In all we conducted 5 flights over the Carolinas to map flood extent and inundation change along Neuse, Cape Fear, Lumber, and CatawbaRivers in North Carolina and Pee Dee, Waccamaw, Congaree, and Santee Rivers in South Carolina.
The Ka-band radar aboard the JSC G-III successfully completed a short deployment to Hawaii where we conducted two local science flights to image the Kilauea volcano lava field. In the mean time, the L-band radar aboard the AFRC C-20A was tasked by FEMA to deploy to the east coast in response to the extensive flooding caused by Hurricane Florence. The aircraft imaged Catawba River (North Carolina) and Pee Dee River (South Carolina) en route to Gainesville, FL on Monday, 17 September.
The L-band radar aboard the Armstrong C-20 aircraft is currently on the two-week ABoVE (Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment) deployment in Fairbanks, AK. We have successfully completed 6 of the 9 science flights, and both the radar and the aircraft are performing well.
This past week we successfully conducted an L-band engineering flight followed by two science flights in California. We have scheduled 8-10 local flights to catch up with the science observations that have been postponed since late spring. These flights include the Sacramento Delta levee monitoring, the San Andreas Fault monitoring, and the Slumgullion, Colorado landslide study
The Ka-band Glacier and Ice Surface Topography Interferometer (GLISTIN-A) is currently on deployment in Honolulu, HI to study the Kilauea volcano eruption. The objective of this deployment is to use GLISTIN to detect changes in Kilauea’s topography associated with the new lava flows, with the goal of measuring the erupted volume as a function of time and ultimately the total volume of the event.
The Ka-band radar (GLISTIN-A) has successfully completed the Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) deployment aboard the JSC G-III. Kudos to the aircraft crew and radar team for an excellent job and the mission was completed two days ahead of schedule. In all we acquired 81 science flight lines (100%) and 3 calibration lines over sea ice and preliminary assessment showed the radar data looked good.
The Ka-band radar (GLISTIN-A) is more than half way through its Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) Greenland deployment aboard the JSC G-III. So far we have acquired 50 out of 81 flight lines in 6 science flights.
The L-band radar aboard the Armstrong C-20A aircraft (NASA502) is nearly complete with three weeks of California local flights to monitor San Andreas Fault activities and Sacramento Delta levee health. We are also studying landslide activities in Slumgullion, CO by observing the study site once every week over a 3-week period
Last week the L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar aboard the NASA 502 aircraft was tasked to support Hurricane Harvey flood response in southeast Texas. It arrived in Austin on Wednesday, 30 August and four daily flights were conducted over the major flood zones in the greater Houston area as well as east Texas along the Neches River through Beaumont and Port Arthur and the Sabine River.
The P-band Synthetic Aperture Radar aboard the JSC G-III has successfully completed 7 of 9 science flights in support of the summer 2017 ABoVE (Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment) Airborne Campaign in Canada and Alaska. Last Wednesday (9 August), we imaged the tundra and boreal forest near and around Great Slave Lake in Northwest Territories, Canada before transiting to Fairbanks on Thursday (10 August), where we imaged the boreal forest in Yukon Territory, Canada and long-term study sites in Delta Junction just southeast of Fairbanks.
