The investigation overview is graphically depicted in Figure 1. The NASA ER-2 aircraft (B) will fly out of Salina, Kansas (white star in Figure 1.1A) for two planned 7-week deployments. Flights will target several different regions important to understanding the NAMA (A) including inflow regions (1), outflow regions (2) and several different types of convection including recent convection (3) and aged convection (4). During each flight that samples convection, the ER-2 will execute several vertical profiles as well as fly level transects through convective outflow (C) in order to fully characterize the plume as well as the surrounding background air.

Figure 1

The DCOTSS instrument payload brings together twelve proven instruments for in situ measurements of important trace gases (AWAS, CAFÉ, HUPCRS, HOZ, HWV, UCATS, WI- ICOS), aerosols (PALMS, POPS), reactive species (HAL, CANOE), and meteorological parameters (MMS) necessary to answer the threshold and baseline questions. DCOTSS in situ measurements will be complemented by the NEXRAD radar network, satellite data products (e.g. Aura-MLS, ACE- FTS, GOES) and operational modeling (e.g. TRAJ3D, NASA GMAO, NOAA GFS).

Schedule Summary: DCOTSS consists of a 5-week test flight series and two, 7-week science deployments out of Salina, KS to cover the period from early to late summer. Each science deployment will consist of about 15 science flights. Significant time is devoted to post flight campaign analysis and model integration in years 4 and 5, including two science team meetings to ensure that data are widely disseminated and published before the end of the DCOTSS mission.