Mission 13

ER-2 Sortie 00-160

Monday, September 11, 2000

Flight Scientist: S. Platnick

Objectives and Summary:  (1) Underfly Terra off the west coast of Namibia for clear sky and cloud validation. (2) Observe outflow and possibly a berg wind with accompanying dust off Luderitz, Namibia. (3) Image geological features of the Kuiseb River Canyon along with sand dunes to the south, desert “pavement” to the north. (4) Overfly the Matimba Power Station in northeast RSA and a burn scar at Madikwe Game Park, RSA.

The UK C130, based in Windhoek, Namibia, obtained in situ cloud sampling coordinated with the ER-2 towards the two northern ER-2 flight tracks paralleling the northern Namibia coast. The University of Washington CV-580, now based in Walvis Bay, Namibia flew a clear sky mission off the Namibian coast during the Terra/ER-2 overflight.

The ER-2 line along Terra included clear sky to the south and stratocumulus to the north.

Highlights: ER-2 clear sky and coastal stratus run off northern Namibia coincident and directly under the Terra overpass;  ER-2/C130 coordination in stratus;  Kuiseb River Canyon.

ER-2 Mission:   Pilot:             Jan Nystrom

                             Takeoff         0620 UTC

                             Landing        1525 UTC

                             Duration       9:18*

* landing was delayed due to high crosswinds in Pietersburg, extending the original 8 hour flight.

Surface sites, features:

Madikwe Game Park, RSA burn scar (vicinity of 24° 50’ S, 26° 15’ E).

Matimba Power Station near Ellisras, RSA (23° 43.6’ S, 27° 41.3’ E)

Kuiseb River Canyon, Namibia (2 flight tracks intersecting near 23° 40’ S, 15° 20’ E).

Walvis Bay, Namibia (22° 55’ S, 14° 30’ E) w/AERONET sun photometer.

Meteorology:

Monday’s forecast (Steve Medcalf, SAWB): A high pressure cell dominates the central and eastern parts of South Africa with a trough over the western areas and a coastal low on the namibian coast. Cloudy in the northeast of South Africa and the southern parts of Zimbabwe. Fog patches over the northern Namibian coast and generally fine weather elsewhere with an offshore flow along the southern Namibian and Cape west coasts.

ER-2 science instrument payload and status:

ER-2 Ground Track: