HIWRAP Flights During HS3-2013

The High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) is a dual-frequency (Ka- and Ku-band), dual-beam (300 and 400 incidence angle), conical scan, solid-state transmitter-based system, that flies on the high-altitude (20 km) Global Hawk UAV. HIWRAP images the winds through volume backscattering from clouds and precipitation, enabling it to measure the tropospheric winds above heavy rain at high levels. It measures ocean surface backscatter from which ocean surface winds can be derived through scatterometry techniques similar to QuikScat.

HIWRAP flew during the Hurricane Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) for the first time on the AV-1 Global Hawk during the 2013 hurricane season. It had previously flown on AV-6 during the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) campaign in 2010, and during HS3-2012 in a test/science flight over the Pacific. Due to both aircraft issues and the few storms during 2013, HIWRAP collected data during three flights: Pre-Gabrielle on 3-4 September 2013; Hurricane Ingrid in the Bay of Campeche on 15-16 September 2013; radar and wind intercomparison flight between AV-1 and the NOAA 43 WP-3D on 25 September 2013. Data processing is ongoing for these flights and quicklooks and preliminary analyses from these storms will be presented. We will also detail the HIWRAP upgrades that were made for the 2013 season, and planned upgrades for the HS3-2014 Global Hawk flights.