Meteorological Measurement System

T. Paul Bui

NASA Ames Earth Science Division

The Meteorological Measurement System (MMS) is a PI-led airborne instrument that provides calibrated, science quality, in situ state measurements of static pressure, static temperature, and three-dimension wind. Accurate measurements of these quantities require judicious choices of sensor lacations, repeated laboratory & flight calibrations, proper corrections for compressibility, adiabatic heating and flow distortion.

Primary Products 1-20 Hz Typical value Precision Accuracy
Pressure ~ 60 mb ± 0.003 mb ± 0.3 mb ~ 0.5%
Temperature ~180 K ± 0.05 K ± 0.3 k ~ 0.2%
Horizontal Wind ~ 30 m s-1 ± 0.1 m s-1 ±1 m s-1 ~3.3%
Vertical Wind < 1 m s-1 ± 0.05 m s-1 ± 0.3 m s-1

Derived Parameter:

Potential Temperature, True-Air-Speed, Turbulence Dissipation Rate, Reynolds Number

Measured Parameters:

GPS Positions, Velocities, Accelerations, Pitch, Roll, Heading, Angle-of-Attack, Angle-of-Sideslip, Dynamic Total Pressures, Total Temperatures

Integrated Platforms: ER-2, DC-8, WB-57F, GLOBAL HAWK, SIERRA UAV, ALPHAjet

Past Missions: