Convective Processes Experiment – Aerosols & Winds (CPEX-AW)

The Convective Processes Experiment – Aerosols & Winds (CPEX-AW) campaign is a joint effort between the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) with the primary goal of conducting a post-launch calibration and validation activities of the Atmospheric Dynamics Mission-Aeolus (ADM-AEOLUS) Earth observation wind Lidar satellite in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. CPEX-AW took place from August 18, 2021 to September 10, 2021 and is a follow-on to the Convective Processes Experiment (CPEX) field campaign which took place in the summer of 2017 (JPL | CPEX). The 2021 field campaign added an aerosol (A) and winds (W) component—CPEX-AW. 

In addition to joint calibration/validation of ADM-AEOLUS, the CPEX-AW field campaign provided opportunities to study the dynamics and microphysics related to the Saharan air layer, African easterly waves and jets, the marine atmospheric boundary layer, and convection that not only advance our understanding of tropical dynamics but also improve weather forecasts.