NAMMA DC-8 NAVIGATION AND HOUSEKEEPING (ICATS) V1

The NAMMA DC-8 Navigation and Housekeeping (ICATS) dataset is designed to: 1) interface and process avionics and environmental paramaters from the Navigational Management System, GPS, Central Air Data Computer, Embedded GPS/INS, and analog voltage sources from aircraft and experimenters; 2) Furnish engineering unit values of selected parameters and computed functions for real-time video display, and archive ASCII data at experimenter stations; and 3) Archive engineering unit values of 'Appendix A' (to the ICATS document included with dataset documentation) on data storage for post flight retrieval. 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.