Storm Penetrating Aircraft Workshop; Rapid City, South Dakota; Fall of 2006

South Dakota School Of Mines And Technology, Rapid City SD

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal is requesting support for a workshop to discuss what aircraft is best suitable for the Next Generation Storm Penetration Aircraft (NGSPA). Because of the prospect of many more types of research missions such as, cloud physics and dynamics, atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric electricity, radar meteorology, remote sensing, boundary layer meteorology, and possibly others, an analysis of the characteristics and capabilities of the various aircraft has resulted in the designation of the Fairchild twin engine A-10 jet aircraft as the most suitable aircraft. The workshop is expected to produce a white paper/report to National Science Foundation (NSF) delineating the community interest in the NGSPA with a listing of potential experiments and instrumentation. This will aid the NSF in planning the future facility mix needed to support research through the first third of the 21st century.