NOAA Environmental Technology Laboratory
PACJET: PACIFIC LANDFALLING JETS EXPERIMENT
10 January 2001 to 5 March 2001
NEW
PACJET 2003 Site
RESOURCES
PACJET 2002 Site
GPS Realtime Water Vapor
GWINDEX
West Coast RUC
ETL Profiler Network
Press Materials
BACKGROUND
About Pacjet
CALJET Summary
Societal Impacts and User Input
Linkages to National Priorities
USWRP
  Data Assimilation Implementation Plan
March 2001 Program Status Report
PACJET 2001 Poster NSSL Briefing
PROGRAM DOCUMENT
PACJET and a Long-term Effort to Improve 0-24 h West Coast Forecasts
Overview Poster
RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
NOAA Research
  ETL,   NSSL,   FSL,   AL,   CDC
National Weather Service Western Region
  Eureka,   Hanford,   Medford,   Monterey,   Oxnard,   Portland,   Reno,   Sacramento,   San Diego,   Seattle,   CNFRC
Office of Marine and Aviation Operations
  AOC
Naval Postgradute School
DRI CIASTA
CIRES
SUNY Stony Brook
National Centers for Environmental Prediction
  EMC,   HPC,   MPC
National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service
  CIMSS,   CIRA
OPERATIONAL FORECASTING
COMPONENTS
COMET Presentation
West Coast RUC Aircraft Obs via AWIPS
GWINDEX Poster
Applications Development
RESEARCH COMPONENTS
Modeling Research Components
RELATED EXPERIMENTS
Winter Storm Reconnaissance (Central Pac.)
CRPAQS (CA Air Quality)
IMPROVE (Microphysics)
THORPEX (Synoptic Targeting)
OBSERVING SYSTEMS
AEROSONDE
NOAA P-3
Wind Profiler Network
Satellite Products
NOAA S-band Radar
CONTACTS
Program
Media Contacts
Webmaster
PLANNING WORKSHOPS
2001 - Monterey, CA
July 13-14 2000 (Boulder, CO)
July Workshop Agenda
September 1999 - Monterey, CA
1999 Planning Workshop Figures
June 1998 - CALJET
California Regional Particulate Air Quality Study (CRPAQS)
PACJET will occur within the time period covered by the CRPAQS experiment, which is being conducted in the Central Valley of California to study particulate air pollution. A significant upper air observing network and land surface processes study site are being deployed for CRPAQS. This network will prove useful in providing unique data for verification of forecasts during PACJET and for the assimilation of vertical profile data into numerical weather prediction models.
CRPAQS basemap.
CRPAQS Wind Profiler Network


Winter Storms Reconnaissance Program
PACJET will be closely coordinated with the WSR program. As illustrated, the two experiments cover complementary regions of the data sparse Pacific ocean, with WSR focused on the central Pacific and PACJET on the coastal areas. Cooperative plans have been underway for some time, and will at least consist of coordination on the timing and location of flight operations. The goals of coordination will be either to cover the same storm using a sequence of flights, or by focusing all flights on a single time.

Winter Storms Project Domain
WSR and PACJET Experimental Regions


The Hemispheric Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment (THORPEX)
THORPEX is a major experiment being planned for the Pacific Ocean in 2003-2005. PACJET incorporates several components that will aid in preparing for this large experiment by testing new measurement techniques that could be of value in THORPEX. In this respect, PACJET helps accelerate progress toward THORPEX, and increases the chances for its success. The most relevant testing in PACJET includes:
  1. Development of buoy-mounted wind profiling. The first prototype was tested in March 2000 for 5 days on a SCRIPPS buoy. Preliminary assessment of the data indicates that the key method for suppressing sea clutter was successful, and thus the investment will be made to harden the system for protracted deployment, testing, and validation during PACJET.

  2. Realistic field testing of a promising UAV, the AEOSONDE. The goal is to conduct at least one successful flight from Hawaii to the west coast in the context of a significant storm and with over-the-horizon communication with the UAV. The capabilities of the AEROSONDE appear to be well suited to PACJET's goal of measuring the low-level jet. (Fig. from Greg Holland).

  3. Testing coordination of up to 4 aircraft in sampling a target specified by the ensemble transform technique as part of a coordinated effort with the Winter Storms Reconnaissance program.


IMPROVE
Although the IMPROVE and PACJET experiments each have several objectives, they share a common goal of better understanding of microphysical conditions associated with heavy orographic precipitation on the west coast. Efforts are being made to coordinate the experiments in a way that helps each better realize its primary goals. For example, the IMPROVE project's field work in winter 2000/2001 was recently shifted from November/December 2000 to January/February 2001, which now overlaps the observing period for PACJET, and a profiler that will be deployed along the coast for PACJET will be sited to optimize its value for IMPROVE. Numerous other possibilities for coordination and synergy will be fully explored.
NOAA | ETL | MAAD | CALJET | PACJET
NOAA ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY
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Updated: April 27, 2000
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