Convective Processes Experiment – Aerosols & Winds

The Campaign

The Convective Processes Experiment - Aerosols & Winds (CPEX-AW) campaign focused on conducting a post-launch calibration and validation of the Atmospheric Dynamics Mission-Aeolus (ADM-AEOLUS) Earth observation wind Lidar satellite, as well as studying dynamics and microphysics related to the Saharan Air Layer (SAL), African Easterly Waves and Jets, Tropical Easterly Jet, and deep convection in the InterTropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). CPEX-AW had 1 deployment from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands during the fall of 2021. NASA's DC-8 took airborne observations with the instruments APR-3, DAWN, HALO, MMIC, and HAMSR onboard, in addition to releasing dropsondes during flights. CPEX-AW was the followup to the CPEX 2017 campaign, and was a joint effort between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Additional Notes

The base of operations for the NASA DC-8 for the CPEX-AW campaign was out of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. St. Croix was chosen after COVID-19 restrictions prevented international travel to Cabo Verde, the base of operations for the European Space Agency (ESA) components of the larger airborne science mission.

Repositories

• Global Hydrology Resource Center DAAC (GHRC)