The SPARTICUS field campaign seeks to collect a substantial series of data sets—profiling cirrus ice crystal size and distribution—during routine flights by the SPEC Learjet 25 over the ACRF Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. Evaluating these data sets, in conjunction with concurrent data from ground-based instruments at the SGP site, will allow scientists to develop improved algorithms for processing cirrus data, leading to a better understanding of the radiative effects of cirrus clouds on global climate.
Airborne Instruments
The following instruments will be mounted on the SPEC Learjet 25 for the SPARTICUS campaign.
| Category | Measurement | Instrument | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atmospheric Profiling | Atmospheric and Aircraft State Parameters | Rosemount and AIMMS-20 | SPEC |
| Humidity | Diode Laser Hygrometer (DLH) | NASA | |
| Turbulence | AIMMS-20 | SPEC | |
| Cloud Properties | Ice Habit and Particle Size Distribution (PSD) | Cloud Particle Imager (CPI) |
AAF |
| Ice Water Content | Deep Cone Nevzorov or Cloud Spectrometer and Impactor | AAF | |
| PSD: 0.1 – 3.0 µm | Passive Cavity Aerosol Spectrometer Probe (PCASP) | AAF | |
| PSD: 1 – 50 µm | Fast – Forward-Scatter Spectrometer Probe (F-FSSP) | SPEC | |
| PSD: 2 – 50 µm | Cloud Droplet Probe (CDP) | AAF | |
| PSD: 10 – 3000 µm | 2D Stereo Probe (2D-S) | SPEC | |
| PSD: 200 – 6400 µm | 2D Precipitation Probe (2DP) | SPEC |
For a list of instruments from past AAF campaigns, see Airborne Observations.
Critical Ground-based Instruments
The following ground-based instruments will provide critical comparative data to the airborne measurements obtained during SPARTICUS. They are part of the baseline instrument suite at the SGP site.
| Category | Measurement | Instrument |
|---|---|---|
| Atmospheric Profiling | Atmospheric moisture and temperature, longwave spectral brightness temperature and radiance | Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI) |
| Atmospheric moisture, backscattered radiation, cloud base height, cloud top height, et al. | Raman Lidar (RL) | |
| Cloud Properties | Backscattered radiation, cloud base height, cloud top height, et al. | Micropulse Lidar (MPL) |
| Cloud boundaries, radar doppler and reflectivity, vertical velocity | Millimeter Wavelength Cloud Radar (MMCR) |