Mid-scale RI-1 (M1:IP): The Next Generation Wyoming King Air Atmospheric Research Aircraft

怀俄明大学国王航空公司(UWKA)的研究飞机是国家科学基金会支持的大气科学研究和教育界的三个空中设施之一。由于其灵活的机动性和相对低廉的运营成本，UWKA是最常被要求的用于云、降水、大气化学、野火和边界层气象研究和教育的机载设施。这个中型研究基础设施-1实施项目旨在通过在具有相同敏捷性和成本效益的新型King Air飞机上建造最先进的机载大气研究和教育实验室(UWKA-2)，使老化的UWKA实现现代化。这些技术将成为国家稳定框架低层大气观测设施的组成部分。先进的机载现场和遥感测量能力对于验证和改进用于空间测量的算法至关重要，为天气、气候、空气质量和野火预测的数值模型提供观测约束，并支持许多联邦机构的任务，如美国国家航空航天局(NASA)、国家海洋和大气管理局(NOAA)、能源部(DOE)、环境保护局(EPA)、内政部(DOI)和国防部(DOD)的任务。现代化的仪器套件、额外的有效载荷能力、更远的飞行距离和先进的通信将使北极科学方面的创新观测和教育成为可能，以满足NSF导航新北极大想法的需要。在现场实验期间实时访问平台和仪器的新能力将允许特殊教育部署，并使学生、来自许多大学的早期职业科学家和K-12学生/教师能够远程参与野外活动。这个NSF中型研究基础设施植入项目包括五个组成部分：(I)将基线飞机转换为机载研究平台，涉及特定任务和特定研究的飞机改装和联邦航空管理局(FAA)认证；(Ii)升级机载毫米波雷达，允许在飞行水平以下和飞行水平以上的垂直平面双多普勒能力，以及测量雨滴和云滴的双频剖面图能力；(3)建立以拉曼和多普勒激光雷达技术为基础的机载激光雷达能力，以遥感温度、湿度、气溶胶和三维风廓线；(4)组装用于测量痕量气体和气溶胶的最新成套仪器，以支持大气化学研究；(5)开发具有实时分析/显示能力的新型地机通信系统，用于教育、培训和飞行管理。该项目由基金会范围的中型研究基础设施计划支持，联合资金来自现有的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)和大气和地球空间科学司/地球科学局。该项目将由地球科学局内的大气和地球空间科学部管理。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The University of Wyoming King Air (UWKA) research aircraft is one of three airborne facilities for the research and education community of atmospheric sciences supported by the National Science Foundation. Because of its agile maneuverability and relatively inexpensive operational cost, UWKA is the most frequently requested airborne facility for cloud, precipitation, atmospheric chemistry, wildfires, and boundary layer meteorology research and education. This Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-1 Implementation project aims to modernize the aging UWKA by building a state-of-art airborne atmospheric research and education laboratory (UWKA-2) on a new King Air aircraft that has the same agility and cost-effectiveness. These technologies will become an integral part of the NSFs Lower Atmospheric Observing Facility. The advanced airborne in-situ and remote sensing measurement capabilities are critical for validation and refinement of algorithms used in space-borne measurements and providing observational constraints on numerical models for weather, climate, air quality, and wildfire predictions, and supporting many federal agencies' missions, such as those of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Interior (DOI), and the Department of Defense (DOD). The modernized instrument suite, extra payload capability, a longer flight range, and advanced communications will enable innovative observations and education in Arctic science that addresses the NSF's Navigating the New Arctic Big Idea. The new capabilities of real time access to the platform and instruments during field experiments will allow special educational deployments and enable students, early career scientists from many universities, and K-12 students/teachers to remotely participate in field campaigns.There are five components in this NSF Mid-scale Research Infrastructure Implantation project: (i) Convert the baseline aircraft to airborne research platform that involves mission-specific and research-specific aircraft modifications and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification; (ii) Upgrade airborne millimeter-wave radars to allow vertical-plane dual-doppler capability both below and above flight level, and dual frequency profiling capability for measurements of both rain and cloud droplets; (iii) Build airborne lidar capabilities based on Raman and Doppler lidar technologies for remote sensing of temperature, humidity, aerosols, and 3-dimensional wind profiles; (iv) Assemble an updated instrument package for measurements of trace gases and aerosols to support atmospheric chemistry research; and (v) Develop a novel ground-aircraft communication system with real-time analysis/display capabilities for education, training, and flight management. This project is supported by the Foundation-wide Mid-scale Research Infrastructure program with co-funding from the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) and the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences/Directorate for Geosciences. The project will be managed by the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences within the Directorate for Geosciences.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.