P-3 Chief
Scientist Event/Radar Log
Flight
Number: 011215H
IMPROVE-II Flight
#6
Date: December 15, 2001 Aircraft
ID: N42RF
Chief Scientist: Bond
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doppler Scientist: Grimit Radar Tech: McMillan
Cloud Physics Sci: XXX Data Tech: XXX
Radar parameters: PRF1=PRF2
=1600, 0.50 microsecond pulse
Setup file = IMPR1
Pulses/sample = 32
Threshold on REF
Alternate Setup = IMPR2
Mission
Description:
Scientific
Crew: Nick Bond (PI), Eric Grimit (radar), ??? (cloud physics)
AOC
Crew: Taggart (P), Halverson (P), Wade (FE), Damiano (FD), Newman (N),
Rogers (tech), Lynch (data), McNamara (tech), Delgado (dropsonde)
Event
Log
|
Time (Lat, Lon), Track (deg), Static Pressure (mb), Radar
Alt (m) |
Event & Comments |
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220528 Z (47.70618, -122.59233).2 mb, 2309.0 m |
Heading for Pt. A after 2159 takeoff |
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220917 Z (47.51405, -122.71321) 207.083°, 667.4 mb, 3156.0 m |
Near cloud top |
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221344 Z (47.30615, -122.91550) 215.731°, 574.0 mb, 4399.0 m |
2D probes turned on; in clear air |
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223953 Z (45.42513, -122.97736) 176.836°, 573.0 mb, 4478.0 m |
Begin descent to Pt. A |
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225359 Z (44.50285, -123.03435) 179.094°, 812.0 mb, 1716.0 m |
About halfway between Pt. A and Pt. F; breaks in pcp
to W; more solid cellular pcp to E; cld phys shows droplets |
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225908 Z (44.17738, -123.03098) 181.462°, 811.9 mb, 1555.0 m |
Aft scan shows higher echoes to W of cellular
variety between 20 and 40 km |
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230529 Z (43.78178, -123.02838) 154.401°, 808.9 mb, 1648.0 m |
Pt. F; never broke out of pcp completely as was
expected; heaviest pcp just to the E during later part of the A-F leg |
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231255 Z (43.96243, -122.56686) .868°, 752.5 mb, 1972.0 m |
Beginning of G-B leg; both aft and fore scans show
20-25 dBz cells less than 20 km to W; rest of pcp is very shallow associated
with low-level drizzle |
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232323 Z (44.65295, -122.56152) .496°, 752.8 mb, 1507.0 m |
Back into "cloud sandwich", upper lvl cld
not feeding low lvl cld. Radar echo
is more scattered to the E now. |
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232552 Z (44.81773, -122.56006) .509°, 752.5 mb, 1831.0 m |
Cirrus and cirrostratus aloft now, sun breaking
through. Moderate (20-24 dBz) echoes to E 30-40km in fore
scan. |
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233024 Z (45.02323, -122.37131) 88.784°, 694.5 mb, 1963.0 m |
Hit pt. B, now heading E and up to 11,000 ft. Quickly back into solid pcp; needles and
columns; occ supercooled droplets; T=-5.0 C |
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234639 Z (44.07178, -122.08182) 178.854°, 670.3 mb, 1720.0 m |
Leg C-H; heavier pcp definitely to the W, not to the
E; near and slightly above cloud top most of this leg (11000 ft) |
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000554 Z (44.49175, -121.61642) .336°, 618.2 mb, 2692.0 m |
Fairly boring I-D leg; overcast above, undercast
too; dual doppler showing shallow, spotty echoes to the E
of the crest. More consistent echoes to W between 20-60km Visually, cloud top is deeper to the W. Very dry air up here...11% RH and Td as low as -30
C!!! |
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001611 Z (44.95650, -121.49205) 183.439°, 618.1 mb, 3143.0 m |
41 miles to K, hit burst of pcp just SE of pt. D Td up to -9 Rimed looking ice in cld phys |
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001912 Z (44.74217, -121.51292) 184.033°, 618.1 mb, 2936.0 m |
Shallow cloud below, in fact, breaks in clouds
visible 24 miles to K Nice view!
