Studying Snowstorms with NASA’s ER-2 Aircraft | Armstrong Flight Research Center

Studying Snowstorms with NASA’s ER-2 Aircraft | Armstrong Flight Research Center

The ER-2 high-altitude aircraft, based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, supported the study of snowstorms for NASA’s Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Storms (IMPACTS) mission. 

The aircraft temporarily deployed to Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, and flew over the Midwest and Eastern United States to gather data about snowstorms and the conditions in which they form. Equipped with a suite of scientific instruments, the ER-2 flies at altitudes of about 65,000 feet to get a top-down view of the clouds to measure the properties of storms. 

Data collected during the final deployment of this three-year campaign, along with NASA’s P-3 based at the Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia, will allow scientists to learn more about snowstorms and will improve meteorological models and the ability to use satellite data to predict how much snow will fall and where.

Credit: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center

Duration: 6 minutes

Release Date: March 3, 2022

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