It's going to be a bumpy ride. Most flyers prefer to avoid turbulence, but not a team of government and industry researchers. They'll be flying around thunderstorms over northeastern Colorado in June, looking for as many bumpy patches as they can find. Three aircraft, two from private industry and one from an educational institution, are expected to take to the skies almost daily from June 2-18 in search of the turbulent activity associated with storms. Radar on board the planes and on the ground will collect atmospheric data to gain a better understanding of turbulence and determine if airborne Doppler radar can reliably detect it.
Turbulence is the leading cause of injuries on airliners.
The partnership includes government, industry and academia. Planes owned by two airborne weather radar manufacturers, AlliedSignal and Rockwell Collins, and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology will take readings from the air at cruise altitudes. A South Dakota School of Mines pilot will fly an armored T-28 trainer into stormy weather between Fort Collins, Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyoming to collect data. Atmospheric information also will be gathered from weather balloons. On the ground, National Science Foundation summer students and researchers from Colorado State University will take data from two Doppler radars, one system near Greeley and the other near the Pawnee National Grassland.