T-PARC/TCS-08 Quicklook 29 October 2008

Operations by the numbers… 9 participating nations –Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, United States Over 500 aircraft mission flight hours –216 C-130, 179 P-3, 83 Falcon, 37 DOTSTAR 76 missions –25 Falcon, 23 C-130, 21 P-3, 7 DOTSTAR 7 airfields –Andersen AB, Guam; NAF Atsugi, Japan; Kadena AB, Japan; Taiwan, Yokota AB, Japan; MCAS Iwakuni, Japan; Misawa AB, Japan 11 tropical circulation systems –4 typhoons, 1 TD, 1 ex-TS, 5 others

Tropical Circulation Systems by the numbers… During August – September, there were 12 total systems > TD intensity over the western North Pacific –4 typhoons, 4 tropical storms, 4 TDs 51 TCS systems –With a few recycled a time or two 11 systems in which aircraft missions were flown –4 typhoons, 1 TD, 1 ex-TS, 5 others 72% of all missions were flown on the 4 typhoon cases –6 Nuri, 28 Sinlaku, 5 Hagiput, 15 Jangmi (54/75 = 72%)

WC-130 Missions per Objective

WC-130 Time per Objective

NRL P-3 Missions per Objective

NRL P-3 Time per Objective

DLR FALCON Missions per Objective

DLR FALCON Time per Objective

Dropsondes: WC-130 –604 total –564 good –AXBTs 229 total 191 good NRL P-3 –343 total –270 preliminary number of good drops pending final mission reports DLR FALCON –323 total DOTSTAR –124 total TOTAL: –1394 dropped –1281 good (preliminary)

T-PARC Driftsonde Operations Goals 17 Flights 38 sondes/flight 6 week operation period NPS staff/students operate system via WEB Send data to GTS quasi real time Drop 646 Sondes (38x17) Reality (Preliminary) 16 Balloons Launched 2 Balloon failures –Flight #5 & #8 1 Electronics hardware failure –Flight #7 13 Good Flights 253 Good Soundings Averaged ~19.5 good sondes/flights Slides by Terry Hock, NCAR

Driftsonde Flight Durations Slides by Terry Hock, NCAR

Preliminary Summary of Soundings 13 Gondolas flown (38x13 = 494 sondes) 34 sondes ejected at launch 66 sondes not attempted to drop 394 sondes available to drop Good Drops: % (of 394) Failed to release: % (of 394) Questionable data: % (of 394) Slides by Terry Hock, NCAR

Driftsonde Balloons 1 -9 Driftsonde Balloons Reduced westward distance in time

Operations: Aircraft – buoy deployment P-3 flight track 2313 UTC 26 September First buoy deployment In TY Hagupit several days earlier Second deployment in STY Jangmi Buoy, aircraft, and satellite data in Google Earth First occurrence of the deployment of drifting buoys ahead of a category 5 tropical cyclone (Jangmi). Chart at left and imagery below are from a few hours after the deployment of the buoys along the diagonal to the northwest of the TC

Year of Tropical Convection Jointly coordinated by WMO:WCRP and WWRP-THORPEX Through support from ONR and NSF, ECMWF analyses and forecasts are available for the T-PARC and TCS-08 time period T799 4 times daily 10-day forecasts 3-h resolution Available at: portal.ecmwf.int/data/d/yotc

Mission Summaries Track of tropical circulation system Time periods in which aircraft missions were conducted Data base –Aircrafts involved –Objectives –Hours –Data Dropsonde Radar AXBTs Flight level Lidar Notes

TCS Mission 1 TC Formation - Survey –C-130 Coverage 07/1516 – 07/2215

TCS-006 DOTSTAR none C /1516 – 07/2215 P-3 none Coverage 07/1516 – 07/2215 Falcon none Notes Survey for possible low-level circulation associated with TCS-06 Square spiral pattern 20 drops 9 AXBTs 5:34 on-station time

TY Nuri (TCS-015 / TD13W) 6 Missions 4 TC fprmation –P-3, C TC Structure/SAT –C-130 Coverage 15/2252 – 16/ /1945 – 17/ /1647 – 18/ /1804 – 19/0325

TY Nuri (TCS-015 / TD13W) DOTSTAR 20/ /1325 C /1945 – 17/ /1647 – 17/ /1804 – 19/0325 P-3 15/2252 – 16/ /2206 – 17/ /2157 – 18/0525 Coverage 15/2252 – 16/ /1945 – 17/ /1647 – 18/ /1804 – 19/0325 Falcon none Notes 4 TC formation missions o 2 survey missions o 2 formation missions o 1 each by WC130 and P3 Satellite validation missions flown First T-PARC DOTSTAR mission

TCS Mission 1 Genesis –C-130 Coverage 24/1827 – 25/0325

TCS-017 DOTSTAR none C /1827 – 25/0325 P-3 none Coverage 24/1827 – 25/0325 Falcon none Notes TC Formation survey pattern Lawnmower pattern 24 dropsondes 15 AXBTs

TCS-025 Coverage 26/1812 – 27/ /1953 – 28/ /2110 – 29/ /2210 – 30/ /2210 – 31/ Missions 5 TC Formation: Survey –P-3, C Tropical plume/ET –Falcon

TCS-025 DOTSTAR none C /1812 – 27/ /1953 – 28/ /2110 – 29/0135 P-3 28/0024 – 28/ /2240 – 29/0615 Coverage 26/1812 – 27/ /1953 – 28/ /2110 – 29/ /2210 – 30/ /2210 – 21/0205 Falcon 29/2210 – 30/ /2210 – 31/0205 Notes WC130 patterns Survey for low-level circulation Lawnmower then square spiral P3 TC formation survey of asymmetric convection patterns FALCON flew in plume of tropical moisture and transforming TCS disturbance

Falcon # /00Z

Falcon # /00Z

TCS Missions 2 TC Formation Survey –P-3, C-130 Coverage 01/1754 – 02/0219

TCS-030 DOTSTAR none C /1754 – 02/0130 P-3 01/1906 – 02/0219 Coverage 01/1754 – 02/0219 Falcon none Notes TCS030 was a tropical wave with good upper-level support – thought to be a good candidate for development WC130 and P3 each flew TC formation survey patterns WC130 flew square spiral pattern

TY Sinlaku (TCS-033 / TD15W) 28 Missions 8 Structure –P-3, C-130, DOTSTAR 6 Targeting –Falcon 14 ET –P-3, C-130, Falcon Coverage 09/0030 – 09/ /2100 – 10/ /2043 – 11/ /1138 – 12/ /2330 – 14/ /2135 – 16/ /0500 – 16/ /2044 –17/ /2224 – 18/ /2235 – 19/ /0156 – 20/ /2205 – 21/0205

T-PARC Sinlaku Missions DOTSTAR 09/2100 – 10/ /2043 – 11/ /2143 – 16/0205 C /0030 – 09/ /0140 – 10/ /0728 – 11/ /1138 – 12/ /2044 – 17/ /2224 – 18/ /0053 – 19/ /0156 – 20/1206 P-3 10/2019 – 11/ /2053 – 17/ /2239 – 18/ /0015 – 19/ /0235 – 20/1145 Coverage 09/0030 – 09/ /2100 – 10/ /2043 – 11/ /1138 – 12/ /2330 – 14/ /2135 – 16/ /0500 – 16/ /2044 –17/ /2224 – 18/ /2235 – 19/ /0156 – 20/ /2205 – 21/0205 Note: Times listed above are times aircraft were aloft and do not necessarily reflect on-station times. DLR Falcon 11/0320 – 11/ /0815 – 11/ /2330 – 14/ /0445 – 14/ /2135 – 16/ /0500 – 16/ /0320 – 17/ /0750 – 17/ /0325 – 18/ /2235 – 18/ /0110 – 19/ /2205 – 21/0205

TY Sinlaku (TCS-033 / TD15W) Notes Multiple mission types with all aircraft See reports on catalog

Falcon # /10Z

Sinlaku 17 September 05:30 UTC

TCS-037 (TD16W) 5 Missions 4 TC formation –P-3, C Targeting / ET –Falcon Coverage 06/1946 – 07/ /2208 – 08/ /2210 – 09/0722

TCS-037 (TD16W) DOTSTAR none C /1946 – 07/ /2208 – 08/0745 P-3 07/2345 – 08/ /0148 – 09/0722 Coverage 06/1946 – 07/ /2208 – 08/ /2210 – 09/0722 Falcon 08/2210 – 09/0150 Notes TC Formation – survey missions WC130 flew square spiral patterns P3 flights obtained data on TUTT cell structure and surrounding convection

TY Hagiput (TCS-043 / TD18W) 4 Missions 2 TC formation survey –P-3 2 Structure –P-3, DOTSTAR Coverage 13/2003 – 14/ /2008 – 15/ /2100 – 22/0650

TY Hagiput (TCS-043 / TD18W) DOTSTAR 21/2100 – 22/0300 C /2008 – 15/0230 P-3 13/2003 – 14/ /2014 – 15/ /2235 – 22/0650 Coverage 13/2003 – 14/ /2008 – 15/ /2100 – 22/0650 Falcon none Notes P3 missions were several days prior to formation as the tropical wave passed by Guam Structure mission done during transit from Kadena AFB to Andersen AFB

STY Jangmi (TCS-047 / TD19W) Coverage 23/0012 – 23/ /1713 – 25/ /2003 – 26/ /2008 – 27/ /2044 – 28/ /0310 – 28/ /0350 – 29/ /2220 – 30/ /0525 – 01/ Missions 1 TC formation –P-3 7 Structure –P-3, C-130, DOTSTAR 4 Targeting –Falcon 3 ET –Falcon

TY Jangmi (TCS-047 / TD19W) DOTSTAR 26/2045 – 27/ /2044 – 28/0142 C /1713 – 25/ /2003 – 26/ /0208 – 27/1417 P-3 23/0012 – 23/ /2015 – 25/ /2008 – 27/0506 Coverage 23/0012 – 23/ /1713 – 25/ /2003 – 26/ /2008 – 27/ /2044 – 28/ /0310 – 28/ /0350 – 29/ /2220 – 30/ /0525 – 01/1310 Falcon 28/0310 – 28/ /0845 – 28/ /0350 – 29/ /2220 – 30/ /0350 – 30/ /0525 – 01/ /1040 – 01/1310

Typhoon Sinlaku September: 4 Aircraft Missions September 11 September WC-130: Center fixes, satellite validation, structure, intensity NRL P-3: Outer band structure FALCON: Typhoon Targeting DOTSTAR: Typhoon targeting

Targeting Motivation: Track Uncertainty 10 September ECMWF Strike ProbabilityJMA Ensemble Members Numerical model aids

TCS Mission 1 Genesis (?) –P-3 Coverage 02/2115 – 03/0430

TCS-049 DOTSTAR none C-130 none P-3 02/2115 – 03/0430 Coverage 02/2115 – 03/0430 Falcon none Notes Survey of general convection south of Guam Weak tropical wave

TCS-051 DOTSTAR none C-130 none P-3 03/2224 – 03/0805 Coverage 03/2224 – 03/0805 Falcon none Notes Detailed observations of MCS evolution

Firsts First operation of WC-130Js at 31,000 ft altitude except when penetrating a mature TC –Dropped sondes and AXBTs from high altitude –Timed with passage of polar-orbiting satellites for satellite intensity validation First systematic targeting operation in the WPAC –Comparison of several methods from a variety of operational and research organizations –Multiple aircraft –ECMWF/UKMO Data Targeting System First four plane operation in a WPAC TC First buoy drop in front of a WPAC TC –Two TCs –First time a category 5 TC passed over buoys dropped in its path First systematic observations of full extratropical transition process –Multiple aircraft and land-based radar –Timed with satellite overpass

Firsts First operation of the Driftsonde in the Pacific –Launch from Hawaii –Dropsonde data retrieved and sent to GTS for use in operational numerical weather forecasting models First use of the ELDORA radar in typhoons over the western North Pacific flight operations in: –Cloud clusters –Developing tropical cyclones –Mature tropical cyclones –Tropical cyclones undergoing extratropical transition