[Oracles-er2-investigators] Update on ORACLES Test Flights: ER-2 instruments?

Thu Jul 21 21:40:11 PDT 2016

Hi Felix, Rich,

Thank you for the feedback from the flight planning tool. It looks like the excel file you gave is very similar to what the flight planning tool is creating, with the exception of a slightly different naming convention for the columns (e.g.., latitude instead of lat, comments instead of description). If this change is significant enough I can modify the tool to prepare this file automatically if you want.

That said, I did notice that you have the NASA Ames aeronet station as a point of interest that you may want to fly over. It would be great, but the instrument is now in a box getting ready to be shipped to Namibia. The upshot of that is we’ll have a polarized cimel at Walvis Bay, the downside, it may change your plans for flight tests. We have other sunphotometers here that we can setup temporarily if you wanted to overly Ames, but that would take some work and advance notice.

Thank you.
Samuel
     :)

From: Ferrare, Richard A. (LARC-E304)
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2016 19:18
To: Seidel, Felix (JPL-398E)[JPL] <felix.c.seidel.caprez at jpl.nasa.gov>
Cc: Dominguez, Roseanne T. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ] <roseanne.dominguez at nasa.gov>; Myers, Jeffrey S. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ] <jeffrey.s.myers at nasa.gov>; Thome, Kurtis J. (GSFC-6180) <kurtis.thome at nasa.gov>; Platnick, Steven E. (GSFC-6100) <steven.e.platnick at nasa.gov>; Brian Cairns <cairnbrian at gmail.com>; oracles-er2-investigators at espo.nasa.gov; Nelson, James G. (AFRC-OF)[i3] <james.g.nelson at nasa.gov>; Broce, Donald Stuart. (AFRC-OF)[i3] <donald.s.broce at nasa.gov>; Williams, Timothy L. (AFRC-OF) <timothy.l.williams at nasa.gov>; Norlin, Ken A. (AFRC-PS) <ken.a.norlin at nasa.gov>; Kapitzke, Mike S. (AFRC-OE) <mike.s.kapitzke at nasa.gov>; Hobbs, Brian L. (AFRC-PS) <brian.l.hobbs at nasa.gov>; Burton, Sharon P. (LARC-E304) <sharon.p.burton at nasa.gov>; LeBlanc, Samuel (ARC-SGG)[Bay Area Environmental Research Institute] <samuel.leblanc at nasa.gov>
Subject: RE: Update on ORACLES Test Flights: ER-2 instruments?

Hi Felix et al.,

Thanks for sending this example.  Yes, I recall this format. Samuel’s program (which I used) produces an Excel file that includes these columns so I can use this to produce the format you sent. I expect the pilots will may want to add points to set up for turns, etc.  If the instruments have particular actions at certain points, it would be good to include these in the comments at the appropriate points.

We need a plan to the pilots by Monday 2 pm. I work on this on Friday and weekend. Please let me know of thoughts on what to include for test flight on Wednesday as well as on second test flight the following Tuesday.

Thanks,

Rich

From: Seidel, Felix (398E) [mailto:Felix.C.Seidel.Caprez at jpl.nasa.gov]
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2016 7:02 PM
To: Ferrare, Richard A. (LARC-E304) <richard.a.ferrare at nasa.gov<mailto:richard.a.ferrare at nasa.gov>>
Cc: Dominguez, Roseanne T. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ] <roseanne.dominguez at nasa.gov<mailto:roseanne.dominguez at nasa.gov>>; Myers, Jeffrey S. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ] <jeffrey.s.myers at nasa.gov<mailto:jeffrey.s.myers at nasa.gov>>; Thome, Kurtis J. (GSFC-6180) <kurtis.thome at nasa.gov<mailto:kurtis.thome at nasa.gov>>; Platnick, Steven E. (GSFC-6100) <steven.e.platnick at nasa.gov<mailto:steven.e.platnick at nasa.gov>>; Brian Cairns <cairnbrian at gmail.com<mailto:cairnbrian at gmail.com>>; oracles-er2-investigators at espo.nasa.gov<mailto:oracles-er2-investigators at espo.nasa.gov>; Nelson, James G. (AFRC-OF)[i3] <james.g.nelson at nasa.gov<mailto:james.g.nelson at nasa.gov>>; Broce, Donald Stuart. (AFRC-OF)[i3] <donald.s.broce at nasa.gov<mailto:donald.s.broce at nasa.gov>>; Williams, Timothy L. (AFRC-OF) <timothy.l.williams at nasa.gov<mailto:timothy.l.williams at nasa.gov>>; Norlin, Ken A. (AFRC-PS) <ken.a.norlin at nasa.gov<mailto:ken.a.norlin at nasa.gov>>; Kapitzke, Mike S. (AFRC-OE) <mike.s.kapitzke at nasa.gov<mailto:mike.s.kapitzke at nasa.gov>>; Hobbs, Brian L. (AFRC-PS) <brian.l.hobbs at nasa.gov<mailto:brian.l.hobbs at nasa.gov>>; Burton, Sharon P. (LARC-E304) <sharon.p.burton at nasa.gov<mailto:sharon.p.burton at nasa.gov>>; LeBlanc, Samuel (ARC-SGG)[Bay Area Environmental Research Institute] <samuel.leblanc at nasa.gov<mailto:samuel.leblanc at nasa.gov>>
Subject: Re: Update on ORACLES Test Flights: ER-2 instruments?

