AnonSEC

ACE – Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem Mission; learn about clouds from space, satellites
~ RADEX – Radar Definition Experiment; McChord AFB; ER-2
ARISE – Arctic Radiation – IceBridge Sea&Ice Experiment; Eielson AFB, C-130
ATTREX – Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment; DFRC; 4 NASA GlobalHawks
DC3 – Deep Convection Clouds & Chemistry; NCAR; NSF/NCAR Gulfstream-V (GV) aircraft
HS3 – Hurricane and Severe Storms Sentinel; NWFF; GlobalHawk
OIB – Operation Ice Bridge;NCAR Research Aviation Facility; P-3B & DC-8
PODEX – Polarimeter Definition Experiment;Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility; ER-2
NEXRAD – Next Generation Weather Radar; 160 Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D)
SEAC4RS – Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys; ER-2 & DC-8 & C-20A (G-III) – Armstrong;

[+] ACE – Aerosol/Cloud/Ecosystem Mission [+]
ACE is a tier-2 Decadal Survey mission focusing on Aerosol, Cloud systems, ocean Ecosystems, and the interactions among them.
ACE will assist in answering fundamental science questions associated with aerosols, clouds, and ocean ecosystems, by making improved
and more comprehensive measurements through the use of innovative and advanced remote sensing technologies. Aerosols measured by ACE
include those of both man-made and natural origins, the latter of which is contributed significantly by ocean ecosystems.
For aerosols, ACE seeks to distinguish aerosol types and associated optical properties and size. For cloud systems and processes, ACE
will measure profiles of cloud hydrometeors, distinguishing cloud droplets and raindrops, and ice crystals and snow, including profile
measurements of particle size and cloud optical properties. The properties and behaviors of cloud hydrometeors are known to change in
the presence of aerosols while clouds are also known to significantly process and alter the aerosols population.
Instruments
CRIS (Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer)
SIS (Solar Isotope Spectrometer)
ULEIS (Ultra Low Energy Isotope Spectrometer)
SEPICA (Solar Energetic Particle Ionic Charge Analyzer)
SWIMS (Solar Wind Ion Mass Spectrometer)
SWICS (Solar Wind Ionic Composition Spectrometer)
EPAM (Electon, Proton, and Alpha Monitor)
SWEPAM (Solar Wind Electon, Proton, and Alpha Monitor)
MAG (Magnetometer)
RTSW (Real Time Solar Wind)

[+] RADEX – Radar Experiment [+]
Radar Definition Experiment (RADEX) is a campaign for the ACE Mission.
to obtain data that will advance the development of radars to monitor clouds from space. The information that is
collected will be used jointly with NASA’s Olympic Mountain Experiment (OLYMPEX), which is verifying rain and snowfall
observations made by the GPM satellite mission.

[+] ARISE – Arctic Radiation IceBridge Sea&Ice Experiment [+]
Acquire well calibrated data sets using aircraft and surface-based sensors to support the use of NASA satellite and other assets for developing a quantitative process level understanding of the relationship between changes in Arctic ice and regional energy budgets as influenced by clouds.
Specific Objectives:
1. From the NASA C-130, measure spectral and broadband radiative flux profiles, quantify surface characteristics, cloud properties, and other atmospheric state parameters under a variety of Arctic atmospheric and surface conditions (including open water, sea ice, and land ice), and coinciding with satellite overpasses when possible.
2. Acquire detailed measurements of land and sea ice characteristics to help bridge a gap in NASA satellite observations of changing Arctic Ice conditions.
3. Utilize surface-based targets of opportunity to complement ARISE sampling strategies with the NASA C-130, including long-term monitoring stations, research vessels, and other surface and aircraft in-situ measurement campaigns that provide corresponding information on surface conditions, radiation, cloud properties and atmospheric state.

[+] ATTREX – Airborne Tropical TRpopause EXperiment [+]
Despite its low concentration, stratospheric water vapor has large impacts on the earth’s energy budget and climate. Recent studies
suggest that even small changes in stratospheric humidity may have climate impacts that are significant compared to those of decadal
increases in greenhouse gases. Future changes in stratospheric humidity and ozone concentration in response to changing climate are
significant climate feedbacks.
While the tropospheric water vapor climate feedback is well represented in global models, predictions of future changes in stratospheric
humidity are highly uncertain because of gaps in our understanding of physical processes occurring in the Tropical Tropopause Layer
(TTL, ~13-18 km), the region of the atmosphere that controls the composition of the stratosphere. Uncertainties in the TTL chemical
composition also limit our ability to predict future changes in stratospheric ozone.
Airborne Tropical TRopopause EXperiment (ATTREX) will perform a series of measurement campaigns using the long-range NASA Global Hawk
(GH) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to directly address these problems.
Contact: eric.j.jensen@nasa.gov 650.604.4392

[+] DC3 – Deep Convection Clouds & Chemistry [+]
The Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) field campaign is investigating the impact of deep, midlatitude continental convective
clouds, including their dynamical, physical, and lightning processes, on upper tropospheric (UT) composition and chemistry. The campaign
is making use of extensively instrumented aircraft platforms and ground-based observations.
Goals:
To quantify and characterize the convection and convective transport during active convection, investigating
a) storm dynamics and physics,
b) lightning and its production of nitrogen oxides,
c) cloud hydrometeor effects on wet scavenging of species, and
d) chemistry in the anvil.
To quantify the changes in chemistry and composition after active convection, focusing on
a) 12-48 hours after convection and
b) the seasonal transition of the chemical composition of the upper troposphere.

[+] HS3 – Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel [+]
The Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) is a five-year mission specifically targeted to investigate the processes
that underlie hurricane formation and intensity change in the Atlantic Ocean basin. HS3 is motivated by hypotheses related
to the relative roles of the large-scale environment and storm-scale internal processes. HS3 addresses the controversial
role of the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) in tropical storm formation and intensification as well as the role of deep convection
in the inner-core region of storms. Addressing these science questions requires sustained measurements over several years
due to the limited sampling opportunities in any given hurricane season. Past NASA hurricane field campaigns have all faced
the same limitation: a relatively small sample (3-4) of storms forming during the campaigns under a variety of scenarios and
undergoing widely varying evolutions. The small sample is not just a function of tropical storm activity in any given year,
but also the distance of storms from the base of operations.
The NASA Global Hawk UASs are ideal platforms for investigations of hurricanes, capable of flight altitudes greater than 55,000 ft
and flight durations of up to 30 hr. HS3 will utilize two Global Hawks, one with an instrument suite geared toward measurement of
the environment and the other with instruments suited to inner-core structure and processes. The environmental payload includes the
scanning High-resolution Interferometer Sounder (S-HIS), the AVAPS dropsonde system, theTWiLiTE Doppler wind lidar, and the Cloud
Physics Lidar (CPL) while the over-storm payload includes the HIWRAP conically scanning Doppler radar, the HIRAD multi-frequency
interferometric radiometer, and the HAMSR microwave sounder. Field measurements will take place for one month each during the
hurricane seasons of 2012-2014.

[+] OIB – Operation Ice Bridge [+]
IceBridge, a six-year NASA mission, is the largest airborne survey of Earth’s polar ice ever flown. It will yield an unprecedented
three-dimensional view of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves and sea ice. These flights will provide a yearly, multi-instrument
look at the behavior of the rapidly changing features of the Greenland and Antarctic ice.
Data collected during IceBridge will help scientists bridge the gap in polar observations between NASA’s Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation
Satellite (ICESat) — in orbit since 2003 — and ICESat-2, planned for late 2015. ICESat stopped collecting science data in 2009, making
IceBridge critical for ensuring a continuous series of observations.
IceBridge will use airborne instruments to map Arctic and Antarctic areas once a year. The first IceBridge flights were conducted in
March/May 2009 over Greenland and in October/November 2009 over Antarctica. Other smaller airborne surveys around the world are also
part of the IceBridge campaign.

[+] PODEX – Polarimeter Definition Experiment [+]
Teams will collect data during seven flights on the ER-2 – a high-altitude aircraft based at NASA’s Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in
Palmdale, Calif. By virtue of its ability to operate at altitudes up to 70,000 feet above the ground, the aircraft simulates the view from space. The instruments flying on the ER-2 are a new class of polarimeters, an instrument that can give increasingly detailed information about aerosols and clouds. Aerosols are tiny airborne particles from a variety of sources – such as from the tail pipe of a car to dust and sea spray lifted up by the wind. They can stay in the atmosphere for up to a week where they affect human health, cloud formation, precipitation and Earth’s radiation budget. But the complex nature of aerosols and clouds poses challenges in deciphering their influence on climate.

[+] NEXRAD – Next Generation Weather Radar [+]
The Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) system currently comprises 160 sites throughout the United States and select
overseas locations. The NCEI archive includes the base data, called Level-II, and the derived products, called Level-III.
Level-II data include the original three meteorological base data quantities: reflectivity, mean radial velocity, and spectrum
width, as well as the dual-polarization base data of differential reflectivity, correlation coefficient, and differential phase.
– – From the Level-II data, computer processing generates numerous meteorological analysis products known as Level-III data. All the
National Weather Service (NWS) and several select continental U.S. Department of Defense NEXRAD sites record Level-II data.
The majority of the sites record Level-III products. When NCEI receives the data, it is archived and disseminated.

[+] SEAC4RS – Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys [+]
1. To determine how pollutant emissions are redistributed via deep convection throughout the troposphere.
2. To determine the evolution of gases and aerosols in deep convective outflow and the implications for UT/LS chemistry.
3. To identify the influences and feedbacks of aerosol particles from anthropogenic pollution and biomass burning on meteorology and
climate through changes in the atmospheric heat budget (i.e., semi-direct effect) or through microphysical changes in clouds (i.e., indirect effects).
4. To serve as a calibration/validation test bed for future satellite instruments and missions.
Attention will also be given to the influence of biomass burning and pollution, their temporal evolution, and ultimately impacts on
meteorological processes which in turn feed back into regional air quality. With respect to meteorological feedbacks, the opportunity
to examine the impact of polluting aerosols on cloud properties and ultimately dynamics will be of particular interest.
To accomplish the goals of SEAC4RS, two aircraft are required. The NASA DC-8 will provide observations from near the surface to 12 km,
and the NASA ER-2 will provide high altitude observations reaching into the lower stratosphere as well as important remote sensing
observations connecting satellites with observations from lower flying aircraft and surface sites.