Air motion intercomparison flights during Transport and Chemical Evolution in the Pacific (TRACE-P)/ACE-ASIA

Abstract

Intercomparisons of chemical, aerosol, and meteorological measurement systems were conducted in the spring of 2001 between the NASA Wallops P3-B and the NCAR EC-130Q aircraft during overlapping portions of the concurrent tropospheric missions: the Global Tropospheric Experiment's (GTE) Transport and Chemical Evolution in the Pacific (TRACE-P) and Aerosol Characterization Experiment's ACE-ASIA mission, respectively. Both aircraft were equipped with similar air-motion measurement systems and in situ meteorology sensors designed to measure the eddy-correlation fluxes of momentum, heat, and water vapor. This paper presents the results of the informal intercomparison flight legs at two altitudes within the marine boundary layer performed over the Sea of Japan. The variances and spectra of the three-dimensional winds and temperature are presented along with the cospectra of the vertical velocities and various parameters. The results show good agreement between the measurements obtained from the two aircraft. Discrepancies in the data are analyzed and discussed. Copyright 2003 by the American Geophysical Union.