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

Mon Jul 25 08:08:47 PDT 2016

Rich,

Please note,for eMAS to use the Lake Tahoe buoys, the aircraft needs to be in level flight- not turning or altering course over the Lake to make the next waypoint. Given waypoint #10 in plan 2b is Tahoe, I fear we will be in a turn over the target.

Rose

________________________________
From: Ferrare, Richard A. (LARC-E304)
Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2016 1:18 PM
To: Dominguez, Roseanne T. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ]; Myers, Jeffrey S. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ]; Thome, Kurtis J. (GSFC-6180); Platnick, Steven E. (GSFC-6100); Brian Cairns (cairnbrian at gmail.com); Seidel, Felix (JPL-398E)[JPL]; 'oracles-er2-investigators at espo.nasa.gov'; Nelson, James G. (AFRC-OF)[i3]; Broce, Donald Stuart. (AFRC-OF)[i3]; Williams, Timothy L. (AFRC-OF); Norlin, Ken A. (AFRC-PS); Kapitzke, Mike S. (AFRC-OE); Hobbs, Brian L. (AFRC-PS); Burton, Sharon P. (LARC-E304)
Cc: LeBlanc, Samuel (ARC-SGG)[Bay Area Environmental Research Institute]; REDEMANN, JENS (ARC-SGG)
Subject: RE: Update on ORACLES Test Flights: ER-2 patterns

Hi ER-2 Folks,

Sorry…some of the angles and orientations in the plans sent late yesterday were incorrect.  This new version should correct these.  As a consequence, the pattern 1 has changed to pattern 1b shown in the attached. This new pattern has been modified to include a leg (4-6) about 20-25 deg from PP. This plan will likely be closer to 3 hours.

Because of the length of time and the orientation of clouds and PP, I also made another plan (pattern 3) shown in slides (9-11).  This requires the use of W-289 but has the advantage of an easier orientation to get to the forecast position of the clouds as well as to keep the preferred orientation with respect to PP. After going over USC seaprism (#3) the pattern goes 20-25 deg from PP along 4-6; low clouds are forecast to be along this leg also. The pattern then goes over El Segundo.

Tim…the pattern 3 may be the preferred one for proximity to clouds, orientation of legs, and shorter length of time.  Can we get W-289 for Wednesday?  If not, pattern 1b may be used but requires W-291. Can we get this?

The second pattern (2b) changed slightly.  The leg between 12 and 13 (clouds over water) is about 20 deg from PP. This plan is closer to 4 hours.

The attached spreadsheets have the corrections.

Rich

From: Ferrare, Richard A. (LARC-E304)
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2016 9:42 PM
To: 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)' <cairnbrian at gmail.com>; Seidel, Felix (JPL-398E)[JPL] <felix.c.seidel.caprez at jpl.nasa.gov>; 'oracles-er2-investigators at espo.nasa.gov' <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>
Cc: LeBlanc, Samuel (ARC-SGG)[Bay Area Environmental Research Institute] <samuel.leblanc at nasa.gov>; REDEMANN, JENS (ARC-SGG) <jens.redemann-1 at nasa.gov>
Subject: RE: Update on ORACLES Test Flights: ER-2 instruments?

Hi Folks,

Please find attached some draft flight plans for the ER-2 test flight on Wednesday.  We need to provide Tim Williams a draft plan by Monday noon so he can start working this for Wednesday and for asking permission for relevant restricted zones and warning areas.

The attached powerpoint shows a couple of candidates.  The first couple of slides show the cloud forecast for Wed. This is a long way out so the forecast uncertainty is large, but the ECMWF forecast shows the presence of low clouds some distance off the coast.  Therefore, in the first plan (pattern 1) (Slides 3-5) after getting to altitude, the ER-2 goes over the USC Sea Prism AERONET site then heads out southwest over the ocean and eventually low clouds toward point 4.  The leg goes out along a flight corridor which may make it easier to work, since it avoids some warning areas.  In addition, for a takeoff time of 9 am, it also it fairly well oriented ~20-30 deg from principal plane (from what I could tell from Samuel’s flight plan program) which can help avoid glint. The aircraft then returns along the same track (hopefully giving AirMPSI dual view of the track) before reaching point 5. Then the track goes over the El Segundo AERONET site (wp6) during a south-north run. I think the flight will take about 2.5 or so hours, but we’ll have to see what Tim comes up with for the timing. We may have to shorten this since I probably did not allot enough time for turns, etc.

I think it would be good if we can reserve W-291 (and W-289?) if necessary, in case these may help us fine tune the plan to better catch low clouds.

The second plan (pattern 2) (slides 6-9) may be something we try if there are no clouds off SW California or try for test flight 2.  This is based on a eMAS plan that Rose sent earlier. After takeoff, the plane heads NE toward Railroad Valley site and avoids restricted areas in Nevada.  The ER-2 does W-E then E-W legs over Railroad Valley (3-8) then heads to Coast Guard site at Lake Tahoe (#10). The plane continues west over the coast and perhaps low clouds over the water before turning east to come back over the coast.  There are legs over the AERONET sites at Monterey (#15) and Fresno (#17) before RTB. This  pattern is longer (3.5-4 hours).

Please let me know your thoughts on a pattern for Wednesday’s flight.  If neither of these will work for you, then please let me know what will (and better yet…provide some sketches or maps of what you have in mind.) The important thing is to provide Tim a good idea of where we will fly by Monday noon so he can provide sufficient notice to the ATC and request permission to fly in restricted areas if necessary.

I have also attached kml files and spreadsheets (in long form and hopefully a form useful for the pilots).

Thanks,

Rich

From: Ferrare, Richard A. (LARC-E304)
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2016 3:06 PM
To: Dominguez, Roseanne T. (ARC-SG)[UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ] <roseanne.dominguez at nasa.gov<mailto:roseanne.dominguez 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>>; 'oracles-er2-investigators at espo.nasa.gov' <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>>
Subject: RE: Update on ORACLES Test Flights: ER-2 instruments?

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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