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The Convection And Moisture EXperiment (CAMEX) is
a series of field research investigations sponsored by the Earth
Science Enterprise of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA). The fourth field campaign in the CAMEX series (CAMEX-4)
is scheduled for 16 August - 24 September, 2001 and is based out
of Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Florida.
CAMEX-4 is focused on the study of tropical cyclone
(hurricane) development, tracking, intensification, and landfalling
impacts using NASA-funded aircraft and surface remote sensing instrumentation.
The primary aircraft used during CAMEX-4 are the NASA DC-8 and ER-2
research airborne platforms. These instrumented aircraft will fly
over, through, and around selected hurricanes as they approach landfall
in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and along the east coast of the
United States. The NASA aircraft will investigate upper altitude
regions of the hurricane not normally sampled. Where possible, measurements
will be compared and validated with coincident observations from
the QuikSCAT, Terra, and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellites.
This study will yield high spatial and temporal information of hurricane
structure, dynamics, and motion. These data, when analyzed within
the context of more traditional aircraft, satellite, and ground-based
radar observations,should provide additional insight to hurricane
modelers and forecasters who continually strive to improve hurricane
predictions. More accurate hurricane predictions at landfall will
result in decreasing the size of necessary coastal evacuations and
increasing the warning time for those areas.
While remote sensing of the hurricane environment
is the primary objective of CAMEX-4, there will also be separate
flights to study thunderstorm structure, precipitation systems,
and atmospheric water vapor profiles. This portion of CAMEX-4 is
known as KAMP, Keys Area Microphysics Project. The objective of
the KAMP flights is to improve quantitative precipitation estimates
from passive and active microwave instruments.
The DC-8 will be based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville,
Florida. Aircraft operations will be within a 1500 nm radius of
Jacksonville. The KAMP flights will be approximately 300 nm from
the air station near Key West Florida. The NASA DC-8 and ER-2 are
the primary aircraft platforms for CAMEX-4. NASA will also be funding
the flight of several unmanned aerial vehicles called the AEROSONDE.
Dr. Ramesh Kakar (Program Manager for Atmospheric
Dynamics and Remote Sensing at NASA Headquarters) is the CAMEX-4
sponsor. CAMEX-4 is conducted in collaboration with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hurricane Research
Division and the United
States Weather Research Program (USWRP).
EDOP nadir radar reflectivity (left) and Doppler velocity (right)
in an east-west section across the Dominican Republic and its main
mountain ridge around 23:15 UTC on 22 September 1998. The Doppler
velocity includes both air motion and hydrometeor fallspeed. This
image was taken during the CAMEX-3 field experiment.
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CAMEX-4 region of interest with range rings centered on Jacksonville
Naval Air Station (JAX NAS). The research aircraft will typically
fly tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico
within 800 nautical miles of the Jacksonville base of operations.
Click Image to View the Latest GOES-8 Infrared Satellite Imagery
Four passive microwave observations, at different frequencies, of
Hurricane Bonnie as viewed by the AMPR instrument aboard the NASA
ER-2. Each frequency detects varying amounts of precipitation, water
vapor, and cloud ice crystals (26 Aug 1998).
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