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NOAA Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) Flight Level Data

Published by DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2023-06-23T00:00:00.000+00:00
NOAA AOC WP-3D Research Flight Data is digital data set DSI-6420, archived at the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). This data set is meteorological data gathered by Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft, operated by the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) at MacDill AFB, Florida. Data is provided by the Science and Engineering Division of AOC to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). The WP-3D aircraft perform many projects throughout the year. Examples of these projects would be hurricane research, atmospheric chemistry, thunderstorm investigations, and winter weather missions. Each of these projects consists of a series of individual flights. For instance, during hurricane projects, the P-3 may fly numerous flights through different tropical cyclones. For each archived project, there are multiple directories consisting of individual flights. The data in these flight directories contain the actual raw meteorological parameters obtained from sensors located in different positions on the aircraft. The data is initially written to a digital data tape on the aircraft and then later converted to a file for faster processing and archiving. Each flight folder also contains a scanned image of the actual flight manifest, the navigation log, and the mission observation logs. The flight-level data file contains measurements acquired in one second intervals. The following is a generalized list of these measured parameters: Time, GPS position data, inertial data, radar altimeter measurements, liquid water, total temperature, dewpoint temperature, attack pressure, slip pressure, differential attack and slip pressures, and static and dynamic pressure. Depending on the needs of each individual project, other sources of data will be added or subtracted from this list. As of publication this record consists of 5 projects: 1) NOAA-42 Aircraft-N42RF during the 2003 Hurricane season, the Tamdar project, and a wind calibration flight. 2) NOAA-43 Aircraft-N43RF-2003 Sar Pod, Hurricane, and Extratropical Season as well as the SFMR test flight missions. 3) NOAA-49 Aircraft-N49RF 2004 Winter Storms Experiment. 4) NOAA-43 Name Experiment 2004. 5) NOAA-49 Aircraft N49RF Hurricane Season 2004.

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Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Atmospheric Pressure Measurements Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Differential Pressure Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Air Temperature Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Microphysics > Cloud Liquid Water/Ice Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Tropical Cyclones > Hurricanes Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Severe Storms Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Pressure Thickness Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Upper Air Temperature Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Indicators > Humidity Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Profiles Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Upper Level Winds > Flight Level Winds Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Wind Dynamics > Vertical Wind Velocity/Speed Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Wind Profiles Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Microphysics > Cloud Optical Depth/Thickness Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Amount Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Rate Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Temperature > Sea Surface Temperature Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Microwave Wavelengths > Brightness Temperatures Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Platform Characteristics > Airspeed/Ground Speed Earth Science > Spectral/Engineering > Platform Characteristics > Attitude Characteristics Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Tropical Cyclones > Cyclones Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Tropical Cyclones > Typhoons Ocean > Atlantic Ocean > North Atlantic Ocean Ocean > Pacific Ocean > North Pacific Ocean Continent > North America Vertical Location > Troposphere Vertical Location > Sea Surface Aircraft > WP-3D ORION > Lockheed WP-3D Orion Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Profilers/Sounders > Dropwindsondes Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Profilers/Sounders > Dropsondes Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Profilers/Sounders > Radio Sounders > GPS Sondes In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Profilers/Sounders > XBT > Expendable Bathythermographs In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Profilers/Sounders > XCP > Expendable Current Profiler In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Chemical Meters/Analyzers > PMS 2D-C PROBE > Particle Measuring Systems 2D-C Probe In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Chemical Meters/Analyzers > PMS 2D-P PROBE > Particle Measuring Systems 2D-P Probe In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Chemical Meters/Analyzers > PMS 2D-S PROBE > Particle Measuring Systems 2D-S Probe In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Chemical Meters/Analyzers > PMS > Particle Measuring System Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Active Remote Sensing > Profilers/Sounders > Radar Sounders > ELDORA > Electra Doppler Radar Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Active Remote Sensing > Imaging Radars > CBR > C-BAND RADAR Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Spectrometers/Radiometers > Radiometers > MR > Microwave Radiometer Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Spectrometers/Radiometers > Radiometers > Step Frequency Radiometers Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Spectrometers/Radiometers > Radiometers > MFRSR > Multifilter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer and Broadband Pyranometer Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Active Remote Sensing > Scatterometers > POLSCAT > Polarimetric Ku-Band Scatterometer Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Active Remote Sensing > Scatterometers > C-SCAT > C-Band Scatterometer IR CO2 ANALYZER > Infrared Carbon Dioxide Analyzer Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Thermal/Radiation Detectors > Pyranometers Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Thermal/Radiation Detectors > Pyrgeometers Anemometers In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Temperature/Humidity Sensors > Temperature Sensors In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Pressure/Height Meters > Pressure Sensors In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Spectrometers/Radiometers In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Profilers/Sounders > CTD > Conductivity, Temperature, Depth DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce

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