Related Studies:
CAMEX-3
NASA Earth Science Field Campaigns

Participants:
Managers
Funded Science Investigators
Other Investigators
Support Personnel
Aircrew

Instruments:
Aerosonde
Andros Island
NASA DC-8
NASA ER-2
KAMP

Hurricane & Flight Tracks
Hurricane Tracks
Flight Tracks
Satellite Tracks
Flight Plans

News & Information:
Aircraft
CAMEX-4 News
CAMEX-4 Gallery
CAMEX-4 Diary
CAMEX-3 Website

Surface Data Sites:
Andros Island Rawinsondes
TRMM KAMP

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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.

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).