November 3, 1998
‘New’ plane will enhance UW climate and weather research
Armed with a ‘new’ tool, a 40-year-old Convair 580 turboprop plane stuffed with research equipment, University of Washington atmospheric scientists are ready to fly higher and farther to gain a greater understanding of climate and weather patterns, regionally and globally.
The refurbished plane – which replaces a Convair C-131A twin piston-engine plane previously used by the Cloud and Aerosol Research Group – will be inaugurated officially Friday. However, the craft already has performed its first research tasks, flying 23 missions this spring, many above a research ship frozen into the Arctic ice, as part of a major climate research effort called SHEBA (for Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean).
Next summer, the Convair 580 will visit the Marshall Islands to take cloud measurements along routes directly beneath orbiting satellites. The plan is to measure how effective the satellites are in gathering cloud information, said Peter Hobbs, the atmospheric sciences professor who heads the research group. In addition, the plane will monitor pollution coming from Asia – both natural, such as dust from Gobi Desert storms, and human-caused. Chemical analysis will be used to trace the pollutants to their sources, and their effects on the Pacific will be studied.
In 2000, the plane is to be used to measure smoke from vegetation burning in southern Africa.
“Smoke is one of the main sources for a large range of important chemicals that affect the atmosphere,” Hobbs said. Equipment aboard the aircraft will measure the sizes and optical properties of the smoke particles and determine how they scatter and absorb solar energy.
In the coming years, the craft also will gather data on low-pressure systems and associated cyclonic storms that move into western Washington from the Pacific Ocean.
“The main goal of the Western Washington project is to use our aircraft to get data on cloud processes, which can be used in models to improve precipitation forecasting,” Hobbs said. “Until we understand better the processes that go on in clouds, the accuracy of weather forecasts will be limited.”
The Cloud and Aerosol Research Group is among the world’s largest groups studying atmospheric aerosols (invisible particles suspended in the atmosphere) and clouds. The Convair 580 already is one of the best-equipped aircraft in the world for measuring trace gases, aerosols and clouds.
A $1.5 million retrofit made the Convair 580 airworthy and helped install much of the equipment previously used on the Convair C-131A. In a second phase of work, about $500,000 worth of additional equipment will be installed. Work on the aircraft is paid for by grants from NASA, the National Science Foundation and the university.
The Convair 580, which like its predecessor will be kept at Paine Field in Everett, carries some distinct advantages over the C-131A. Its 255 mile-per-hour cruising speed is faster, and it also has a greater range. It also can fly above 30,000 feet, compared to a maximum of about 25,000 feet for the old plane. In addition, the new craft is pressurized, which means researchers won’t have to don oxygen masks when the plane rises above lower altitudes.
“Now we can get around the world a bit more easily,” Hobbs said.
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For more information, contact Hobbs at 543-6027 or 543-6026, or by e-mail at phobbs@atmos.washington.edu
NOTE: The Inauguration and Open House for the Convair 580 will be at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at the University of Washington hangar at Paine Field in Everett. Reporters who wish to attend may contact Judith Opacki at (206) 543-6026 or jopacki@atmos.washington.edu.
