Airborne Instrumentation

Instruments Available on NSF/NCAR Research Aircraft

The NSF/NCAR HIAPER GV and C-130 airborne platforms are equipped with fuselage apertures of different shapes and sizes to accept optical windows or structural plates that serve as mounting locations for various remote sensing instruments. Large, interchangeable instrumentation pods can carry optical particle probes, active and passive remote sensors, and in-situ sensors. Wingtip pylons can carry canister-mounted sensors. Structures at the fuselage top and bottom provide additional capacity for hemispheric radiometers and other sensors.

EOL and the Lower Atmosphere Observing Facilities (LAOF) partner organizations provide many ground-based and airborne remote sensing platforms. The aircraft investigator handbooks for the C-130 and HIAPER GV provide details on the airborne instrumentation interfaces.

The main categories of measurements include the following

EOL's airborne instruments are available to deploy on either the NSF/NCAR GV or C-130, and in many cases, they can fly on either aircraft. A checkmark (✓) in the NSF/NCAR Aircraft column indicates on which aircraft the instruments can fly.

Standard Instrumentation

Standard Instrumentation - Provided on all projects NSF/NCAR Aircraft
Description GV C-130
Static Pressure ✓ ✓
Dynamic Pressure ✓ ✓
Cabin Pressure ✓ ✓
Ambient Temperature ✓ ✓
Chilled Mirror Dew Point Temperature ✓ ✓
Aircraft Position, Altitude, Ground Relative Speeds, Accelerations and Attitude Angles (IRU) ✓ ✓
GPS w/ TerraStar C accuracy ✓ ✓
3-Dimensional Wind Fields ✓ ✓
Icing Rate (presence of supercooled liquid water)   ✓
King Probe Cloud Liquid Water Content ✓ ✓
Remote (infrared) Surface Temperature   ✓
Gas Dump Manifold Pressures ✓  
Forward Digital Video (GV - only with pylons installed) ✓ ✓
SATCOM ✓ ✓
XCHAT ✓ ✓
Real-time Data Transfer to Ground ✓ ✓
Real-time Display incl. maps, video, time series etc.     ✓ ✓

