Notes from the Field

Since I last posted, HS3 has decided to give up on trying to fix AV-1, thus ending my time at NASA Wallops this hurricane season. We came to this decision so we would still have some time to get two of the instruments, including the one I work with, off AV-1 and moved onto a […]

The Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research, or 4STAR, is an airborne instrument that measures aerosols (small particles suspended in the atmosphere), gases (ozone for example), and a variety of cloud properties. Currently it is being deployed on the NASA C-130 aircraft on its quest to measure aerosol and cloud properties in the Arctic, helping to […]

After a lengthy waiting period, we have successfully deployed our instrumentation to make aerosol measurements inside a tropical storm/hurricane. As of our last post, instrumentation was mounted aboard the NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft but we were awaiting installation of an inlet.  This is not a trivial task, as any structure mounted to the exterior of […]

Mangrove forests are disappearing faster than any other tropical environment. NASA scientists are working to understand how human activities coupled with land use/ land cover change have altered mangrove environments.

A new NASA airborne campaign known as ARISE, or the Arctic Radiation – IceBridge Sea and Ice Experiment, will take measurements intended to help researchers better understand the role that clouds play in Arctic warming as sea ice conditions change. From Sep. 3 to Oct. 3, researchers flying aboard NASA’s C-130 research aircraft will measure […]

Since I last posted, AV-6 flew a successful mission over Cristobal. Meanwhile, AV-1 is still stuck in California until crews can figure out the electrical issues that are affecting the aircraft. Those of us on the AV-1 instrument teams, which includes the team I’m on, are starting to get pretty jealous of AV-6’s ability to […]

Welcome to the HS3 blog! My name is Mary Morris and I am a graduate student studying atmospheric science at the University of Michigan. Over the next few weeks I will be posting about my experiences while I participate in the HS3 mission at NASA Wallops Flight Facility. HS3 is a mission designed to investigate […]

Update: The R/V Endeavor returned from sea on Aug. 6, concluding the fieldwork component of the 2014 SABOR experiment. As mentioned in the previous blog (“A Vast Ocean Teeming with Life”) ending this cruise is not an easy thing to do. Especially if you experienced the majesty of the crystalline blue water in the open […]

August 5, 2014 Three weeks at sea is a long time for someone who has never been out of sight of shore. My greatest impression during my time out here is the one I first had when we first set out: the ocean is really, really big! I realize that probably sounds too obvious to […]