Date: Apr 01, 2001
Mission: MODIS Calibration, USGS Photo, and NASA Trace Gas Detection combined mission.
Mission Objectives
Underfly Terra (1635 UTC) in clear sky over deepwater Gulf of Mexico
for MODIS emissive band IR comparisons at MODIS OBC scan angle (-23.4 deg.).
Finish USGS photo coverage of LA. Overfly Hutchinson, KS to detect
natural gas leaks with SHIS.
Flight Summary
Take-off was at 1430 UTC. ER-2 landed at 2100 UTC.
ER-2 flew from Kelly AFB eastward to western LA where a short USGS photo line was run. Then flew SE into the Gulf of Mexico to a racetrack oriented parallel to the Terra orbital track and offset for a -23 degree scan angle from Terra. Met Terra satellite on northbound leg (2nd leg) of 1st orbit at 1635 UTC. Skies clear. Flew a 2nd orbit, also with skies clear. Flew to coastal LA to fly four east-west oriented photo lines for USGS. These lines included the western LA muddy coast. All photo lines in LA collected in cloud-free skies. Upon completing the photo lines (~1830 UTC), flew northwest towards OK/KS region for Trace Gas Detection. Flight aborted at 1930 UTC when base advised that OK/KS lines were now cloudy.
Highlights
Clear sky scenes of Deepwater Gulf of Mexico with MODIS overhead viewing at OBC scan angle.
Instrument Status