Snow on ground...skiing anyone? |
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002434 Z (44.36786, -121.45424) 124.980°, 619.5 mb, 3061.0 m |
Beginning descent to 500 feet AGL at Sisters
Airport... 11000: cloud
top 9000: rimed
columns ... T/Td: -3/-4 7500:
freezing lvl; cloud base nearly coincident |
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003055 Z (44.09501, -121.12379) 318.655°, 736.8 mb, 1589.0 m |
Climbing back up from about 6000 feet... 8000: hit cloud base again 10000: occasional needles/columns; T/Td: -3.5/-3.5 11500: cloud top 13500: very dry air aloft; T/Td: -9.0/-25.0 14500: T/Td: -11.0/-37.0 |
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004037 Z (44.21339, -121.74120) 232.934°, 615.2 mb, 2372.0 m |
Headed SW to G, 13000 feet Suddenly hit saturation; T/Td: -9.7/-10.0 Dual doppler showing moderate echoes 5-20 km to NW |
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004557 Z (44.01340, -122.10869) 232.812°, 695.4 mb, 1604.0 m |
25 miles to G...overcast thickening, slight
turbulence Descended to 10000 feet Supercooled water here; T/Td: -3.0/-3.0 8000 feet:
freezing level...drizzle drops |
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005214 Z (43.79205, -122.52101) 232.995°, 750.2 mb, 1829.0 m |
At G, turning to head N Alt: 8070;
T/Td: 0.6/0.6 Dual doppler paints embedded convection with pretty
high echo tops 20-40km to theW. |
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005605 Z (44.00900, -122.57747) 1.434°, 750.5 mb, 1762.0 m |
Echoes creeping closer as we move N, fore scan shows
a 24-28 dBz cell about 25 km to the W. 56 miles to B |
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010253 Z (44.47274, -122.56552) 359.646°, 750.6 mb, 1631.0 m |
Dual doppler showing significant echo in this region
and extending to the E about 30 km.
Echoes around 28 dBz. Flight level is just below the melting level (8070
feet). |
|
010659 Z (44.75183, -122.56433) 359.728°, 750.5 mb, 2141.0 m |
Nearing B (15 miles to it)... Temperature slightly lower, now below fzg; T/Td: -0.3/-0.3 Dual doppler showing moderate convection 20 km to
the E in both aft and fore scans. |
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011416 Z (45.02063, -122.18108) 90.436°, 670.2 mb, 2093.0 m |
Nearing C (3 miles)... supercooled water at 11000 feet; T/Td: -5.0/-5.4 some turbulence as we head south of C mixture of crystals and supercooled droplets |
|
011646 Z (44.90257, -122.07399) 182.668°, 668.1 mb, 1886.0 m |
Heavier pcp showing up 5-10 km to the W. Drying out a little bit at flight level; T/Td: -6.0/-11.6 |
|
012412 Z (44.40771, -122.08272) 179.910°, 668.1 mb, 2108.0 m |
Heavier pcp now over 10km to W. Main pcp appears to be 15-30 km to W. Not really in cloud at this time, but picking up
crystals nonetheless. Crystals probably being carried by slightly stronger
W wind aloft after being carried out of the top of the embedded convection to
the W. |
|
|
Hit pt. H; now heading NW to a point W of S-POL to
begin W-E stack |
|
014129 Z (44.02298, -122.52454) 292.409°, 554.0 mb, 3927.0 m |
z=16000 feet Still dry up here;
T/Td: -14.5/-35.7; RH: 14% |
|
021654 Z (44.38802, -122.59798) 272.390°, 569.4 mb, 4244.0 m |
Finished E leg at z=16000 feet; now headed W at
z=15000 feet (about 4.5 km) clear air |
