KA-20251010a

KA-20251010a#

cirrus altocumulus mpc precip multi ec_under

Crew#

Job

Name

PI

Robert Oscar David

Instrument operator

Sorin Ghemulet

Instrument operator

Tim Carlsen

EarthCARE target scenarios

Altocumulus: Mixed-phase cloud.
Snow: At cloud top.
Cirrus: In MSI swath.
Complex multi-layer scenes: Straight legs at changing altitude to be in cloud.

Flight summary

During the research flight on 10th October 2025, we targeted altocumulus mixed-phase clouds between 5.8 and 7.2 km altitude underneath EarthCARE (orbit #7774C). We sampled in the mixed-phase regime at temperatures between -25°C and -30°C. We sampled snow at cloud top and occassionally pockets of liquid droplets experimenting with a Lagrangian collocation approach due to strong crosswinds at the time of the EC overpass. After leaving the EC leg, we sampled ice crystals in cirrus clouds within the MSI swath.

Track#

../_images/KA-20251010a_7774C.png

Flight track for KA-20251010a.#

Flight path (dashed line) superimposed on the MSI-RGR-1C product on 10th October 2025. The ATLID ground track is shown in yellow, while the EC leg (for correlative observations) is shown as a continuous line.

Conditions#

We were expecting pure ice clouds at our flight levels during EC, but a glory at cloud top was already indicating some liquid and potential icing. We indeed sampled pockets of liquid at low temperatures together with large ice crystals/snow at cloud top. The pockets of liquid coincided well with regions of stronger updrafts and more in-flight turbulence.

Flight video#

Video cutting and editing in progress…

Events#

Time (UTC)

Comment

13:02

Takeoff Kiruna

13:58

Start ec_leg

14:05

EarthCARE overpass (orbit #7774C)

14:22

End ec_leg

15:03

Landing Kiruna

Execution#

  • Takeoff KRN: 13:02 UTC (15:02 LT)

  • Hawkeye on: 13:00 UTC

  • 13:45 UTC: going down to FL250, clouds a bit below us

  • 13:46 UTC: down to FL240

  • 13:52 UTC: start right turn to get on track

  • 13:58 UTC: adjusting flight levels to be in cloud

  • 13:58 UTC: Start ec_leg

  • 14:06 UTC: WP2, ec_meet, going down a bit (nothing on probes)

  • 14:10 UTC: going back up

  • 14:20 UTC: going up a bit more

  • 14:22 UTC: End ec_leg

  • 14:41 UTC: FCDP stop, 2DS stop

  • 14:45 UTC: data transfer completed

  • Landing KRN: 15:03 UTC (17:03 LT)

Impressions#

  • 13:15 UTC: TAS192, -24°C, FL200

  • 13:16 UTC: 2DS sees particles

  • 13:22 UTC: TAS219, -36°C, FL260, alt capture

  • 13:37 UTC: TAS254, -38°C, FL260

  • 13:45 UTC: TAS258, -36°C, FL260

  • 13:46 UTC: TAS246, -35°C, FL250

  • 13:48 UTC: TAS246, -34°C, FL240, 37 kt headwind

  • 13:50 UTC: TAS242, -32°C, FL230

  • 13:52 UTC: glory, liquid in cloud, 2DS-H sees crystals, TAS233

  • 13:53 UTC: TAS240, -28°C, FL208, FCDP sees something (liquid - glory)

  • 13:56 UTC: seeing crystals, TAS234, FL209

  • 13:59 UTC: TAS260, -26°C, FL207

  • 14:00 UTC: TAS250, few crystals, little liquid

  • 14:01 UTC: lots of crystals, big crystals (only 2DS-H)+FCDP

  • 14:03 UTC: TAS251, -27°C, FL202, FCDP goes wild, right at cloud top, large crystals on 2DS-V and 2DS-H also a lot

  • 14:04 UTC: a lot in FCDP, TAS256

  • 14:06 UTC: -28°C

  • 14:06 UTC: TAS245, nothing on probes

  • 14:07 UTC: FL200

  • 14:08 UTC: TAS216, -27°C

  • 14:09 UTC: FL190, clear sky below

  • 14:11 UTC: TAS212, -25°C, FL200

  • 14:12 UTC: some crystals again, Bullet rosettes (B-Rs)

  • 14:13 UTC: TAS213, -28°C, FL216

  • 14:14 UTC: TAS221, ascending a bit more

  • 14:15 UTC: TAS221, -28°C, FL220

  • 14:16 UTC: TAS222, -30°C, FL225, a few crystals

  • 14:19 UTC: TAS214, -30°C, FL230, some B-Rs

  • 14:21 UTC: TAS218, -32°C, FL235, maybe crystals too big, turning home

  • 14:23 UTC: lots of crystals now, maybe still at match for this data due to crosswind, and still in MSI swath

  • 14:25 UTC: 2DS-H sees quite some crystals

  • 14:26 UTC: also 2DS-V now, TAS220, FL250

  • 14:27 UTC: lots of crystals, TAS222, -36°C, FL250

  • 14:30 UTC: TAS230, FL250

  • 14:36 UTC: TAS235, -36°C, FL250

  • 14:40 UTC: lots of crystals, still in MSI swath?, start descending

Instrument status & quicklooks#

Instrument

Operational

Comment

FCDP

✅

None

2D-S

✅

None

CPI

❌

camera connection issue

CAS-DPOL

❌

CAPS computer failure

CIP

❌

CAPS computer failure

LWC Hotwire

❌

CAPS computer failure

Gopros

✅

None
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