Data-linking for integration of remote sensing and in-situ measurements for airborne atmospheric experiments

This paper describes recent work using data communications links to integrate ground-based remote sensing and in-situ aircraft measurements during a number of atmospheric research experiments conducted by the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) in collaboration with the National Research Council (NRC) using its Convair 580 aircraft. These systems have been deployed to provide real-time or near real-time information between aircraft and ground-based sensors and information sources to help coordinate and integrate measurements as well as to provide decision-making information to optimize aircraft and ground-based sensor deployment. These include the use of a wide-area satellite telephone and line-of-sight VHP/UHF data-links for both general-purpose and specialized applications. Both technologies provide a data communications capability with various pros and cons, which can be exploited as required for different applications. This approach can be used in real-time to coordinate and position remote sensing instruments, which is invaluable for inter-comparisons between aircraft in-situ and ground-based remote sensing measurements particularly for radar observations.