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022628 Z (44.40033, -123.43687) 272.012°, 595.2 mb, 3993.0 m |
z=14000; nearing W point of W-E stack clear air |
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023804 Z (44.41163, -122.35083) 88.715°, 595.9 mb, 3329.0 m |
finally starting to see some meaningful echoes again most of the action appears to be to the N 22 miles to Santiam Pass grazing cloud top from time to time not a smooth of a ride anymore |
|
024912 Z (44.37727, -121.61859) 293.549°, 644.9 mb, 2532.0 m |
Hit eastern point (O), pcp is dying out... heading W again and descending to 10000 feet last leg |
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025153 Z (44.38393, -121.83156) 271.601°, 672.6 mb, 1906.0 m |
Seeing a mixture of supercooled droplets and columns
on this leg T/Td: -5.0/-5.5 z=10300 |
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025512 Z (44.38754, -122.07114) 268.706°, 701.9 mb, 1299.0 m |
weak echo here...seeing some ice crystals now T/Td: -3.0/-3.0 z=9500 feet |
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021123 Z (43.78807, -122.52592) 123.970°, 710.9 mb, 2223.0 m |
Lots of needles.
At G. T/Td=-3/-5.2 148/60 Majority of BG flown at about 8450ft except initial
part when still climbing. B->G time:22mins 10 secs. |
|
021409 Z (43.78519, -122.21391) 86.534°, 659.0 mb, 2452.0 m |
Reached H after Climb to 11400ft. T=-8.4/-7.7 Very few cloud particles.
246/75. G->H 4 mins 20sec. |
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021823 Z (44.03703, -122.07861) 358.048°, 658.9 mb, 1934.0 m |
58 miles from C.
Radar is really thinning
except to NW. T/Td=-9.3/-8.5;
238/60. Much more turbulent than
first lawn mover leg. |
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022749 Z (44.73656, -122.08429) 1.152°, 658.2 mb, 2190.0 m |
Just hit an updraft (poss gravity wave) at about
2:26:20. Jump in cloud particles and
precip. At about the same time. Radar
has really filled in again. Fair
amount of large crystals. |
|
023112 Z (44.99904, -122.07504) 23.138°, 643.6 mb, 2836.0 m |
At point C.
H->C 16 mins. Climbing to
13K at heading to D. |
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023247 Z (45.05436, -121.91560) 80.380°, 604.2 mb, 2899.0 m |
Levelled at 13600 and making the turn 10 miles from
D. T=-13. Dewpoint sensor just failed ( possibly iced up). Slowly coming back to life. C->D 4mins
28sec |
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023533 Z (45.02706, -121.60718) 171.953°, 608.1 mb, 2819.0 m |
Heading towards I.
T/Td=-11.6 (Dewpoint still all over the place). 245/60.
Fairly ice crystals. Td
settling down to about -11.5C. Good
radar to west. Looks like some
embedded convection, Thinner to the
east. Hitting some more bumps. 3M/s at approx 2:40:30. |
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025855 Z (43.85142, -121.65674) 9.896°, 607.9 mb, 2467.0 m |
Just passed I.
Data at I: T/Td -12.4/-12.8
248/72.5. D->I 22mins 50secs. Leg done at 13473. Not
doing JE leg. Now heading to K for
slow descent to F. Nice dendrites. |
|
030332 Z (44.24029, -121.54128) 11.165°, 607.9 mb, 2920.0 m |
Can see upslope in radar and shallowing echo in the
lee around the 20 km range ring. |
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030450 Z (44.31419, -121.57469) 251.429°, 608.2 mb, 2965.0 m |
At K, 13460ft.
