Field Experiments

SSEC has a long history of participation in earth science field experiments, including environmental satellite, aircraft, and groundbased field campaigns. The primary focus of our efforts in the following field experiments fall under three areas:

These efforts focus on both the science and the engineering that are involved. The results of our scientific work in these field experiments provide information and insight into weather, climate, and other aspects of Earth's global environment. The corresponding instrument development that is involved in many of these field experiments improves our measuring capability, thereby advancing our understanding of our environment and creating new opportunities for scientific exploration through new instrument technology.

Field Experiments that SSEC has participated in

Date Experiment Location Purpose
2012-2014 NASA HS3 Atlantic Ocean The Hurricane and Severe Storms Sentinel (HS3) is a multi-year mission specifically targeted to investigate the processes that underlie hurricane formation and intensity change in the Atlantic Ocean basin.
2012 NSF TORERO Eastern Tropical Pacific The scientific objective of the TORERO project is to study the release and transport of halogenated gases and oxidized VOCs in the Eastern Tropical Pacific during the season of the high biologic productivity.
NSF DC3 USA The Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry Project (DC3) field campaign investigates the impact of deep, midlatitude continental convective clouds, including their dynamical, physical, and lightning processes, on upper tropospheric (UT) composition and chemistry.
2010 NOAA CalNex California and the eastern Pacific coastal region The focus of NOAA's field study includes ESRL CSD airborne measurements using the NOAA WP-3D aircraft and the Twin Otter Remote Sensing aircraft, and surface measurements using the R/V Atlantis mobile platform as well as stationary ground sites.
2010 PREDICT Atlantic basin To explore multi-scale interactions in tropical wave-like disturbances that promote or hinder the development of a tropical depression vortex.
2008 TCS-08 Western North Pacific To study the mechanisms and predictability of tropical cyclone formation, intensification, and structure change in the western North Pacific.
NASA ARCPAC Fairbanks, Alaska The focus of NOAA's field experiment includes ESRL CSD airborne measurements using the NOAA WP-3D aircraft.
NASA ARCTAS Arctic Study of the Arctic troposphere using aircraft and satellite measurements; part of the POLARCAT program.
2007 JAIVEx Texas, US The Joint Airborne IASI Validation Experiment is an international calibration / validation campaign in support of the NPOESS and MetOp series of operational satellites.
NASA TC4 San Jose, Costa Rica To investigate the structure, properties and processes in the tropical Eastern Pacific.
2006 GIFTS EDU Utah, US  
NASA INTEX-B   Experiment that aims to understand the transport and transformation of gases and aerosols on transcontinental/intercontinental scales and assess their impact on air quality and climate.
NOAA TEXAQS East Texas and the Gulf of Mexico This intensive field study will focus on providing a better understanding of the sources and atmospheric processes responsible for the formation and distribution of ozone and aerosols in the atmosphere and the influence that these species have on the radiative forcing of climate regionally and globally, as well as, their impact on human health and regional haze.
WVSS-II Validation Kentucky, US Deployment of AERIbago instrument suite to validate new water vapor laser diode sensors mounted on UPS aircraft
2005 AVE 2005 Texas, US Validation campaign for the Aura satellite.
ICDS / Eclipse Drills Summit, Greenland Evaluation and improvement of Eclipse drills for collecting ice cores
TAMDAR Validation Tennessee, US Deployment of AERIbago instrument suite to validate new water vapor sensors mounted on Mesaba airline SAAB 340 aircraft
TCSP Costa Rica Study of the dynamics and thermodynamics of precipitating cloud systems, including tropical cyclones using NASA-funded aircraft and surface remote sensing instrumentation.
TROPEX North Atlantic ocean To obtain special data sets of GOES RS AMV to assimilate and test for improvements in the Navy NOGAPS model tropical cyclone forecasts during the 2005 and 2006 North Atlantic seasons, and to conduct predictability, targeting, and data assimilation research.
