NSF C-130 Mission Summary Report (EPIC)

Research Flight 5
ITCZ Flight #4
Repeat of pattern executed during Flight 5
Depart Huatulco, Descend to 200 m and maintain this altitude to research area.
Start first research leg at 12N, 93.3W, 200m
Near end of leg, Sounding to Surface then up to 6000m then down to 1500 m
Start second research leg at 8 N, 94.6W, 1500m
Near end of leg, Sounding to Surface then up to 6000m then down to 2500 m
Start third research leg at 12 N, 96.0W, 2500m
Near end of leg, Sounding to Surface then up to 6000m then down to 4000 m
Start fourth and last research leg at 12 N, 97.3W, 4000m

Both channels of the lidar are working today. The IR is giving a better
signal for defining the edge of the BL

1431		Take Off
1444	Heavy haze on way to research area. CN counts greater than 1000, PCASP > 200. Significant concentration of particles > 5 um.
		RH > 85
1452		14.8N, A lot of cloud development.
145440	Went through heavy haze, FSSP-100 =10, CN=5000, FSSP-300 decreased and no change in PCASP concentration

145800	14.49N, Looking south we see heavy clouds and wide spread regions
	of rain.
	Wind shift at 14.4N, West at 5 m/s to SSE at 5
1505	We are seeing a fair amount of lightning around us.
1506	In rain
1508	Winds now NW at 5
151300	We appear to be leaving the band of clouds and are moving into a
	clearer region.
151800	In region of moderate NW winds at 5m/s, High CN and PCASP concentrations. Lidar now shows fairly well developed BL top at 300 m.
152100	A lot of variation in humidity
152300	Clear above but very hazy in BL. Winds still from NW
	Lidar shows a lot of structure in aerosols above us.
153000	We are approaching research area and there are a lot of Cu in lines
	tops to 2000. Just talked to P3 and tops are greater than 2000.
155020	Starting 200 m leg south.
160400	Heavy haze in the BL, CN>1200, PCASP>500, virtually no winds
	CCN approximately 500 at 0.5
161700	Photo 1, looking south at very small Cu, typical of the type in the area 	today at this moment.
	We had a wind shift from SW to easterly at a latitude of about 11.4N
	Winds are light at 3 m/s.
162245	Clouds are starting to look a bit more developed but still not more than 2000 m.
	Some of these clouds appear to be already precipitating.
162840	Some clouds have tops to 3000 according to lidar signal
163500	Now at 9.35N, Clouds are developing vertically with precipitation clearly seen on radar of C-130 and visually.
164600	Start Sounding
170500	End of Sounding
171815	Starting 1500 m leg going north from 8N,
	RH > 90
172800	We are currently in region of high humidity, appears that we are passing through an area where clouds had been formed earlier.
173215	Penetration through small turret. Photo 2
173700	Photo 3 Looking at bigger cloud that we'll be going through
173905	Cloud Penetration
174120	Another CP, CN appears to peak after peaks in droplet concentration
174530	Passing over/through old cloud remnants
180140	Have entered into heavy haze layer, probably remainder of clouds
180900	Starting descent to surface to initiate our second sounding
181310	Starting second sounding from the surface
	There are several aerosol layers and O3 peaks just below 3000 m and just above aerosol peaks. Have seen a number of isothermal layers during the sounding also.
184600	Starting southbound leg at 2500 m
184900	Photo 4 looking at cloud slightly off our track to right but that we'll try to go through
185200	CP
190000	Photo 5 looking at E-W cloud line, farthest west cloud
190345	CP
191500	Cloud photo 6
191700	CP
191836	Through edge of second cloud
192000	Through light cloud and heavy drizzle
192700	Aerosol have decreased a lot
193240	Starting descent to 30 m to begin sounding
194000	Starting sounding
195150	Cloud Photo 7 showing anvil of one of the large clouds that has developed to our west. We don't plan to penetrate.
	Sounding shows a lot of moistening throughout. Not nearly as dry aloft.
195715	End of last sounding
195813	Just clipping cloud edges
200555	Start of 6000 m leg, going north
202700	Photo 8 showing NE-SW Cloud line ahead. We'll be going through left hand cloud
204000	Another photo, #9 of cloud we'll be going through
204615	Cloud Penetration, 10m/s updraft, Ophir shows more than 2 degrees buoyancy.
210000	End of last pass