The 2003 Alliance Icing Research Study (AIRS II) Evaluation of Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting (TAMDAR) Icing Sensor

NASA Langley Research Center has led the development of the TAMDAR sensor. Among other measurements, TAMDAR is designed to provide a general evaluation of light, moderate or severe icing. AIRS II provided the opportunity to compare TAMDAR in situ in-flight icing condition data with in situ data from the UND Citation II aircraft’s Rosemont system. NASA and its research partners from the University of North Dakota (UND) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) participated in the AIRS II from November 17 to December 17, 2003. In addition to evaluating TAMDAR with microphysical data obtained by the Citation II, this study also compares these data to the NWS operational in-flight icing Current Icing Potential (CIP) graphic product and with NASA Advanced Satellite Aviation-weather Products (ASAP) retrievals of super-cooled large droplet (SLD) temperature, diameter and liquid water path that are being evaluated for possible incorporation as discriminators in the CIP. Both CIP and ASAP graphics are also examined in this study to provide a context for the Citation II’s sorties in AIRS II.