ACE-ASIA Aircraft: C-130 Aircraft Flight Parameters; 1-sec rate (NCAR/RAF)

    1.0  General Description

         This dataset contains airborne measurements obtained from the NSF/NCAR 
    Research Aviation Facility (RAF) EC-130Q Hercules aircraft during the Asian
    Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-Asia). This field
    campaign was conducted out of Iwakuni, Japan from 30 March to 4 May 2001, 
    exclusive of ferry flights. This dataset contains only a subset of the 
    low-rate (LRT; 1 sample per second) production data. It does not include any
    experimental or researcher data. The complete low-rate dataset currently 
    resides on the NCAR Mass Store in /RAF/2001/131/LRT/.  It can be accessed 
    thru the Research Aviation Facility (RAF) web page at
    http://www.atd.ucar.edu/rdp/mss_retrieval/. 

         High rate (HRT; 25 sps) data have not been processed at this time but 
    will be made available by RAF on a flight-by-flight basis. Processing and 
    distribution of these data will be made by RAF in response to individual 
    requests by project participants. These 1 Hz frequency data have been 
    processed and quality controlled by NCAR/RAF.

    2.0  Detailed Data Description

         This dataset contains data for 19 flights made during ACE-Asia. The
    dates and times of each flight, along with the size of the complete (not
    subsetted) dataset can be found in Table 2-1. This dataset contains only a 
    subset of the low-rate (LRT; 1 sample per second) production data.  For a 
    list of variables included in this dataset see Table 2-2. Note that some
    variables are different on different flights.  For example, for liquid water 
    content (LWC) PLWCC1 is included for flights 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. 
    PLWCC is included for flights 1,2, and XGLWC is included for flights 3 
    through 9, 13, 14. A list of these variables can be found at the end of 
    Table 2-2. The complete low-rate dataset currently resides on the NCAR Mass 
    Store in /RAF/2001/131/LRT/.  It can be accessed thru the Research Aviation 
    Facility (RAF) web page at  http://www.atd.ucar.edu/rdp/mss_retrieval/. 
    High rate (HRT; 25 sps) data have not been processed at this time but will 
    be made available by RAF on a flight-by-flight basis. Processing and 
    distribution of these data will be made by RAF in response to individual 
    requests by project participants. 

    RAF Bulletin No. 9, Appendix B (available on line at the URL:
     http://raf.atd.ucar.edu/Bulletins/b9appdx_B.html#Time
    has the following descriptions for time variables:

    Raw Tape Time (h, m, s) - HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND
      These three time variables are recorded directly from the aircraft's data
      system.
 
    Date (m, d, y) - MONTH, DAY, YEAR
      These three variables represent the date when the aircraft's data system
      began recording data.  They are repeated as 1 sps variables but are NOT
      incremented if the time rolls over to the next day.  (Use base_time and
      time_offset for reference timing.)
 
    Reference Start Time (s) - base_time
      This is the reference time for the netCDF output data files.  It
      represents the time of the first data record. Its format is Unix
      time (elapsed seconds after 1 January 1970). Use this measurement and
      time_offset to obtain the time for each data record.
 
    Time Offset from Reference Start Time (s) - time_offset
      This is the time offset from base_time of each data record used for
      the netCDF output files.  Since it starts at zero (0) and increments
      each second, it can also be thought of as a record counter.  Use this
      measurement and base_time to obtain the time for each data record.


    Complete documentation for the entire dataset can be found at 
    http://raf.atd.ucar.edu/Projects/ACE-ASIA/docsum.html. 
    This README has been linked to "Aircraft C-130 Aircraft Flight Parameters; 
    documentation (NCAR/RAF)" in the master list of all ACE-Asia datasets.

    Questions about this dataset should be directed to the RAF Data Manager,
    Ron Ruth, rafdmg@ucar.edu.


     Table 2-1       PRODUCTION MASS STORE BITFILE LOG
 
     Project no.:  2001-131    Project name:  ACE-Asia
        Aircraft:  N130AR      Scientist(s):  B. Huebert, et al.
       Data type:  LRT        Programmer(s):  Chris Webster
  Processor used:  NIMBUS    Project Mgr(s):  R. Friesen, K. Laursen, A. Schanot
   Output format:  netCDF  Production Proc.:  R. Friesen, A. Schanot
 
     MSS path name:  /RAF/2001/131/LRT/fltno.cdf
        MSS format:  Transparent 
     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Start Date     Start      End       File Size
      fltno   mm/dd/yyyy   Time UTC   Time UTC     (Mbytes)
     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
      RF01    03/30/2001   23:40:00   06:34:01     49.648180
      RF02    04/01/2001   23:43:00   08:13:30     61.203012
      RF03    04/04/2001   00:00:01   08:56:59     64.630872
      RF04    04/06/2001   00:31:01   09:44:02     66.560744
      RF05    04/08/2001   03:15:00   10:36:34     53.159996
      RF06    04/11/2001   00:01:00   07:15:46     52.237712
      RF07    04/11/2001   23:54:00   09:14:01     67.267712
      RF08    04/13/2001   00:15:01   08:47:25     61.553720
      RF09    04/16/2001   23:58:16   09:27:22     68.084080
      RF10    04/17/2001   23:48:00   09:03:26     66.450640
      RF11    04/19/2001   23:57:00   09:20:30     67.414768
      RF12    04/22/2001   22:45:00   08:07:43     67.321144
      RF13    04/23/2001   23:47:00   09:12:30     67.653788
      RF14    04/24/2001   23:55:00   09:17:48     67.331072
      RF15    04/27/2001   00:36:00   10:08:53     68.536252
      RF16    04/29/2001   23:49:00   08:40:15     63.560236
      RF17    04/30/2001   23:55:00   09:19:41     67.556176
      RF18    05/02/2001   00:16:10   09:16:05     64.596064
      RF19    05/03/2001   23:40:00   07:35:55     56.946784
     ------------------------------------------------------------------------



