Mission 15

ER-2 Sortie 00-176

Thursday, September 14, 2000

Flight Scientist: S. Platnick

Objectives and Summary:  (1) Overfly marine stratocumulus off the Namibian and Angolan coast, and coordinated with the UK C-130, (2) Overfly the Okaukuejo Camp at Etosha National Park (ENP), (3) Overfly the Brandenberg crater and other geology on the northern Namibian coast, (4) Overfly the Serowe SAV E site in Botswana.

The UK C-130 (based in Windhoek, Namibia) flew northward to intercept marine stratocumulus along the Angolan/Namibian border during the time of the Terra overpass, followed by some cloud sampling coordinated with the ER–2; broken mulitlayer clouds were reported by the C-130. The University of Washington CV-580 (based in Walvis Bay, Namibia) made clear sky aerosol and chemistry measurements off Walvis Bay.

The ER-2 tracks parallel to Terra overflew clear sky to the south and marine stratocumulus to the north. The Terra overpass (1012 UTC) occurred about one hour before the arrival of the ER-2 (1117 UTC) and about 350 km farther west.

Highlights: Coastal stratus along southern Angolan coast with UK C-130 in situ cloud sampling, Okaukuejo camp in ENP.

ER-2 Mission:   Pilot:             Jan Nystrum

                             Takeoff         0800 UTC

                             Landing        1540 UTC

                             Duration       7:36

Surface sites, features:

Brandenberg, Namibia (21° 66’ S, 14° 34’ E).

Okaukuejo Camp, Etosha National Park,Namibia (19° 15’ S, 15° 55’ E).

Serowe SAVE site, Botswana (22° 23.5’ S, 26° 43.1’ E).

Meteorology:

Thursday’s forecast (Steve Medcalf, SAWB): A cold front moved to the central areas of South Africa and southeastwards out to sea off the southern Kwazulu Natal coast. Very cold air is in circulation to the rear of the front with some snow being reported from areas on the high ground. Ahead of the front, a dry offshore northwesterly flow persists. Coastal lows are visible along the Namibian coast and in Maputo area. Aloft, a steep upper trough continues its development west of the country. Cloudy, cold and rainy will occur to the rear of the front with some light snowfalls on the mountain ranges of the southern, southeastern and eastern Cape. Isolated thundershowers are possible over the western area and over the highveld regions of Mpumalanga and Gauteng, ahead of the approching front. Fine and hot in the north, foggy along the northern Namibian coast.

ER-2 science instrument payload and status:

 ER-2 Ground Track: