Mar 4: Because of the efforts of the
U.S. consulate in HK, the HK government working with representatives
in Peking, and the International Affairs Office at NASA HQ working
through the state department, necessary information was provided
to the Chinese government in Peking that helped in thegranting
of permission for the three aircraft to land and operate out of
HK. All three planes
arrived Sunday afternoon and parked on the tarmac across a taxiway
from active gates for regularly scheduled airplanes. The
airport provides bus transportation between the airplanes and the
terminal.
Flight 8 Summary - Guam to HK transit
An intercomparison was planned for the beginning
of the flight with both P-3B and DC-8 flying in the marine boundary
layer at 500 ft with 2000 ft separation. This
leg was planned for 20 minutes to be followed by another in-progress
20 minute climb to 10,000 ft. The
remainder of the flight included crossing a weak frontal transition
and a southbound leg reaching into the South China Sea before heading
into Hong Kong.
Results:
The intercomparison portion of the flight went
well with clean conditions on the boundary layer leg and significant
variability on the sounding from 500-10,000 ft. Observations
in the weak frontal transition zone did not show any clear pre-
to post-frontal changes in composition. Entering
the South China Sea, persistent pollution was encountered betweeen
8000 ft and the surface with the highest levels of CO, NOy, and
particulates yet to be observed.