Leg time: 7min 22sec. T=-11.5;
td=-15.9; 251/63 |
|
030914 Z (44.20963, -121.88518) 243.084°, 613.3 mb, 2404.0 m |
13200: T/Td=-12/-12.2. 250/62 12925: T/Td=-11.3/-11.7 252/67 12000: T/Td=-10/-10.1 248/62 T=-8: z=11150ft; Td=-8.8; 250/63 11000: T/Td=-7.6/-8 250/60 Transition to mostly needles 10000: T/Td=-6.9;-6.3 250/52 Moderate turbulance 10100-10000. 9000: T/Td=-5.3/-4.6 253/51 Still mod turb. T=-4: z=8230ft; Td=-3.3 245/53. 8000: T/Td=-3.6/-2.7; 247/49 Rimed crystals and aggregates. Moderate turb. 6500:
T/Td=-0.8;-0.9; 257/36. Moderately severe turb. Good radar coverage.
Cloud depth still about 6km. |
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032619 Z (43.80268, -123.03801) 330.302°, 797.1 mb, 1651.0 m |
At point F.
T/Td=-1.2/-0.8; 258/44 K->F 21min 45sec |
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033008 Z (44.06456, -123.03282) .425°, 797.2 mb, 1699.0 m |
Nice view down below of Eugene! Much less precip. Here. Pretty smooth. |
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033239 Z (44.23717, -123.03268) 358.915°, 797.5 mb, 1716.0 m |
Slight chop. |
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033747 Z (44.58102, -123.03406) 359.874°, 797.2 mb, 1735.0 m |
Significant turb at 3:36:30. 8m/s vertical motion. |
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033946 Z (44.71900, -123.03276) 359.356°, 797.5 mb, 1750.0 m |
Very little radar coverage at the moment. Almost no precip. A little cooler towards A too.
T/Td=-2.2/-2.4 256/47. Can see Salem |
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034239 Z (44.91833, -123.03246) 357.954°, 797.4 mb, 1752.0 m |
Nose radar indicates a few cells ahead. And it was right! |
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034422 Z (45.03324, -123.00653) 52.561°, 796.0 mb, 1760.0 m |
Made the turn at A.
Hit a big bump. +7.5 and
-10.0. Approx 3:44. Climbed to 9500 heading to C. Moderate to moderately severe chop. T=-6.6/-6.3
249/58 F->A 18min 50sec. |
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034955 Z (45.05311, -122.38309) 91.384°, 708.6 mb, 1851.0 m |
12 miles from C 9570ft. Radar coverage increasing again as we near the crest. Now climbing to 11000ft |
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035157 Z (45.05337, -122.14508) 92.811°, 658.5 mb, 2444.0 m |
2.5 miles from C.
11465Ft. Making the turn. T/Td=-9.9/-10.6 258/55. Needles and
plates. Heading to H. A-> C 8 mins 25 sec |
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040230 Z (44.40169, -122.08786) 178.701°, 657.9 mb, 2129.0 m |
37 miles from H.
T/Td=-10.6/-12 251/55 Moderate chop.
Good dual dopplar coverage |
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041230 Z (43.75751, -122.01875) 82.840°, 644.4 mb, 1866.0 m |
At point H.
T/Td=-10.5/-10.9 256/47 C->H 19 min 50sec Leg flown at 11468ft. Fairly smooth until 6 miles from H, then slight chop. |
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041315 Z (43.79543, -121.95770) 25.337°, 624.4 mb, 2051.0 m |
Climbing to 13K -14C@13450ft
Td=-16F. Heading to Q at
13500ft. Good radar coverage in this
area Some cells off to the r |
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042236 Z (44.50196, -121.54060) 23.526°, 607.4 mb, 2810.0 m |
2 miles from Q at 13500. About 5 mins ago saw amazing St.Elmos fire on the Cockpit
window. Just like a plasma ball. I wonder what the ice crystals looked
like. T/Td=-14.2/-16 252/63. |
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042542 Z (44.56725, -121.62730) 239.508°, 618.9 mb, 2943.0 m |
Descent to 10500: 12000:T/Td= -11.2/-12.2 263/55. Slight chop. 11000:
T/Td=-9/-10.8 261/51 Moderate chop at 10500ft. |
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043048 Z (44.42516, -121.95438) 240.069°, 684.9 mb, 1820.0 m |
Moderate to moderately severe turbulance. |
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043339 Z (44.34417, -122.14482) 237.510°, 683.0 mb, 1718.0 m |
Fairly high frequency turbulence. Radar sketchy to right (NW), but good
coverage to left (SE) with some embedded convection. |
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043710 Z (44.24981, -122.36620) 240.271°, 684.1 mb, 2100.0 m |
36 miles from P.
