Coordinated Observations of Cloud Microphysical and Dynamical Properties from Multiple Aircraft during SEAC4RS 2013

During the 2013 NASA field project SEAC4RS (Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys), the SPEC Learjet, NASA DC-8 and NASA ER-2 sampled convective clouds and anvil cirrus using a comprehensive suite of in-situ and remote-sensing instruments. Onboard the DC-8 were four instruments measuring in-situ cloud microphysical properties, for particles ranging in size from 1 micron to > 10 mm. Onboard the Learjet were as many as nine in-situ cloud microphysics instruments, including the new Hawkeye cloud probe, and several instruments covered redundant size ranges allowing for verification of instrument performance. Biases between instruments and problems with instrument performance are highlighted. Several coordinated flights with the DC-8 and Learjet are presented, and in-situ cloud microphysical properties measured onboard both aircraft are compared. Dual wavelength RADAR (APR2) data onboard the DC-8 are also analyzed to infer the vertical structure and dynamics of the convective towers sampled, and compared against the in-situ observations.