Hi Rich, et al.

I wanted to share a file format I have successfully with the ER-2 pilots, which they can directly import into their own planning software tool. Please find an example attached from flights earlier this month. My experience was that the pilots preferred such a file because they don’t have to guess and manually set the way points we want. They would still add turning points or manually adjust for the principle plain.

I think Samuel’s tool can create a similar output. I added Samuel into Cc for comments.
The ER-2 planning software can import other file formats too, such as plain txt files and others. Stu and Greg can help figuring out what would be best for them during ORACLES.

Thanks,
Felix

On Jul 21, 2016, at 12:07 PM, Ferrare, Richard A. (LARC-E304) <richard.a.ferrare at nasa.gov<mailto:richard.a.ferrare at nasa.gov>> wrote:

Hi Rose,

Thanks for sending the straw man test flight plan.  This looks like it covers the key items of interest.  The plan looks a bit long (4 hours).  It was my understanding of a couple of three hour flights, but perhaps a 2 hour flight followed by a 4 hour flight may be better.  We can discuss this.

I have also included four draft plans that I quickly drew up as notional plans. These were done in a quick and dirty fashion (and also gave me a chance to start to learn Samuel LeBlanc’s flight planning software) to provide some indication of the target areas. I think the areas we will be interested in are:

1.      Low clouds over the ocean
2.      Calibration sites at Lake Tahoe, Railroad Valley (Nevada)
3.      AERONET sites (ex. Near LA and NASA Ames)

Some of these flights go over warning and restricted areas so I don’t know if these can be conducted as is. In addition, some of the patterns use corridors to get out over the water then perform plans beyond the warning areas.  However, I expect that we will need to use some of the warning areas over the water to keep the flight time 2-4 hours or so and to have the proper orientation of the legs. For portions of these flights, some of the legs (over low cloud over water) will need to be oriented about +/-20 deg from the principal plane, so it will make a difference what time the ER-2 takes off (these all assume a 9 AM local takeoff time).

Perhaps we can discuss these during telecon and also email. It would be good to hear from the pilots regarding the feasibility of the plans and when/how we need to provide more definite plans.

Thanks,

Rich

From: Dominguez, Roseanne T. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ]
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2016 12:56 PM
To: Ferrare, Richard A. (LARC-E304) <richard.a.ferrare at nasa.gov<mailto:richard.a.ferrare at nasa.gov>>
Cc: Myers, Jeffrey S. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ] <jeffrey.s.myers at nasa.gov<mailto:jeffrey.s.myers at nasa.gov>>; Thome, Kurtis J. (GSFC-6180) <kurtis.thome at nasa.gov<mailto:kurtis.thome at nasa.gov>>; Platnick, Steven E. (GSFC-6100) <steven.e.platnick at nasa.gov<mailto:steven.e.platnick at nasa.gov>>; Brian Cairns (cairnbrian at gmail.com<mailto:cairnbrian at gmail.com>) <cairnbrian at gmail.com<mailto:cairnbrian at gmail.com>>; Seidel, Felix (JPL-398E)[JPL] <felix.c.seidel.caprez at jpl.nasa.gov<mailto:felix.c.seidel.caprez at jpl.nasa.gov>>
Subject: RE: Update on ORACLES Test Flights: ER-2 instruments?

Rich,
Attached is the plan we used last month for an eMAS test flight - it covers the Railroad Valley and Lake Tahoe targets.  Jeff asked for this be forwarded to the group as a straw man for ORACLES test flight planning.

