WP-3D Daily Summaries
Please note that data is available only for the portion of the flight for which scientific instruments had power.
8/03/04 WP-3D Flight Summary (Preliminary Observations)
The flight plan was designed to look at nighttime chemistry in the NYC plume under southwesterly flow. The plan called for an eight-hour flight with a 2 AM takeoff that would allow investigation of the progression of the chemical transformation through the second half of the night followed by the transition into the day. Two balloons (AIRMAP and University of Massachusetts) were tracking the flow in real time.
After the 2AM takeoff, the aircraft worked several legs over Appledore Island where the Boston plume was encountered between 800 and 2500 ft. Subsequently, a counterclockwise flight track was started around NYC to find the plume of that city. The NYC plume was encountered over southwestern Connecticut. The NO3 mixing ratios in the plume reached approximately 250 pptv, with N2O5 was almost five times higher with mixing ratios approximately 1200 pptv.
About 3.5 hours into the flight, the mission was aborted when an aircraft equipment problem was detected. The measurements were terminated at that point.
Actual Flight Track
Flight Plan Map
Flight Plan Lat/Lon Points
