WB-57F 26 July 2002 Flight Summary


1)  The WB-57F completed a second southern survey flight today in close coordination with 
the ER-2.  On the southern leg of the flight, the aircraft executed a series of slow ascents 
and descents near the tropopause searching for subvisible cirrus and collecting data on 
chemical gradients near the tropopause.  Near the end of the leg, the aircraft located a 
thin cirrus layer and descended into it for approximately 5 minutes at 48 kft.


2) After turning northward, the WB-57F climbed to 58 kft and slowly descended to 40 kft.  
During the descent, an excellent vertical sampling of the previously sampled cirrus layer 
was achieved.  Following the cirrus encounter, the aircraft flew a long constant-altitude 
leg collecting valuable chemical tracer data.  Finally, in the last part of the flight, the 
aircraft executed another climb to 58 kft, followed by a slow descent to 40 kft.


3) Instrument performance on the flight was very good, with a great majority of the 
instruments obtaining science-quality data.


4) The next flight opportunity is Sunday, 28 July.  There will be a WB-57F briefing on 
Saturday, 27 July at 4 pm EDT to discuss the Sunday schedule and science objectives.


Randy and Dave