T-REX Experiment (Image 3)

Landscape near the town of Independence, Calif., where the Terrain-induced Rotor Experiment (T-REX) project took place. The purpose T-REX was to study a severe type of atmospheric turbulence--called rotors--that forms near mountains in the California Sierra Nevada range, posing a threat to planes flying in the vicinity. Rotors, which form on the lee side of high, steep mountains, have contributed to a number of aircraft accidents, but scientists know little about their structure and evolution. They are common in the Sierras because the area has the steepest topography in the continental United States.

Research was conducted both on the ground, where researchers probed rotors with radars, lidars (laser-based radars), automated weather stations, wind profilers and balloons, and in the air using HIAPER (for High-Performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research), a modified Gulfstream V jet. Owned by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., HIAPER is capable of reaching an altitude of 51,000 feet and cruising for 7,000 miles, making it ideally suited for the T-Rex experiment, according to atmospheric researchers.

The project included scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the Desert Research Institute and other institutions, and was supported by the National Science Foundation. To learn more about the T-REX project, see the NSF Discovery story, "New NSF Aircraft to Probe Hazardous Atmospheric Whirlwinds."

NCAR is supported by NSF and other federal agencies to provide facilities and support for a wide range of studies in the atmospheric and related sciences. NCAR is managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), a nonprofit consortium of universities that grants Ph.D.s in fields related to atmospheric science. UCAR's primary function is managing NCAR. To learn more, visit the NCAR Web site, Here. [Image 3 of 3 related images. Back to Image 1.]