BAMEX Operations Center Functions

Daily Planning Meeting

Facility Status

Forecasting

Nowcasting

Field Catalog

Research Flight Planning

Operations Coordination

Aircraft ATC

GBOS

Logistics

Data/Products Display System

LAN

BAMEX Daily Timeline for Operations

Time 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 T0-1 T0 T0+Δt T0+9

(CDT)

Forecast Team Preparation U

pdat

e fo

r pr

esen

t-

day

IOP

(if n

eede

d)

Dai

ly P

lann

ing

Mee

ting

PO

D F

inal

ized

(tom

orro

w)

Fina

l air

craf

t Go/

No

go

deci

sion

(fue

l air

craf

t)

1st Aircraft take-off 2nd, 3rd Aircraft

takeoff

Air

craf

t ret

urn

to S

TL

GBOS setup

(17 – 19) GBOS deployment

GBOS update

Dai

ly O

pera

tions

Sum

mar

y P

oste

d to

Cat

alog

Now

cast

Sup

port

(as

requ

ired

)

Eve

ning

U

pdat

e

Status CoordinatorStatus Coordinator

BAMEX PIsBAMEX PIsWeather Forecast Team

Daily Planning Meeting Previous mission summary Instrument and platform status Today’s update Tomorrow’s forecast and outlook

Daily Planning Meeting Previous mission summary Instrument and platform status Today’s update Tomorrow’s forecast and outlook

Mission Plan Scientific objectives & alternatives Type of flight plan & alternatives Alert sequence Takeoff time

Operations Support TeamScience Director; Operations DirectorCoordinators: status, aircraft, GBOS

Proposals and discussion Tomorrow’s mission decision Special Observations Administrative announcements

Airborne mission scientist(s) GBOS movements Sounding launch schedule

Mission Proposals

BAMEX Daily Planning Process

BAMEX Operations Center Staff

Operations Director Dirks, Moore, Stossmeister

A/C Coordinator Meitin, Williams

GBOS Coordinator Dowell, Trapp

GBOS Logistics Coordinator ??

Dropsonde Coordinator Knievel, Bartels, Ahijevych

Status Coordinator ??

Site Coordinator Dirks, Moore

System Administrator Daniels, Burghart

Administrative Assistant Tignor, Sandoval, Beard, Ray

Catalog/Data Coordinator Roberts, Loehrer, Goldstein

Nowcast/Forecast Coordinator Weisman, Przybylinski, Bosart

Forecast Team 8-12 people, 2 weeks each

Nowcast Team 18-22 people, 2 weeks each

Student Assistants UCLA, UI, SUNYA, UMO, SLU, NCAR …

BAMEX Operations Center Layout

• Operations/Nowcasting/Communications Center (telephones, terminals, fax)

• Operations Director/Aircraft Coordinator cubicles• Meeting area (including projection system)• In-field data management center (catalog ingest,

operational datasets, sounding data, etc.)• Air crew staging area• Systems administration support area

Mid America Airport (MAA) Operations Center Layout

Operations and Forecasting

Aircraft Facilities

Ramp and Runway

Main Entrance

Car Parking Lot

20’10’

25’

Airport Security-Badges(Only For Ramp Access – All Regular Flight Crew)

1. Fingerprint – Local Law Enforcement Agency2. Employment History Form3. ID Application Form

web forms - URL

Submit ASAP – At least 3 weeks before arrivalTo: Mid America Airport,

Office of Public Safety9768 Airport Blvd.Mascoutah, IL 62258-5500

Other restricted area access by escort only

Foreign National Badges

BAMEX Operations Center Displays

• FSL FX-Net workstations (operational weather products)• BAMEX Field Catalog (research data products,

operational data products, documentation)• Aircraft position/data display system (satellite overlay,

radar composite overlay (RDCC) Aircraft position from 3 aircraft WSR 88D Level III NIDS products MM sounding display

• Assorted participant web access/email workstations• Workstations for other “specialized” products (e.g.SUDS)

Reports Daily Operations Summary IOP mission reports Facility Status Reports Forecasts,Nowcasts

Operational Products Satellite, Soundings Surface, Radar

Model/Forecast Products ETA/GFS products SPC discussion Research Model Products

Research Products Aircraft plots Airborne radar GBOS plots Dropsondes

Missions IOP Table Cross-reference to other products

Tools/Misc Authoring forms Product submission User guide Other links

FIELD CATALOG SAMPLE PRODUCTS

Internet

BAMEX Operations Center Mid-America Airport, IL (BOC)

Ops. Coordination Science Team

Facility Status In-field Analysis

Forecast/Nowcast Data Ingest

BAMEX Field Catalog Data Collection

GBOS Coordination LAN/Wireless

Logistics

ATC/Military Coord.

