Feb 26: All
three planes transited from Dryden/Palmdale to Kona, Hawaii for
an overnight stop. During
transit flights for the P3-B, primarily they are direct flights
with altitude changes from 500 feet to 20,000 ft. with each flight
level lasting approximately 20 minutes. There
are also transitions from the top and bottom altitudes at 500 ft./min.
Flight 5 Summary – Dryden/Palmdale to
Kona transit
To provide for several soundings over the eastern
Pacific, three in-progress walls were planned for this transit
flight. Model products
indicated that some evidence of Asian outflow might be found somewhere
between the west coast and Hawaii.
Results:
Fairly clean conditions were encountered during
this flight; however, a distinct layer was encountered on the second
in progress wall between 12.5-13.5Kft. This
layer contained elevated concentrations of CO, NOy, and PAN and
was located in the region of model-predicted outflow.