Aerosonde Flight Summary for 07/10/2005

Sortie Number:  050710-03
Take off:  1255
Landing: 2048

Flight Description:

 Flight went well, wind finding algorithm was mistakenly left at default value (every 25km) for the first part of leg 1 then changed to 5km. Some vertical wind shear noted. Upon completion of the flight plan, the aircraft was sent back to the wait box where control was given back to the local ground command center and subsequently landed at 20:48UTC, for a total flight time of 7hr 53min. Synoptically, a tropical wave was approaching the Caribbean side of the country and forecasted to push through the country and out over the Pacific over the next two or three days. Daily flights with the Aerosonde during that period of before, during, and after the tropical wave passage would provide a useful dataset detailing the changes in boundary layer processes due to the tropical wave.

Flight Objectives:

Continuous montoring over the Pacific Ocean to map horizontal and vertical gradients of PTU and Winds.

Instrument Performance:

 Nominal

Flight Track:

http:///images/flight_tracks/aero_track_20050710.gif