ENRR-FC Update: The G-IV is backFebruary 11, 2016by Ryan Spackman (STC and NOAA)
ENRR-FC Update: The G-IV is back
NOAA Gulfstream IV in Honolulu, HI. Credit: Ryan Spackman, STC/NOAA
February 11, 2016by Ryan Spackman (STC and NOAA)
Tentative G-IV flight plan for February 12th.
HONOLULU, Hawaii — The G-IV returned to Honolulu from the Gulfstream facility in Long Beach this afternoon, and NOAA49 and the crew are ready to fly a series of science flights over the next few days. For Friday, we have filed a plan to fly a 17.5 degree zonal swath north of large-scale convection located between 5N and the equator south of Hawaii. In the morning, we will also consider a plan to encircle the convection, if the evolving pattern supports this strategy. We will consult with the Boulder forecast team at 6:30am HT to finalize Friday’s flight plan, so we can submit by 8:00am HT and take-off at 11:00am HT. We are required to take a hard down day no later than Sunday and will make a final decision on Friday whether this will be on Saturday or Sunday.
The NASA Global Hawk unmanned aircraft. Credit: Theo Stein, NOAA
The Global Hawk is buttoned up and prepared to launch at 9:00am PT from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center for a 22 hour flight with 66 planned drops sampling regions of sensitivity in the extratropical central and eastern Pacific to the north of the G-IV flight domain.
We look forward to having both the G-IV and the Global Hawk airborne simultaneously on Friday for the first time during the ENRR-FC.