BAMEX Communications Overview

NWS WFO

St. Louis, MO

Operational Weather Data

Specialized Model Data

NAWIPS

Severe Weather Alerts

NCAR, NOAA,

Rest of the World

Aircraft Coordination CenterMid-America Airport, IL

NRL P-3 Post Flight DebriefingsNOAA P-3 Mission PlanningDropsonde Jet A/c Status Updates

Data Processing A/c Logistics

Scientist Remote Access

Project Aircraft

T-1

Internet

Cell PhoneSat PhoneVHF, HFImage relay

Sat. P

hone

Imag

e, P

ositio

n

Data

Relay

Dial-up Modem

Internet Provider

Mobile Field Systems

SMART-R, MIPS, MGLASS, MMesonets

VHF radio

Operations Center Products to be Received from Research Facilities

• GBOS (including MM?, Sondes, MIPS)– Armada position

– Mobile Mesonet data (time series, maps)

– Mobile CLASS soundings (data)

– Time/height profiles plots, ceilometer products, temperature, water vapor, cloud water (MIPS)

• Aircraft– Position– Low-resolution radar images– Dropsonde profiles

• Model Products– MM5, WRF, RAMS

BAMEX CommunicationsAirborne and Ground-Based Considerations

Current/planned communications capabilities

• Cell phones (voice/data) [limited coverage area]

• VHF/UHF/HF radio (voice) [air-air direct, air-ground direct]

• Packet radio (data, 900 MHz digital) [GBOS]

• Land phone lines (voice/data) [limited access]

• Satellite phone (voice)

• Satellite data downlinks [data duplex]

• Semaphores

Cell LandVHF 160–170

MHz

UHF 223–399

Sat. Comm. (Voice)

HF 3–360 GHz

Sat. Comm.

Data

Dropsonde Jet

NRL-P3

NOAA P3

Mobile Mes.

Mobile Sondes

Ops Center

MIPS

BAMEX Research Facilities Comms Capabilities

= Planned = Existing

NRL P3

D/JNOAA

P3M/M M/S MIPS

BOC

NRL P3

Dropsonde Jet

NOAA P3

M. Mes.

M. Sondes

MIPS

BOC

Critical BAMEX Facilities Comms Links

= Planned = Existing

BAMEX Communication Issues• Who needs what communications capabilities?• Who, from the ground, needs to communicate with which

aircraft?• What aircraft data are needed on the ground (flight tracks,

radar images, soundings)?• What ground data are needed on the aircraft (radar

composites, nowcasts, terminal weather)?• Field mobile systems data available in near real time for:

• Nowcasting (soundings, mobile Mesonet, text [this includes proposed CSU satellite Mesonet plots]

• Mesoscale model ingest• Position updating in the BOC

• Intercomparison coordination issues• Timing of update information from BOC (nowcasts, GBOS

deployment, etc.)

BAMEX Communication Issues• Critical links with Doppler P-3s and BOC/GBOS (duplex email, images

required, voice desirable)• Critical links with Dropsonde A/C and BOC (duplex data link required, voice

desirable)• Critical links among aircraft (voice mandatory [pilot-pilot, scientist-scientist],

relay from ground desirable)• What aircraft data are needed on the ground (flight tracks, radar images,

soundings, drop points)?• What ground data are needed on the aircraft (radar composites [plots from

BOC and WSI], nowcasts, terminal weather updates, launch points/times, GBOS plots)?

• Timing of update information from BOC (nowcasts, GBOS deployment, daily operations summary, etc.)

• Field mobile systems data available in near real time for: • Nowcasting (soundings, profiles, mobile probe vehicle, text )• Mesoscale model ingest?• Position updating in the BOC

• Are there intercomparison coordination considerations?