May 2013, 80 flying hours 

Background and Science Objectives: 

Background

Scientific motivation
• The instruments on MetOp-B are currently in check-out mode – their performance needs testing and airborne cal/val is an important part of this process
• We can compare infrared measurements from ARIES with similar data from IASI instrument on MetOp
• Release of dropsondes and in situ measurements (temperature, water vapour, chemistry) will be used to validate retrievals of these quantities from satellite
• Cal/val is needed in different conditions (over land/sea; in clear and cloudy skies)
• The Met Office forecast model appears to get LST wrong the daytime – this is particularly the case over certain regions (southern USA, central Africa, parts of Eurasia)
• These biases can be BIG – around 10 K too high in Arizona
• It is advantageous to tie in measurements from surface sites in Arizona run by US Dept of Agriculture (flux towers and other data)
• We need a comprehensive data set of aircraft measured LST, emissivity, radiative fluxes and momentum/moisture fluxes

NASA involvement

• NASA will operate the ER-2 out of Dryden Flight Research Center (Palmdale, California)
• The ER-2 will fly missions in the stratosphere at 65,000 ft coordinated with ARA flight plan
• Their measurement kit will include NAST-I (similar to ARIES) as a minimum

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) involvement

• EUMETSAT
• Field sites are located southeast of Tucson

Suitcase detachment

• There is interest from modellers to overfly Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains surface site near Lamont, Oklahoma
• This is about 800 nm from Tucson so will require an overnight stay between two science flights