Earth ID: 14098

IMPACTS 2022: NASA Planes Fly into Snowstorms to Study Snowfall

Released on February 10, 2022

NASA’s Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Storms (IMPACTS) mission, which began in January and is planned to wrap up at the end of February, has seen upwards of 10 flights so far. Ultimately, what the IMPACTS team learns about snowstorms will improve meteorological models and our ability to use satellite data to predict how much snow will fall and where.

Music credit: “Struggles” and “Natural Time Cycles” from Universal Production Music

Complete transcript available.

NASA’s Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Storms (IMPACTS) mission, which began in January and is planned to wrap up at the end of February, has seen upwards of 10 flights so far. The planes, a P-3 aircraft from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and a high-flying ER-2 jet out of the Pope Army Airfield near Fayetteville, North Carolina, are chasing down snowstorms. Scientists are looking to better understand snowstorms, particularly how narrow structures called snow bands form, why some storms don’t have snow bands, and how snow bands can be used to predict snowfall. The data collected from the instruments on board the aircrafts will help the team relate properties of the snow particles and their environment to large-scale processes – such as the structure of clouds and precipitation patterns. Ultimately, what the IMPACTS team learns about snowstorms will improve meteorological models and our ability to use satellite data to predict how much snow will fall and where.

On February 3rd, NASA’s P-3 took off at 8:00 am from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. With ground operations coordinating its route with the ER-2, the IMPACTS team flew straight into a snowstorm, taking three passes at different elevations— 20,000 ft, 13,000 ft, and 11,000 ft. Both the ground team and the in-flight team kept a close eye on the weather forecast to ensure the best flight path for the aircraft and the instruments on board.

Scientists flying on the P-3 on Thursday, February 3, 2022 study images of aggregated ice crystals taken by on-board instruments.

IMPACTS team member keeps the P-3 aircraft’s flight path up-to-date with Air Traffic Control at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Friday, February 4, 2022.

NASA’s P-3 aircraft is getting loaded up for its flight on February 4, 2022 out of Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

IMPACTS scientist works from within the cockpit to coordinate flight plans with the pilots on Thursday, February 3, 2022.

NASA pilots flying the P-3 aircraft navigate turbulence, bad weather, and flight coordination with the ER-2 on Thursday, February 3, 2022.

NASA’s P-3 aircraft has been retrofitted for scientific instruments to fly with the IMPACTS mission on Thursday, February 3, 2022.

For More Information

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/esnt/2022/nasa-planes-fly-into-snowstorms-to-study-snowfall

Credits

Kathleen Gaeta (AIMM): Lead Producer
Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Kathryn Mersmann (KBR Wyle Services, LLC): Lead Producer

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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Keywords:
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Hydrosphere >> Snow/Ice >> Snow/Ice Chemistry
SVS >> Wallops Flight Facility
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0