Instruments by Request

In Situ Vertical Profiling [EOL] NSF/NCAR Aircraft
Description GV C-130
AVAPS® Dropsonde System ✓ ✓
Cloud Measurements [EOL] NSF/NCAR Aircraft
Description GV C-130
Cloud Droplet Probe (CDP) (2 – 50 μm range), water droplets, ice crystals ✓ ✓
OAP 2DS Cloud Probe (2D-S stereo probe, 10 µm resolution, 128 bins), ice, water ✓ ✓
OAP HVPS-3 Precipitation Probe (150 µm resolution, 128 bins) ✓ ✓
HOLODEC-II Cloud Particle Imager ✓ ✓
King Probe Cloud Liquid Water Content ✓ ✓
Rosemount Icing Detector (RICE) (presence of supercooled liquid water) ✓ ✓
Counterflow Virtual Impactor (CVI) (with water vapor TDL) ✓ ✓
Counterflow Virtual Impactor (CVI) (with water vapor TDL and optional "add-on" CN counter) ✓ ✓
OAP 2D-C 10 µm (2-D imaging spectrometer), 20 – 640 µm, ice, water ✓ ✓
OAP 2D-C 25 µm (2-D imaging spectrometer), 50 – 1600 µm, ice, water ✓ ✓
Gulfstream V High Spectral Resolution Lidar (GV-HSRL) ✓  
HIAPER Cloud Radar (HCR) ✓  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) ✓  
Wyoming Cloud Radar (WCR) [UWyo]   ✓
Wyoming Cloud Lidar (WCL) [UWyo]   ✓
Radiative Measurements [EOL] (unless otherwise noted) NSF/NCAR Aircraft
Description GV C-130
Remote (infrared) Sky Temperature (Wintronics KT19.85 radiation pyrometer) ✓ ✓
Remote (infrared) Surface Temperature (Wintronics KT19.85 radiation pyrometer) ✓ ✓
Radiometric Air Temperature ✓ ✓
Shortwave (solar) irradiance (CMP22 Pyranometer - visible broadband radiometer), not stabilized ✓  
Shortwave (solar) irradiance (CMP22 Pyranometer - visible broadband radiometer), stabilized   ✓
Infrared irradiance (CGR4 Pyrgeometer - infrared broadband radiometer), not stabilized ✓  
Infrared irradiance (CGR4 Pyrgeometer - infrared broadband radiometer), stabilized   ✓
HIAPER Airborne Radiation Package (HARP), actinic flux [ACOM] ✓ ✓
HIAPER Airborne Radiation Package (HARP), spectral irradiance [ACOM] ✓ ✓
Microwave Temperature Profiler (MTP) ✓  
State Parameters and Wind Measurements [EOL] NSF/NCAR Aircraft
Description GV C-130
Heated Ambient Temperature Sensor ✓ ✓
High Rate Ambient Temperature Sensor ✓ ✓
Chilled Mirror Dew Point Temperature ✓ ✓
Buck Instruments Model CR-2 Cryogenic Hygrometer ✓ ✓
Ultraviolet Absorption Hygrometer   ✓
Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) Hygrometer ✓ ✓
All-Weather Wind Gust Pod (anti-iced) ✓  
Ambient Static Pressure ✓ ✓
Laser Air Motion Sensor (LAMS ) [1, 3, and 4 beam(s)]     ✓ ✓
Aerosol Measurements [EOL] NSF/NCAR Aircraft
Description GV C-130
Condensation Nucleus (CN) Counter – (Butanol, low altitude only) ✓ ✓
Counterflow Virtual Impactor (CVI) (water vapor TDL) ✓ ✓
Counterflow Virtual Impactor (CVI) (with CN counter and water vapor TDL) ✓ ✓
Gulfstream V High Spectral Resolution Lidar (GV-HSRL) ✓  
Ultra-High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer (UHSAS), 0.06 - 1 µm, aerosols ✓ ✓
Auto Giant Nuclei Impactor (GNI) (sea salt, 2-30 μm), 0.4 µm resolution, aerosols, salt ✓  
Manual GNI Giant Aerosol Impactor (sea-salt, 2 – 32 μm range)   ✓
Passive Cavity Aerosol Spectrometer Probe (PCASP) (0.1 – 3 μm range)   ✓
High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) ✓  
Gas Measurements [EOL and ACOM] NSF/NCAR Aircraft
Description GV C-130
Airborne Carbon Dioxide (CO₂), Methane (CH₄), Carbon Monoxide (CO), and Water Vapor [ACOM] ✓ ✓
Aero-Laser Carbon Monoxide (CO) [ACOM] ✓ ✓
QCL Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Nitrous Oxide (N₂O) [ACOM] ✓ ✓
Water Vapor Isotopic Analyzer (WVISA) [EOL] ✓ ✓
Fast Ozone (O3) [ACOM] ✓ ✓
Trace Organic Gas Analyzer (TOGA) (gas-phase organic species) [ACOM]
Trace Organic Gas Analyzer  (TOGA) Time of Flight (TOF) [ACOM]		 ✓ ✓
Airborne Whole Air Sampler (AWAS) [EOL]  ✓ ✓
Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (CIMS) (SO2, HNO3, HNO4, HNO2 and others) [EOL] ✓ ✓
Medusa Flask Sampler [EOL] ✓ ✓
Airborne Oxygen Analyzer (AO2) [EOL] ✓ ✓
NO and NO2 [ACOM] ✓ ✓
Other Measurements NSF/NCAR Aircraft
Description GV C-130
Digital Video (forward, down, side) with optional date/time stamp ✓ ✓
HIAPER Modular Inlets (HIMIL inlets) ✓ ✓

A separate list containing only decommissioned instruments is also maintained.