1973-1977 Rough Rider Turbulence-Radar Intensity Study
Abstract
Thunderstorm turbulence is a weather hazard to safe aircraft flight. A joint program by the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Command, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Severe Storms Laboratory was renewed in 1973. Used in conjunction with ground based standard weather radar and Doppler weather radar was a F-4-C aircraft instrumented to research turbulence, wind, and temperature during thunder-storm penetrations. Results of these flights are presented and compared with studies made 10 or more years previous. These show that as the intensity of a storm increases, the probability of encountering moderate or greater turbulence somewhere in the storm also increases. Encounters of moderate turbulence are nearly ten times more frequent when the storm's maximum reflectivity is 60 dBZ or greater than when it is 40 to 49 dBZ. There is little correlation between turbulence intensity and distance from the aircraft to center of storm at the time when the turbulence was recorded.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA072693
Entities
People
- David M. Carpenter
- J. T. Lee
Organizations
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration