Through a partnership between NASA and NOAA, this field campaign will demonstrate the first-of-its-kind hyperspectral microwave airborne measurements (CoSMIR-H) and will be complemented by other passive (infrared, visible) and active (lidar) sensors onboard the NASA ER-2 aircraft. Serving as a future NASA planetary boundary-layer (PBL) mission prototype, WH2yMSIE aims to capture a wide variety of thermodynamic, moisture, and PBL regimes across a variety of surface types. The ER-2 will be flying over a variety of land and ocean environments. Over land, the aircraft will maximize validation opportunities by overflying radiosonde launch sites as well as locations with PBL relevant ground-based in situ and remote sensing measurements. We will overflying the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) Central Facility (CF) with high frequency ensure maximum scientific value for understanding and validating the retrieved temperature and water vapor profiles from the WH2yMSIE instrument payload. Over water, we aim to capture a wide range of temperature and water vapor conditions, with a specific focus on clear sky scenes for high quality comparisons with program of record (POR) satellite instruments (e.g. ATMS, AMSU). Comparing hyperspectral microwave retrievals from CoSMIR-H with in situ temperature and humidity information will allow for scientific advancement of remote-sensing techniques into the hyperspectral microwave era and improved understanding of the PBL at different measurement scales.