WVSS-II Validation Kentucky, US Deployment of AERIbago instrument suite to validate new water vapor laser diode sensors mounted on UPS aircraft
2004 S-HIS Tahoe California, US Assess Terra MODIS thermal infrared L1B radiometric performance
INTEX 2004    
ADRIEX 2004 Italy Study optical and physical properties of anthropogenic aerosol pollution; investigate the consistency between measured/modelled radiances from a variety of platforms; and determine the direct radiative forcing of anthropogenic tropospheric aerosols and gases
EAQUATE 2004 Italy and UK Study the atmosphere using aircraft and ground based instruments, demonstrating the benefit of these measurements in validating hyperspectral satellite sounding observations.
MPACE 2004 Alaska, US Advance our understanding of the dynamical and processes in mixed-phase arctic clouds, including cloud microphysical processes and radiative transfer through these clouds.
AVE 2004 Texas, US Validation campaign for the Aura satellite.
2003 THORPEX Hawaii, US Improvements in short range (up to 3 days), medium range (3-7 days) and extended range (two week) weather predictions
GWINDEX-3 Eastern North Pacific Ocean/West Coast North America To demonstrate improved quantity and quality of cloud-motion winds using 7.5 minute rapid-scan visible and infrared imagery from GOES-10. Part of the PACJET and THORPEX experiments.
ATReC NE US / NE Canada Improvements in short range (up to 3 days), medium range (3-7 days) and extended range (two week) weather predictions. Part of the THORPEX experiment.
2001-2003 ICDS / SPRESSO South Pole, Antarctica Development of hole reamers for emplacement of in-ice seismometers
2002 CRYSTAL-FACE Florida, US Improvement in quantitative precipitation, convective initiation, and atmospheric boundary layer prediction through measurement of 4-D water vapor fields
IHOP Oklahoma / Kansas, US Improvement in quantitative precipitation, convective initiation, and atmospheric boundary layer prediction through measurement of 4-D water vapor fields
Texas 2002 Texas, US To assess MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) L1B and science products from the Terra and Aqua satellites
GWINDEX-2 Eastern North Pacific Ocean/West Coast North America Satellite Weather Products for North Pacific Field Experiment. Part of the PACJET and THORPEX experiments.
2001-2002 ICDS / RAM Drill McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica Development of new rapid-air-movement drill for fast production of deep seismic shot holes
2001 GRACE
(CAMEX-4)		 Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and east coast of the US Satellite rapid scan wind products in support of CAMEX-4
TX 2001 Texas, US EOS Terra Satellite Validation
GWINDEX Eastern North Pacific Ocean/West Coast North America Satellite Weather Products for North Pacific Field Experiment. Part of the PACJET and THORPEX experiments.
AFWEX Oklahoma, US Validation of Upper Level Tropospheric Water Vapor Measurements
WVIOP 2000 Oklahoma, US Understand Accuracies and Limitations of Atmospheric Water Vapor Measurements
SHIS Safari South Africa EOS Terra Satellite Validation
2000 WISC-T2000 Wisconsin EOS Terra Satellite Validation
1999 KWAJEX Kwajalein Island, South Pacific TRMM Satellite Validation with SHIS
WINTEX Wisconsin, US Advanced Satellite Sounder Instrument Evaluation
WSRP North Pacific Satellite Weather Products for North Pacific Field Experiment
1998 CAMEX-3 Andros Island, Bahamas Hurricane field study
FIRE-ACE Alaska, US Study Role Arctic Clouds on Radiation Budget
CALJET/NORPEX 98 North Pacific Satellite Weather Products for North Pacific Field Experiment
1997 WVIOP 97 Oklahoma , US Understand Accuracies and Limitations of Atmospheric Water Vapor Measurements
FASTEX Northern Atlantic GOES Satellite Information Used For Prediction of Atlantic Storms
WINCE Wisconsin, US Winter Cloud Study
1996 WVIOP 96 Oklahoma, US Understand Accuracies and Limitations of Atmospheric Water Vapor Measurements
SUCCESS Oklahoma/Kansas, US Aircraft Contrail Cirrus Study
1995 FROST Antarctica Study the meteorology of Antarctica; determine the strengths and weaknesses of operational forecasts over Antarctica and surrounding areas; assess the value of new forms of satellite data