The GATE Aircraft Program: The Experience of a Lifetime!

What does a young scientist say, 7. years out of graduate school, when asked to write the scientific plan for the aircraft component of the GARP Atlantic Tropical Experiment? "Yes", of course, but then reality sets in! There would be 13 aircraft, based in Dakar, and a double hexagon of ships centered near the expected position of the ITCZ over one hour flight time to the southwest. With 3 months of flying so many aircraft, it is not surprising that so much was learned, from boundary layer processes through the cumulus scale, including deep CBs, and well-documented structure of squall lines, and what we now call mesoscale convective systems (MCS). But even today, there is still much to learn; for example, the specific processes that organize MCSs are elusive, even after several field campaigns asking that very question.

For many of the GATE participants, the most significant and enduring memory is how scientists representing so many diverse nations, notably the U.S. and Soviet groups amid the Cold War, under exhausting, sleep-deprived, hot, humid, mosquito-bitten conditions, worked in a collegial and cooperative manner for 3 months. The international Mission Selection Team met daily, evaluating the suggestions and recommendations (often diverse) of the program scientists, and yet there was not one single instance of conflict, often attributed to the calm, wise leadership of the GATE Director Joachim Kuettner, but also because of the unfailing good will of all participants, young and old, novice or experienced. The legacy of GATE is found in the decades of scientific results, but just as significantly, in the examples of diverse people working together toward a common goal.