Workshop Summary: Aircraft Mission Measurement Strategies for the NASA Subsonic Assessment Program

Abstract

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has initiated a major program to assess the impact of tropospheric aircraft on the atmosphere. The Subsonic Assessment program plans to conduct future field programs that will address specific scientific issues related to aircraft impact, e.g., studies of plume chemistry, contrail effects on cirrus formation, and global radiation budget, and tropospheric/stratospheric exchange processes. The first step in the planning process was the convening of a workshop to identify those atmospheric processes that would most likely be impacted by aircraft and that can be studied with in situ and remote sensing measurements from aircraft. This technical note condenses presentations and discussions of the three major facets of the workshop: identification of the primary scientific issues, review of previous applicable airborne campaigns, and preliminary measurement strategies to address the scientific issues. A number of recommendations are made with respect to aircraft utilization in general and potential flight profile scenarios in particular.