Mar 7: First
Hong Kong Local Flight
Flight 9 Summary – Hong Kong Local 1
This flight was intended to sample Asian outflow
behind a frontal passage with the P-3B extending northward to the
east of Taiwan and crossing the frontal boundary expected near
25N.
Results:
Observations
included upper tropospheric conditions (15Kft) representative of
tropical air to begin the flight (CO-70s, O3-20s). Polluted
conditions were first encountered around 10Kft at 22N (CO-300s,
O3-90s). In the frontal
region, cloud modulation of composition was recorded with changes
in CO of 75% and doubling of NOy in and out of convective cells. CO
values to the north behind the front were in the high 200-300 range. On
the return to Hong Kong a well defined pollution layer only 1000
ft in thickness was encountered at 9Kft. Values
in this layer for CO were double those encountered in the boundary
layer and ozone values were almost quadrupled compared to BL values. On
the last boundary layer leg, a ship plume was encountered that
lasted 15 seconds with enhancements in NOy, particles, SO2, and
CO2 as well as a significant titration of ozone.