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GRIP WB-57 Navigation and Housekeeping Data Table of Contents
NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), Aircraft Operations Division (AOD), operates two WB-57F aircraft out of Ellington Field (EFD) in Houston, Texas . Both aircraft have been flying research missions since the early 1960's, and continue to be an asset to the scientific community. These are the last two WB-57 aircraft flying in the world today. The WB-57F is a mid-wing, long-range aircraft capable of operation for extended periods of time from sea level to altitudes well over 60,000 feet (twelve miles high). Two crew members are positioned at separate tandem stations in the forward section of the fuselage. The Pilot station contains all the essential equipment for flying the aircraft. The sensor operator station contains both navigational equipment and controls for the operation of the payloads and payload support systems. The WB-57 can remain aloft for approximately 6.5 hours, and has a a range of 2,500 miles. Aircraft attitude, navigational data (GPS and inertial), ambient flight path atmospheric conditions, and precise timing are recorded throughout the flight on the WB-57 navigational data recorder. The data format is a simple ASCII CSV format named IWG1. This format is supported on all the NASA and NCAR aircraft and replaces the legacy aircraft-dependent data formats which were generally available via a serial bus. The Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment was a NASA Earth science field experiment conducted August 5 to September 30, 2010. The major goal was to better understand how tropical storms form and develop into major hurricanes. NASA used the DC-8 aircraft, the WB-57 aircraft and the Global Hawk Unmanned Airborne System (UAS), configured with a suite of in situ and remote sensing instruments that were used to observe and characterize the lifecycle of hurricanes. This campaign also capitalized on a number of ground networks and space-based assets, in addition to the instruments deployed on aircraft from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida ( DC-8), Houston, Texas (WB-57), and NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, California (Global Hawk). More information about this Campaign can be found on the GRIP web site: http://grip.nsstc.nasa.gov/ The data files are in IWG1 (The Interagency Working Group standard format number 1) format, as defined by IWGADTS (The Interagency Working Group for Airborne Data and Telecommunications Systems The navigational and housekeeping files are named following the examples below:
where:
The data producer is:
To order these data or for further information, please contact:
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