Rose

________________________________

From: Dominguez, Roseanne T. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ]
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2016 9:58 AM
To: Ferrare, Richard A. (LARC-E304); Myers, Jeffrey S. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ]; Thome, Kurtis J. (GSFC-6180)
Cc: Platnick, Steven E. (GSFC-6100); Brian Cairns (cairnbrian at gmail.com<mailto:cairnbrian at gmail.com>); Seidel, Felix (JPL-398E)[JPL]
Subject: RE: Update on ORACLES Test Flights: ER-2 instruments?
Rich, Here's a link to the JPL Tahoe site/page with the coordinates of the coast guard site and four JPL buoys.

http://laketahoe.jpl.nasa.gov/measurements

Here's a copy of the table and measurements made:
Map Key

Latitude (N)

Longitude (W)

Measurement

US Coast Guard

39 10.838

120 07.157

v,  WD, Ps, SRu, SRd, AOD, ToV, TSI

TB1

39 09.180

120 00.020

Tr, Ts, Ts, Ts, Ts, v,  WD, Ps, AT, RH, NR

TB2

39 09.290

120 00.020

Tr, Ts, Ts, Ts, Ts, v,  WD, Ps, AT, RH, NR

TB3

39 08.300

120 04.920

Tr, Ts, Ts, Ts, Ts, v,  WD, Ps, AT, RH, NR

TB4

39 09.300

120 04.330

Tr, Ts, Ts, Ts, Ts, v,  WD, Ps, AT, RH, NR

LR – Longwave Radiation (u-upward looking, d-downward looking), SR – Shortwave Radiation (u-upward looking, d-downward looking), v – Wind Speed, WD – Wind Direction, Ps – Pressure, AT - Air Temperature, RH - Relative Humidity, NR - Net Radiation, AOD - Aerosol Optical Depth, ToV -  Total Column Water Vapor, TSI - Total Sky Imager, Tr - Temperature from radiometer, Ts - Skin temperature measured 1cm below skin by thermistor.
________________________________

From: Ferrare, Richard A. (LARC-E304)
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2016 9:53 AM
To: Myers, Jeffrey S. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ]; Thome, Kurtis J. (GSFC-6180)
Cc: Platnick, Steven E. (GSFC-6100); Brian Cairns (cairnbrian at gmail.com<mailto:cairnbrian at gmail.com>); Seidel, Felix (JPL-398E)[JPL]; Dominguez, Roseanne T. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ]
Subject: RE: Update on ORACLES Test Flights: ER-2 instruments?
Hi Jeff,

What are the coordinates for the ASTER buoys at Lake Tahoe?

Rich

From: Myers, Jeffrey S. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ]
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2016 11:58 AM
To: Thome, Kurtis J. (GSFC-6180) <kurtis.thome at nasa.gov<mailto:kurtis.thome at nasa.gov>>
Cc: Platnick, Steven E. (GSFC-6100) <steven.e.platnick at nasa.gov<mailto:steven.e.platnick at nasa.gov>>; Ferrare, Richard A. (LARC-E304) <richard.a.ferrare at nasa.gov<mailto:richard.a.ferrare at nasa.gov>>; Brian Cairns (cairnbrian at gmail.com<mailto:cairnbrian at gmail.com>) <cairnbrian at gmail.com<mailto:cairnbrian at gmail.com>>; Seidel, Felix (JPL-398E)[JPL] <felix.c.seidel.caprez at jpl.nasa.gov<mailto:felix.c.seidel.caprez at jpl.nasa.gov>>; Dominguez, Roseanne T. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ] <roseanne.dominguez at nasa.gov<mailto:roseanne.dominguez at nasa.gov>>
Subject: RE: Update on ORACLES Test Flights: ER-2 instruments?

Hi Kurt,

No one else has weighed in on this idea, and given the short notice to organize any field measurements, I think it is unlikely that a decision would be made by tomorrow.

I’m still not clear on what automated measurements are available from Carol’s RR Valley site, but that is probably what we will have to work with.  We also are suggesting a pass over the
ASTER buoys at Lake Tahoe, for EMAS LWIR calibration.

Thanks again for your consideration,

-Jeff

From: Thome, Kurtis J. (GSFC-6180)
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2016 2:46 PM
To: Myers, Jeffrey S. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ]
Cc: Platnick, Steven E. (GSFC-6100)
Subject: Update on ORACLES Test Flights: ER-2 instruments?

Jeff,

Any updates on plans to fly Ivanpah Playa (or Railroad Valley)?

There's still a chance I could get myself and one other person to one of those sites but I need to finalize things by Tuesday because I have a competing travel that on another project that I need to let the organizer know what I am doing.

Thanks,

Kurt

________________________________

From: Myers, Jeffrey S. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ]
Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2016 4:37 PM
To: Ferrare, Richard A. (LARC-E304)
Cc: Seidel, Felix (JPL-398E)[JPL]; Platnick, Steven E. (GSFC-6100); Cairns, Brian (GISS-6110); Arnold, G Thomas (GSFC-613.0)[SCIENCE SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS INC]; Thome, Kurtis J. (GSFC-6180)
Subject: ORACLES Test Flights: ER-2 instruments
Rich,

Thank you for being proactive on this.  EMAS, AirMISPI, and perhaps RSP, will likely want to attempt an overflight of some sort of VSWIR vicarious calibration site on 8/1 or 8/3 (maybe Railroad Valley or Ivanpah Playa.)

-Jeff

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