Much calmer air.
T/Td=-9.7/-14 246/56. Almost no precip at flight level |
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043912 Z (44.19259, -122.49872) 239.014°, 683.5 mb, 2423.0 m |
More moderate chop.
28 miles from P. Main echo
still off to left, much less to the right, though it seems to be weakening
everywhere now especially foreward scan. |
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044740 Z (43.94512, -123.06372) 221.651°, 683.9 mb, 2881.0 m |
At P t/td=-10.5/-12 250/38. QP leg 24min 25sec. Climbing to 11500 feet heading to pt H. |
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045132 Z (43.85425, -122.72160) 98.068°, 660.9 mb, 2591.0 m |
Experiencing some moderate chop. 4:48:37 VV=7m/s. 22 miles from H.
Z=11400ft. T/Td= -12.1/-12.8
246/58 |
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045647 Z (43.79759, -122.12804) 73.223°, 660.3 mb, 2164.0 m |
2.5miles from H.
T/Td=-11.4/-14.2 253/65 PH leg: 9mins 25 secs. Starting H->C at 11400ft |
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050117 Z (44.11195, -122.08255) 359.948°, 660.1 mb, 1752.0 m |
Moderate turbulance. Radar really filling out again to east with terrain
enhancement. Can see eacho sloping up
the terrain. |
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050656 Z (44.52946, -122.08780) 359.636°, 659.5 mb, 2335.0 m |
Short burst of dentrites and/or hex columns
interupting the previously boring crystals.
T=-12.2; Td=-12.8 |
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051019 Z (44.78056, -122.08989) .205°, 660.2 mb, 2236.0 m |
Haven't seen a detectable wind shift but its getting
colder along this leg. At H it was
-11.4/-14.2. Now it is -13/-13. Humidity is fluctuating rapidly between
supersaturated and about 90%. |
|
051328 Z (45.00151, -122.08720) 359.738°, 660.1 mb, 2475.0 m |
At C:
z=11400ft A->C 16mins
35secs T/Td=-12.5/-13F.
246/47. Now climbing out to cruising altitude and heading
home. |
|
051656 Z (45.22256, -122.20308) 334.582°, 576.4 mb, 3772.0 m |
14000: T/Td=-19.1/-19.1 15500: T/Td=-21/-27.6 16500: T/Td=-24/-25.5 242/49 Level at 16600: T/Td=-23/-27 246/47 Above precip. But a fair depth of ice still overead. |
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055332 Z (47.74178, -122.55676) .859°, 853.7 mb, 1118.0 m |
Heading into final approach. 4700 feet. Starting to hit some chop.
Wind 270/10kts, not seeing the expected strong southerlies yet. 4000ft:270/28. 1.6C VV:+- 5m/s 3500ft300/95.3 3000ft:3.2/2 297/11 2500ft:4/3.4 297/2 2000ft:5.3/3.2 199/8 |
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060951 Z (47.90208, -122.28159) 104.958°, 964.8 mb, 10.0 m |
Landed about 0607Z.
Taxi to hangar. |
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061130 Z (47.90023, -122.28058) 261.763°, 964.9 mb, 10.0 m |
Engines off. |