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AVE-Houston Science Overview
Mission Objectives
1. Validation of Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument. This will be accomplished by WB-57 underflights of the Aura satellite over open water and clear sky condition, as well as under flights during satellite overpass of radiation ground sites.
2. Validation of Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). This will be accomplished by aircraft underflights as Aura passes over urban area. Both aircraft and satellite will be detecting pollution, including aerosols.
3. Validation of Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument. This will be accomplished through spiral flight profiles of the aircraft between 20,000-60,000 ft for atmospheric column measurements under a variety of cloud conditions.
4. Integrate new atmospheric measurement instruments and capabilities onto WB-57 to support Aura validation flights.
5. Conduct general observations of atmospheric conditions from the Gulf region to the U.S. Midwest during the October - November time period.