Armored T-28 Aircraft Facility for Research Requiring Storm Penetrations

该项目为装甲T-28气象研究飞机系统提供持续运行，作为研究云、雷暴和冰雹过程的国家设施。拟议的合作协议规定了T-28飞机及其相关仪器和软件的管理、人员配备、升级、测试、操作和维护。这些努力将保持飞机的性能和测量能力，并使其可用于支持几个即将到来的研究项目，这些项目需要在成熟的对流风暴周围进行观测。这些研究的重点是雷暴电气化及其与氮氧化物产生的关系，以及验证和改进极化雷达的水文气象识别算法。拟议的协议包括支持设施部署的科学工作和分析结果数据工程工作，以评估改进飞机性能的修改，以及仪器和软件升级，以增强设施的科学和教育能力。

This project provides for continued operation of the armored T-28 meteorological research aircraft system as a national facility for research into cloud, thunderstorm and hailstorm processes. The proposed cooperative agreement provides for the management, staffing, upgrading, testing, operation, and maintenance of the T-28 aircraft and associated instrumentation and software. These efforts will maintain the performance and measurement capabilities of the aircraft and make it available for support of several upcoming research projects requiring observations within the around mature covective storms. The focus of these investigations is on thunderstorm electrification and its relation to Nox production, and on validating and improving hydrometeor-identification algorithms for polarimetric radars. The proposed agreement includes scientific effort to support facility deployments and analysis of the resulting data engineering effort to evaluate modifications to improve aircraft performance, and instrumentation and software upgrades to enhance the scientific and educational capabilities of the facility.