Weather takes flight test to new heights Published Feb. 2, 2007 By Tech. Sgt. Eric M. Grill 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Antelope Valley isn't known for its weather patterns. In fact, it's better known for the lack of weather patterns instead. That is one of the reasons why Edwards Air Force Base is considered by many to be one of the premiere test flight facilities in the world. Some people may question why there is a team of weather forecasters located on Edwards Air Force Base. The reason is simple, said Brian Siciliano, site manager for the Edwards weather station. "We always have weather no matter where we go," he said. The weather flight forecasts weather for the entire R-2508 airspace complex. This area is about the same size as Delaware and includes the lowest point in the United States as well as the highest point in the continental U.S. "All of Edwards' pilots fly in that area," Mr. Siciliano said. "So we're putting all the weather hazards in that particular area, i.e., turbulence, thunderstorms any icing" into the mission execution forecasts and test operations mission forecasts. "The pilots can't just check the Weather Channel and get the weather for their (test) missions," he said. "What they get is more details than just partly-cloudy skies or mostly-cloudy skies. They need to know if there is turbulence, icing, or if it's going to rain or snow." Talking about the size of the R-2508 airspace complex, Mr. Siciliano said forecasting weather is a bit challenging; however, the weather flight here has quite a few tools to help forecast the weather. Edwards has a Doppler radar specifically assigned to cover the R-2508 flight test complex. "That radar is similar to what you see on (local) TV stations," Mr. Siciliano said. "The radar is used for detecting thunderstorms. We use that (information) to tell pilots where they can fly and (where) to avoid thunderstorms as (the storms) build up and are moving in." Another tool the weather forecasters use to help test projects is weather balloons. "The weather balloons are mainly for assisting the flight test squadrons in performance of the (test) aircraft -- especially with the newer aircraft," said Phil Harvey, Air Force Flight Test Center staff meteorologist. "We only launch when somebody requests one." The weather balloons use Global Positioning System technology that tracks the balloon as it goes aloft, Mr. Harvey said. "What it sends back to us on Earth is the temperature, the relative humidity, the winds and the pressure at various altitudes depending on what height we go up to." A typical weather balloon launch for test flight goes to 60,000 feet, and a larger version can go as high as 100,000 feet. The larger version is used for the space shuttle program. Because Edwards is the primary back-up landing site for the space shuttle, when NASA has a space shuttle in orbit, the Weather Flight here launches a weather balloon once a day in case the shuttle has to make an emergency landing, Mr. Harvey said. Prior to the space shuttle launching from Florida, the Edwards forecasters launch weather balloons because it is able to land here on the third Earth orbit after take off. "NASA (uses) that data, plus the surface data from our network of wind towers around the lakebed, into planning the actual three-dimensional flight path for the shuttle to land here," Mr. Harvey said. "They actually compute that right down to estimate the exact spot on the runway where it should land." As for test missions, the weather is very important, he said, but the real thing that determines its importance is the test objective. "If they're just going out and doing some avionics tests with some upgrades on a navigational system, the weather isn't as important as if they were upgrading an engine to a new model," Mr. Harvey said. Engineers "need to know what all the parameters of the atmosphere are. They need to know what they're flying through so they can determine if the engine is putting out the proper thrust at the expected conditions." That is one of the uses of the weather balloons. "They'll get the pressures, the temperature and the moisture content of the atmosphere, and they'll have what the estimate based on the computer models made by the engine manufacturer," Mr. Harvey said. Then they're able to compare what the atmosphere really was to what came out of the engine, performance-wise, he said. "And that tells the engineers if the engine is doing what it is supposed to," Mr. Harvey said. The weather forecasting isn't just for aviation, Mr. Harvey said. "We actually maintain a relationship with the National Weather Service so that if we do issue a high-wind warning or a severe thunderstorm warning, as a courtesy, we'll notify the National Weather Service," he said. "Conversely, if they issue something for the area immediately surrounding the base, they'll call us that they've issued that so we can in turn let the base leadership know ... to protect the people, aircraft and buildings if necessary." While most weather flights and squadrons utilize military members, since 2003, the weather flight here is comprised of a government employee and contract weather forecasters from 3D Research Corporation. Since then, the weather flight has gone through two standardization inspections. In September 2004, the team scored a 97 percent. During their second evaluation, completed on Jan. 12, the forecasters improved their overall score to 98.6, after scoring 100-percent on job performance. "The 98.6 inspection result that we got basically means that we're doing everything that we're supposed to be doing, and we're doing it well," Mr. Harvey said. "Basically it tells everybody on base and off base that we're doing a good job here and they can trust that when we say something is going to happen, that it is going to happen." As for the weather in the Antelope Valley, Mr. Siciliano said, "The weather here ... affords the test mission to fly because of the clear skies. "While I don't have the percentages, it is quite clear, quite often," he said.