     Table 2-2        Suggested ACE-Asia variable list
                                 NCAR C-130
     Name    Units   Description
     ----    -----   ------------------------------------------------
     base_time               Seconds since Jan 1, 1970.
     time_offset             Seconds since base_time.
     PCAB    mbar    Interior Cabin Static Pressure
     RICE    Vdc     Raw Icing-Rate Indicator
     RSTB1   C       Radiometric Surface Temperature
     SWB     W/M2    Shortwave Irradiance, Bottom
     SWT     W/M2    Shortwave Irradiance, Top
     TEO3C   ppbv    Corrected TECO (UV) Ozone Concentration
     UVB     W/M2    Ultraviolet Irradiance, Bottom
     UVT     W/M2    Ultraviolet Irradiance, Top
     DAY     day     Raw Tape Date Component
     HOUR    hours   Raw Tape Time Component
     MINUTE  minutes Raw Tape Time Component
     MONTH   month   Raw Tape Date Component
     PITCH   deg     Aircraft Pitch Angle
     ROLL    deg     Aircraft Roll Angle
     SECOND  s       Raw Tape Time Component
     THDG    deg     Aircraft True Heading Angle
     VSPD    M/s     IRS-Computed Aircraft Vertical Velocity
     YEAR    year    Raw Tape Date Component
     ALTX    M       Altitude, Reference (MSL)
     ATTACK  deg     Attack Angle, Reference
     ATX     C       Ambient Temperature, Reference
     CONC3_RPO       N/cm3   FSSP-300 Concentration (all cells)
     CONC6_LPC       N/L     260X Concentration (all cells)
     CONCF_LPI       N/cm3   FSSP-100 Concentration (all cells)
     CONCF_RPC       N/cm3   FSSP-100 Concentration (all cells)
     CONCN   N/cm3   Condensation Nuclei (CN) Concentration
     DBAR3_RPO       uM      FSSP-300 Mean Particle Diameter
     DBAR6_LPC       uM      260X Mean Particle Diameter
     DBARF_LPI       uM      FSSP-100 Mean Particle Diameter
     DBARF_RPC       uM      FSSP-100 Mean Particle Diameter
     **DPXC  C       Dew Point Temperature, Reference
     IRBC    W/M2    Corrected Infrared Irradiance, Bottom
     IRTC    W/M2    Corrected Infrared Irradiance, Top
     LATC    deg     GPS-Corrected Inertial Latitude
     LONC    deg     GPS-Corrected Inertial Longitude
     **MR    g/kg    Mixing Ratio, T-Electric
     *PLWCC1 g/M3    Corrected PMS-King Liquid Water Content
     PSURF   mbar    Calculated Surface Pressure
     PSXC    mbar    Corrected Static Pressure, Reference
     QCXC    mbar    Corrected Dynamic Pressure, Reference
     **RHODT g/M3    Absolute Humidity, T-Electric Top
     **RHUM  %       Relative Humidity
     SOLAZ   radians Solar Azimuth Angle
     SOLDE   radians Solar Declination Angle
     SOLEL   radians Solar Elevation Angle
     SOLZE   radians Solar Zenith Angle
     SSLIP   deg     Sideslip Angle, Reference
     TASX    M/s     Aircraft True Airspeed, Reference
     THETA   K       Potential Temperature
     THETAE  K       Equivalent Potential Temperature
     THETAV  K       Virtual Potential Temperature
     WDC     deg     GPS-Corrected Horizontal Wind Direction
     WIC     M/s     GPS-Corrected Wind Vector, Vertical Gust Component
     WSC     M/s     GPS-Corrected Horizontal Wind Speed
     
     * For liquid water content (LWC) use PLWCC1 for flights 10, 11, 12, 15, 16,
        17, 18, 19. Use PLWCC for flights 1,2. Use XGLWC for flights 3 through 
        9, 13, 14.
     
     ** For dew point (DP), water vapor (RHO, MR), and humidity (RH) use the
        following:
        For flights 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19 use DPXC, RHODT,
        MR,RHUM
        For flights 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 16 use DPLA1, RHOLA1, MRLA1, RHLA1
        For flights 11, use DPLA, RHOLA, MRLA, RHLA
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    3.0  Quality Control

    These 1 Hz frequency data have been processed and quality controlled by 
    NCAR/RAF.