During the week of 11/15/21 the Lightning Instrument Package (LIP) was successfully integrated onto the NASA ER-2 aircraft at Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) in advance of the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) field campaign. IMPACTS is focused on understanding heavy snow in winter storms over the eastern and central United States, with LIP measuring electric fields and the propensity for thundersnow. Team member Monte Bateman (UAH) led the integration of the brand-new version of the LIP instrument at AFRC and set up remote networking capabilities to allow the LIP team to monitor LIP data in real-time from a remote location.
The Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) will began integration at AFRC the week of 11/30/21. Both LIP and AMPR will partake in the ER-2’s full system ground test on 12/6/21, and an IMPACTS Check out flight on 12/7/21 before the program pauses for the holidays. The ER-2 will then ferry to Pope Airfield in North Carolina to fly winter storms over the East Coast in January and February 2022.
