Meteorological Measurement System

Status

Status
Operational
Operated By
PI

The Meteorological Measurement System (MMS) is a state-of-the-art instrument for measuring accurate, high resolution in situ airborne state parameters (pressure, temperature, turbulence index, and the 3-dimensional wind vector). These key measurements enable our understanding of atmospheric dynamics, chemistry and microphysical processes. The MMS is used to investigate atmospheric mesoscale (gravity and mountain lee waves) and microscale (turbulence) phenomena. An accurate characterization of the turbulence phenomenon is important for the understanding of dynamic processes in the atmosphere, such as the behavior of buoyant plumes within cirrus clouds, diffusions of chemical species within wake vortices generated by jet aircraft, and microphysical processes in breaking gravity waves. Accurate temperature and pressure data are needed to evaluate chemical reaction rates as well as to determine accurate mixing ratios. Accurate wind field data establish a detailed relationship with the various constituents and the measured wind also verifies numerical models used to evaluate air mass origin. Since the MMS provides quality information on atmospheric state variables, MMS data have been extensively used by many investigators to process and interpret the in situ experiments aboard the same aircraft.

Recent Missions
(DC-8 - AFRC)
;
(DC-8 - AFRC)
;
(DC-8 - AFRC)
;
(Sierra UAV)
;
(Sierra UAV)
;
(Alpha Jet)
Point(s) of Contact
(POC; Mgr),
(Prev PI),
(Prev PI)
Range of Measurement
In situ
Measurement Sampling Rate
20.00 Hz
Data Delivery
24-hr preliminary, 6-month final
Weight
26.00 kg
Power:
200.00 W
(maximum
400.00 W
)
Location
AJAX: wing pod
Sierra UAV: nose
ER-2: removable nose, fixed nose, Q-bay
DC-8: fuselage probes, forward cargo area, cabin half-rack
WB-57:fuselage nose, forward transition zone on WB-57.
Zone 7 and nose ports on Global Hawk 872.