The Turbulence Characterization and Detection (TCAD) Program

The TCAD field program was conducted near Greeley, Colorado during June 1999. Participating agencies included the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the AlliedSignal Corporation, the Rockwell-Collins Corporation, the Colorado State University (CSU) and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SOM). Three aircraft participated: the Rockwell-Collins Sabreliner, the South Dakota T-28, and the AlliedSignal Convair 580. The CSU CHILL and Pawnee Doppler radars provided ground-based radar support. The NCAR Mobile CLASS van took daily soundings. Plots and data files of the CLASS and the Denver soundings are included as are plots of the metar stations in the region.

Click on images to enlarge.



***Recommended reading: Important information about TCAD data sets


14 June 1999, Flight 9


Radar and Aircraft Plots

Run 3 (21:19 UTC)- Reflectivity (9.4 km MSL), Radial Velocity, Spectrum Width, Aircraft Time

Reflectivity + Aircraft Time Radial Velocity + Aircraft Time Spectrum Width + Aircraft Time

Aircraft Altitude, INS Vertical Acc.

Aircraft Altitude INS Vertical Acc

Vertical Cross Section
Reflectivity (9.4 km MSL), Vertical: Reflectivity, Radial Velocity, Spectrum Width

Horizontal Reflectivity + Aircraft Time XS Reflectivity XS Radial Velocity XS Spectrum Width

Run 4 (21:30 UTC)- Reflectivity (10.2 km MSL), Radial Velocity, Spectrum Width, Aircraft Time

Reflectivity + Aircraft Time Radial Velocity + Aircraft Time Spectrum Width + Aircraft Time

Aircraft Altitude, INS Vertical Acc.

Aircraft Altitude INS Vertical Acc

Vertical Cross Section
Reflectivity (10.2 km MSL), Vertical: Reflectivity, Radial Velocity, Spectrum Width

Horizontal Reflectivity + Aircraft Time XS Reflectivity XS Radial Velocity XS Spectrum Width

Run 5 (21:42 UTC)- Reflectivity (9.4 km MSL), Radial Velocity, Spectrum Width, Aircraft Time

Reflectivity + Aircraft Time Radial Velocity + Aircraft Time Spectrum Width + Aircraft Time

Aircraft Altitude, INS Vertical Acc.

Aircraft Altitude INS Vertical Acc

Vertical Cross Section
Reflectivity (9.4 km MSL), Vertical: Reflectivity, Radial Velocity, Spectrum Width

Horizontal Reflectivity + Aircraft Time XS Reflectivity XS Radial Velocity XS Spectrum Width

Run 6 (21:54 UTC)- Reflectivity (8.6 km MSL), Radial Velocity, Spectrum Width, Aircraft Time

Reflectivity + Aircraft Time Radial Velocity + Aircraft Time Spectrum Width + Aircraft Time

Aircraft Altitude, INS Vertical Acc.

Aircraft Altitude INS Vertical Acc

High Magnification of region with turbulence. Sabreliner INS Vertical Acceleration shown.

Reflectivity + INS Vertical Acc Radial Velocity + INS Vertical Acc Spectrum Width + INS Vertical Acc

Vertical Cross Section
Reflectivity (8.6 km MSL), Vertical: Reflectivity, Radial Velocity, Spectrum Width

Horizontal Reflectivity + Aircraft Time XS Reflectivity XS Radial Velocity XS Spectrum Width

Run 7 (22:06 UTC)- Reflectivity (8.6 km MSL), Radial Velocity, Spectrum Width, Aircraft Time

Reflectivity + Aircraft Time Radial Velocity + Aircraft Time Spectrum Width + Aircraft Time

Aircraft Altitude, INS Vertical Acc.

Aircraft Altitude INS Vertical Acc

Vertical Cross Section
Reflectivity (8.6 km MSL), Vertical: Reflectivity, Radial Velocity, Spectrum Width

Horizontal Reflectivity + Aircraft Time XS Reflectivity XS Radial Velocity XS Spectrum Width

Run 8 (22:12 UTC)- Reflectivity (8.6 km MSL), Radial Velocity, Spectrum Width, Aircraft Time

Reflectivity + Aircraft Time Radial Velocity + Aircraft Time Spectrum Width + Aircraft Time

Aircraft Altitude, INS Vertical Acc.

Aircraft Altitude INS Vertical Acc

Vertical Cross Section
Reflectivity (8.6 km MSL), Vertical: Reflectivity, Radial Velocity, Spectrum Width

Horizontal Reflectivity + Aircraft Time XS Reflectivity XS Radial Velocity XS Spectrum Width


Dual-Doppler Plots


Sounding Plots

Denver 12Z Sounding CLASS 18Z Sounding CLASS 23Z Sounding Denver 00Z Sounding
Data file for 1200 UTC Denver
Data file for 1826 UTC CLASS
Data file for 2323 UTC CLASS
Data file for 0000 UTC Denver

Profiler Data

Data file for Colorado Profiler Data: June 14, 1999
Data file for Colorado Profiler Data: June 15, 1999

Metar Plots

17Z Metar Plot 18Z Metar Plot 19Z Metar Plot 20Z Metar Plot 21Z Metar Plot 22Z Metar Plot 23Z Metar Plot 00Z Metar Plot 01Z Metar Plot 02Z Metar Plot 03Z Metar Plot
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