This proposal requests support to deploy the colorado state university sea-POL, c-band doppler, polarization radar on the r/v roger revelle to support the spurs-2 cruise. The spurs-2 cruise will be…

This federal contract award is a $143,008.96 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shared Services Center to Colorado State University's Sponsored Programs division. The grant will support the deployment of Colorado State University's SEA-POL C-band Doppler polarization radar on the R/V Roger Revelle research vessel to collect real-time rainfall data during the Salinity Processes in the Upper-ocean Regional Study-2 (SPURS-2) cruise in the eastern tropical Pacific. The radar data will help SPURS-2 investigators characterize the size and intensity of freshwater puddles created by passing rain clouds, allowing them to direct the ship to those areas and study salinity, mixing, and other oceanographic properties. The grant does not have a set-aside designation. This award is not associated with a larger contract vehicle.

This proposal requests support to deploy the colorado state university sea-POL, c-band doppler, polarization radar on the r/v roger revelle to support the spurs-2 cruise. The spurs-2 cruise will be conducted in the e. Tropical pacific itcz near 10N-125W from mid-october to mid-november 2017. Sea-POL will mark the first deployment of a polarimetric doppler radar to study tropical convection from a ship platform. The spurs-2 program seeks to understand the fate of freshwater added to the surface of the ocean via rainfall. Sea-POL real time rain mapping will be used to characterize the size and intensity of fresh water puddles imparted by passing convective and stratiform rain clouds. The ship can therefore be directed to fresh water puddles to measure salinity profiles, turbulent mixing, and other quantities. Maps showing the history of fresh water puddles will also be maintained in real time allowing the spurs-2 investigators to investigate puddles that are fresh to several hours old. Quality-controlled rainfall dataset will be developed post cruise and supplied to the spurs-2 investigators in a timely manner. Furthermore, we expect to learn new insights about tropical convection including how convection responds to SST changes and the modulation of itcz convection by easterly waves. Soundings launched from the ship will be used to characterize the environmental cape and shear to provide important context for the radar measurements.