Improvements in Airborne Aerosol and Trace Gas Measurement Capabilities on the University of Wyoming’s Next Generation King Air Research Aircraft

ANNA ROBERTSON, Eric Beamesderfer, Matthew Burkhart, Bart Geerts, Nicholas Mahon, University of Wyoming

     Abstract Number: 569
     Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods

Abstract
The University of Wyoming has been operating a King Air aircraft as a national public research platform for over 40 years and since then has conducted over 30 NSF-funded projects, as well as several educational and non-NSF-funded projects, with research focuses spanning from cloud remote sensing to cloud microphysics and atmospheric chemistry. The University of Wyoming King Air (UWKA) platform has been part of NSF’s Lower Atmospheric Observing Facilities (LAOF) program from its inception in the late 1980s and is now part of NSF’s Facilities for Atmospheric Research and Education (FARE) program. A recent Mid-scale Research Infrastructure (MSRI) grant from NSF has allowed for the acquisition and modification of a new aircraft, the next generation King Air (UWKA-2), to replace the original UWKA and continue serving the public as a research platform for many years to come.

After several years of hard work and with over 50 modifications to the airframe to support new and existing instrumentation, UWKA-2 is nearing completion. With the addition of external mounting locations and fuselage ports and the ability to support a larger payload, the new aircraft will have increased capability to support both user- and Facility-supplied instrumentation. Funding from the MSRI has also allowed our Facility to build upon our pre-existing suite of instrumentation and further improve our aerosol and trace gas measurement capabilities. This includes a MIRO 10-species Gas Analyzer, a Brechtel Isokinetic inlet for ambient aerosol sampling, and others.

This presentation will provide an overview of our existing and updated measurement capabilities, a timeline for the completion of the research platform, as well as information on how to request the aircraft for future research and educational campaigns.

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