010913 Ron Brown Radar and Sounding Operations Summary

The C-band radar operated continuously without any significant problems.  A
solar calibration taken near 21Z showed zero pointing angle error in 
azimuth and
-0.3 deg in elevation.

It was an active weather day in the vicinity of the radar up through about 12Z.
Near 06Z, a squall line feature passed over the ship.  Cells associated with
this complex were quite vigorous early on (prior to passage over the ship) with
peak lightning flash rates of 7/minute for approximately 10 minutes and 3-
4/minute for approximately 1 hour.  Several cells showed 40 dBZ extending near
and above 10 km, at least for short periods.  After 12Z, convection waned as a
dry layer built in above 2km, similar to yesterday.  This dry layer 
continued to
deepen throughout the day as noted in the 16 and 20 UTC sounding 
data.  Activity
started to increase after about 20Z in all quads, first as scattered cells and
then some organization into small linear bands (< 50 km long).   At 2220 UTC, a
waterspout was spotted about 20 km SE of the ship with a funnel extending all
the way to the water.  This feature was too narrow to be observed in the radar
data and was quite transient (total visible time was probably less than 15
minutes).

A total of 6 soundings were launched on nominal times of 00, 04, 08, 
12, 16, and
20 UTC (release times are 1-1.5 hours prior to nominal UTC).  The 00Z sounding
only made it to about 720 mb.  The 04 sounding appears to have flaky humidity
data above 350 mb.  Both the 08 and 12Z soundings were very unstable with CAPE
values in excess of 3000 j/kg (not unexpected, given the radar and lightning
observations); however, neither of these soundings returned winds above the
surface.