck by lightning) on UW Flight 1859.
Liquid water content; particle surface area; effective droplet radius	Optical sensor	Gerber Scientific Ins. PVM-100A	No major problems.
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)

(e) Remote Sensing

Parameter Measured

Instrument Type

Manufacturer/Model

Performance

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.

Weather radar

Pilot's radar

Bendix/King

Data not recorded.

Table (continued)
(e) Remote Sensing
Parameter Measured	Instrument Type	Manufacturer/Model	Performance
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.
Weather radar	Pilot's radar	Bendix/King	Data not recorded.