Laserfiche WebLink
<br />3.3 Daily Operations <br /> <br />Th(: procedure for beginning an experiment was initiated by the project manager with an early <br />evening briefing of the flight operations coordinator for a potential flight the next day. Additional <br />briefings or updates, when necessary, occurred prior to the pre-flight briefing of the flight crew and <br />observer by the flight operations coordinator within one hour of takeoff Preparation of the SF 6 <br />instrument began in the late evening before a morning flight. The detector was cleaned by flushing <br />with 30 ml of methanol, then dried with a flow of nitrogen for several hours. Within 3 hours of <br />takeoff, the protective covers on the Forward Scattering Spectrometer Probe (FSSP), the Optical <br />Array Probe (OAP), and the Liquid Water Content (LWC) were removed, the inlets were uncapped, <br />the exhaust tubing was installed, data acquisition was begun, the SF 6 instrument was calibrated, the <br />total temperature sensor and dew point hygrometer were checked against an aspirated psychrometer, <br />the static pressure was checked against a certified aneroid barometer, and the solar insolation <br />photometer was checked to assure that it was functioning. Check lists for the instruments were filled <br />in as the internal quality control checks were performed. These were filed and used as a reference <br />to check on the continued performance of the instruments. <br /> <br />Information such as the following was recorded in the airborne log: <br /> <br />. time of takeoff and landing <br />. cloud base, distribution, and type <br />. degree of turbulence <br />. precipitation events <br />. times instruments were calibrated and! or zeroed <br />. any unusual instrument behavior observed <br />. changes in standard procedure and reasons for change <br />. changes in flight plan and reasons for change <br /> <br />After flight, recorded data from the Science Engineering Associates (SEA) data acquisition <br />system were processed on a ground-based computer system. The operations coordinator and <br />observer (with flight crew) met for an informal debriefing offlight and scientific conditions. These <br />post-flight debriefings included inflight changes, flight weather conditions, and instrument status <br />and/or problems. Ground-crew log notes were recorded. Examples of pre-flight check lists are <br />presented in Appendix B; all airborne and ground-crew log notes are presented in Appendix C. <br /> <br />6 <br />