DC-8 Inlet Characterization Experiment

The overall goal of the DICE field campaign, which was located at Edwards Air Force Base and NASA Dryden in California during May and June of 2003, was to characterize the transmission efficiency of several aerosol inlets that could potentially be used on the upcoming (at the time) INTEX-NA field deployment. In addition, the study would investigate discrepancies in measurements observed in the recently completed (at the time) TRACE-P field experiment on the NASA DC-8 and P-3B.

The LARGE team studied repeated passes by the air traffic control tower at Edwards Air Force Base, which was instrumented with a redundant set of instruments as was mounted in the DC-8, to compare airborne and ground based measurements. In addition the transmission efficiency for dust and sea salt was studied. Measurements were made of aerosol number concentration, size distributions, and optical properties (scattering and absorption). For more information about DICE, visit http://www-gte.larc.nasa.gov/dice/DICE_hmpg.htm

Related Publications:

Cameron S. McNaughton et al, Aerosol Science and Technology 2007; http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02786820601118406#preview; Based on the DICE results the aerodynamic 50% passing efficiency of the inlets and transport plumbing is determined to be above 5.0 and 4.1 µm for the UH and UNH inlets and 3.6 µm for the LaRC inlet.