Wind Measurements Over the North Atlantic Using a Loran-C Dropwindsonde

Vincent E. Lally, Dean Lauritsen, Terrence Hock, Kenneth Norris

Abstract:	The Experiment on Rapid Intensification of Cyclones over the Atlantic (ERICA) was conducted from December 1988 through February 1989. One of the principal tools to study these storms was a newly developed Lightweight Loran Digital Dropwindsonde (L2D2). Four aircraft were equipped with the L2D2 dropwindsonde as a means of obtaining three-dimensional profiles of winds and other meteorological parameters as the severe winter storms intensified off the East Coast of the U.S.A An analysis of LORAN-C coverage over the North Atlantic was first made to determine whether a LORAN-based dropsonde could replace the OMEGA dropwindsonde presently used by NOAA and the U.S. Air Force. When the analysis was positive, a development program was undertaken to provide a lightweight dropwindsonde which could be dropped in the airlanes or over land and which could measure winds to greater precision than an OMEGA-based system. The LORAN translator and other sonde characteristics arc described as well as the aircraft-based data system. Results of the 430 drops from four aircraft are listed. The performance of LORAN in the severest weather conditions is discussed.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 45th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1989) June 27 - 29, 1989 Alexandria, VA
Pages:	17 - 20
Cite this article:	Lally, Vincent E., Lauritsen, Dean, Hock, Terrence, Norris, Kenneth, "Wind Measurements Over the North Atlantic Using a Loran-C Dropwindsonde," Proceedings of the 45th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1989), Alexandria, VA, June 1989, pp. 17-20.
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