Notes for June 28, 2000 Flt 2

Nov. 5, 2002

NOTE: The 2D probe operated intermittently on this flight. FSSP is a better
indicator of when the A/C was in cloud.
NOTE: The CGs were just to the south of PAFB suggesting that it probably
had a wet radome and some attenuation.
[But NEXRAD shows a max of ~25-30 dBZ over the 74C, so attenuation was
most likely slight -- Note added Apr 30, 2003] 

Much of the core for Case 1 was in the void above the NEXRAD radar.
Additionally, the northern portion of passes for Case 2 were also
in the inverted cone void of NEXRAD most of the time.
Times of A/C horizontally located in or near NEXRAD Cone Void 
based on extent of the void at ~11 km plus 10 km for Column Averaging
of dBZs.
1820-1849
1854-1903
1909-1916
1925-1933
1940-1950
1954-2005
2117-landing


Case 1
Moderate storm with anvil blowing to SSW.
The A/C did a spiral ascent from ~1825 t0 1835 below and in the edge of
decaying debris in an anvil in very late stages of decary from cells
just to the SW of PAFB (in the radar void) which had produced lightning
from roughly 1500 to the last activity at roughly 1710. [Last LDAR sources
1703-1706 CAPPI, last CG 1642-1645 CAPPI]
Time from last lightning to A/C arrival was ~85-90 min.
Both the reflectivities and the E fields were very weak by the time
the A/C arrived.

Case 2
A casual look suggests that NEXRAD shows ~5 dBZ larger max values
than 74C -- probably due to wet radome attenauation.
At ~1837 the A/C move East to this group of cells which had started
producing lightning ~1718 and continued until the last LDAR flash at
about 1908. There were many flashes (hard to estimate with present
plots but I estimate at least 100).  The A/C started passes while
there was still lightning occurring.

The cells of this moderate complex showed very little translation,
but there was some development of an anvil to the south at 7 to 10 km.
The A/C flew N-S legs back and forth in this small line through the
decaying cores of reflectivity with extensions to both the south
(a little into the anvil) and to the north until ~1955.
E fields in the higher reflectivites were frequently 50-60 kV/m
towards the beginning of the passes. E fields had decayed to a few
kV/m by 1951, but although the last A/C pass from ~951 to 1956 was
still in the decaying anvil at 8 km it was not in the slightly
larger reflectivities just to it's SSW. But the pass at 1944 to 1950
was in this region and showed that Emag had decayed to a max of
~15 kV/m at 1947.
Time from last LDAR lightning ~1908 to weak to moderate E fields
was very roughly 45 to 50 min.