WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA CHAPTER, DECEMBER 2004
NOAA AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS CENTER
MacDill Air Force Base
Tampa, Florida
The meeting was hosted by Paul Flaherty and Marty Mayeaux at MacDill Air Force Base (AFB) in Tampa, FL. Mr. Flaherty began by showing slides of basic hangar safety procedures in preparation for viewing the hurricane hunter aircraft. There are many hazards in the hangar such as loose wires, sharp objects, obstructions, etc. The slide show pointed out hazards that the chapter members might encounter on our way to the aircraft.
Next, Marty Mayeaux gave an extremely detailed and informative talk that included information on the Hurricane Hunter P-3 Aircraft, the Gulfstream G-IV Aircraft and hurricane storm structure. He also described how the mission flights vary depending on the aircraft, the size of the storm and other factors. Marty is the flight director on these missions, and coordinates with the leading researchers, meteorologists, technicians & pilots in developing a flight plan specific to the mission. Among other things, the flight team must be prepared to make flight adjustments at a moments notice and communicate weather hazards to the pilots.
In his slide show, Marty showed the group the different flight paths that the planes take. For instance, the flight of the P-3 Orion Hurricane Hunter will fly in between rain bands, and cover all 4 quadrants of the storm to determine if the eyewall is closed and determine the size of the eyewall. He explained how the dropsondes operate and showed locations where they would be dropped. Up to 70 dropsondes are used per flight.
The P-3 is usually flown at lower altitudes, while the Gulfstream G-IV has the ability to fly up to 45,000 feet. This plane is used primarily to study the environment surrounding the storm, providing soundings taken from outside the storm. Marty showed us the flight path that this aircraft would cover. This data increases the accuracy of the computer models that track the storms path.
Both Marty and Paul used humor in their presentations, entertaining us with mission stories and tales of how the planes got their nicknames (“Kermit the Frog”, “Miss Piggy”, and “Gonzo”). Marty also showed some spectacular shots of Hurricane Isabel taken at 200 feet above the eye. A short narrated movie followed showing flights into hurricanes and the amazing views from these planes.
Afterward, we were then treated to a tour of the hanger where the P-3 was housed. This aircraft is amazing! We got to go on board the aircraft, while Marty explained the various stations and their functions. Some lucky members even got to sit in the cockpit!
The following information was provided by the Aircraft Operations Center (AOC):
The Aircraft Operations Center is a Center of the NOAA Marine and Aviation Office. The airplanes and helicopters of the Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) are flown in support of NOAA's mission to promote global environmental assessment, prediction and stewardship of the Earth's environment. NOAA's aircraft operate throughout the United States and around the world; over open oceans, mountains, coastal wetlands, and Arctic pack ice. These versatile aircraft provide scientists with airborne platforms necessary to collect the environmental and geographic data essential to their research.
NOAA demonstrates a challenging and multi-disciplinary approach to meeting the responsibilities as the "Earth Systems Agency." The Aircraft Operations Center provides capable, mission-ready aircraft and professional crews to the scientific community wherever and whenever they are required. Whether studying global climate change or acid rain, assessing marine mammal populations, surveying coastal erosion, investigating oil spills, flight checking aeronautical charts, or improving hurricane prediction models, the AOC flight crews continue to operate in some of the world's most demanding flight regimes.
AOC HISTORY
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Aircraft Operations Center was born as the Research Flight Facility (RFF) in 1961. The U.S. Weather Bureau's National Hurricane Research Project, of which RFF. was originally a part, funded the acquisition of two Douglas DC-6 aircraft, a B-57A and a DC-4 to support its multifaceted atmospheric research programs which included the early attempts to modify hurricanes. This project, called Stormfury was a joint effort of the Weather Bureau and the Department of Defense to learn more about hurricanes to be able to say whether their intensity could be decreased through dynamic cloud seeding in order to achieve beneficial results. In 1970, a WC-130B was obtained on loan from the U.S. Air Force to further enhance this program.
President, Richard M. Nixon, proposed the creation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in July of 1970. His goal was to unify the nations scientific efforts under one agency. NOAA would provide scientific and technical services to other federal agencies, private sector research interests and the general public. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration became a reality in October of 1970. NOAA was tasked with the responsibility to predict changes in the oceans, atmosphere and living marine resources. The data gathered by NOAA would be shared by other government agencies, the research community, private industry and the general public.
Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, the Research Flight Facility's aircraft, operating from Miami International Airport engaged in many atmospheric research projects spanning the globe from the Arctic to India and West Africa. It also continued with the Stormfury project until it was recognized that aircraft with better performance characteristics and more sophisticated instrumentation would be required to successfully achieve the goals of the project. To this end, two WP-3D Orion turbine powered aircraft were ordered from the Lockheed California Company in 1973.
In 1975 the facility was combined with a unit from the Environmental Research Laboratories to form the Research Facilities Center, an organization that provided both airborne platform and engineering capabilities to NOAA's research community. In 1975 and 1976 the RFC received the two new WP-3D research aircraft and replaced the aging DC-6, B-57A and DC-4 aircraft.
In 1983, the Office of Aircraft Operations (OAO) was created to consolidate all of the aviation assets operated by NOAA. The OAO was charged with managing NOAA aircraft, personnel, budget, facilities and the charter of aircraft in support of NOAA aircraft programs. By the mid 1980s, the OAO consisted of two WP-3D Orions, a DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, a Beech C-90 King Air, two Rockwell Aero Commanders, a Rockwell Turbo Commander and two Bell 212 helicopters.
In the early 1990s, the OAO was designated the Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) and moved to MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida in January of 1993. Presently, the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center operates and maintains a Gulfstream GIV-SP high altitude research aircraft acquired in 1996, the two WP-3D Orions, the two Rockwell (now Gulfstream) Aero Commanders, the Rockwell (now Gulfstream) Turbo Commander, a Cessna Citation II, two DeHavilland Twin Otters, one Bell 212 and one MD 369 (Hughes 500) helicopter and two Aerofab Lake amphibian aircraft.
NOAAs aircraft operate throughout the United States and around the world. Over open ocean, mountains, coastal wetlands and Arctic pack ice. NOAA's mission is to describe and predict changes in the Earth's environment and to conserve and manage wisely the nation's coastal and marine resources. The hard working and very specialized
NOAA aircraft directly support this mission by providing
scientists with unique platforms to precisely observe, measure and chart the
dynamics of our oceans and our atmosphere.
|
Data from Expendable Probes
In recent years, the primary expendable probe has been the GPS dropwindsonde, a meteorological instrument that descends from the aircraft to the sea surface, transmitting information back to the aircraft while in the air. The GPS dropwindsondes measure air temperature, dewpoint, atmospheric pressure, and use the GPS positioning to detect horizontal and vertical winds. These data are measured and transmitted twice per second while the probe is in the air. NOAA’s Gulfstream IV-SP primary mission during hurricane season is to fly in the environment surrounding a hurricane, launching GPS dropwindsondes at predetermined locations in data sparse regions to gather vital information regarding the steering currents that will determine a hurricane's future track and likely landfall position.
More information about the GPS dropwindsonde can be found at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research web site. |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
N42RF Lockheed WP-3D Orion
|
N43RF Lockheed WP-3D Orion
|
N49RF Gulfstream IV
|
September 29, 2004 |
September 29, 2004
|
September 29 , 2004
|
Mission Ready.
|
Mission Ready. |
Mission Ready.
|
AIRCRAFT USED BY AOC
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
