NAMMA DC-8 DROPSONDE V1

The NAMMA DC-8 Dropsonde dataset were collected by the DC-8 dropsonde system, which uses an integrated, highly accurate, GPS-located atmospheric profiling dropsonde measuring and recording current atmospheric conditions in a vertical column below the aircraft. hese dropsondes, also known as dropwindsondes or parachute radiosondes, are small, lightweight (less than 1 lb) cylindrical instruments that fall freely through the atmosphere, slowed somewhat by a small inflatable parachute. These data files were generated during support of the NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) campaign, a field research investigation sponsored by the Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This mission was based in the Cape Verde Islands, 350 miles off the coast of Senegal in west Africa. Commencing in August 2006, NASA scientists employed surface observation networks and aircraft to characterize the evolution and structure of African Easterly Waves (AEWs) and Mesoscale Convective Systems over continental western Africa, and their associated impacts on regional water and energy budgets.