10.4
Air-sea interaction measurements from a new towed airborne platform
Djamal Khelif, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA; and C. A. Friehe, R. Bluth, J. Barge, T. Morse, and D. Bierly
A Controlled Towed Vehicle (CTV) capable of controlled flight as low as the canonical reference height of 10 m above the ocean has been instrumented for air-sea interaction research. The CTV uses existing towed drone technology for maintaining the set height above the sea via a radar altimeter and controllable wing. After take-off the drone is released from the tow aircraft on a ~700m cable. We have instrumented the 0.23 m diameter and 2.13 m long drone with turbulent wind vector, temperature, humidity, pressure, CO2, IR sea surface temperature and platform motion GPS/inertial sensors. Data are recorded internally at 40 Hz and simultaneously transmitted to the tow aircraft via dedicated wireless Ethernet link. The CTV accommodates 45 kg of instrument payload and provides it with 250 W of continuous power through a propeller-driven generator. We report results from flights over the coastal ocean where fluxes and profiles from the CTV and the CIRPAS Twin Otter tow aircraft at 30m (before release of the drone) are compared. Results from the CTV after its release and control at 10m are also presented while the Twin Otter was at ~300m. The new platform CTV will provide a means to make measurements of air-sea interaction nearer the surface than most research aircraft while the similarly instrumented tow aircraft is safely above. The payload, capacity and power of the CTV makes it suitable for a variety of atmospheric research measurements.
Session 10, Turbulent Air-Sea Flux Measurements from Aircraft
Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 1:30 PM-2:30 PM, Room 128AB
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