Page 6 - Volume 12 Number 1

and aerosols form and how they affect the earth’s energy balance.
“The demand for N2UW has been fairly steady at a yearly rate of about 180 hours, supporting three to five projects each year. Recently, there has been much interest in studying wild fire chemistry and a renewed interest in weather modification,” said Alfred Rodi, professor in the Department of Atmospheric Science in the university’s College of Engineering and Applied Science.
“Our King Air is equipped with many instruments, making it a multi-mission aircraft. Supporting such a facility, which is competitive with research aircraft operated in federal labs, is beyond the scope of what is possible at most universities. The University of Wyoming was fortunate to have started its work with atmospheric research in the 1960s and built up both the engineering capability and operational infrastructure to make this possible.”
History of airborne atmospheric science at UW
Rodi is also director of the university’s Donald L. Veal Research Flight Center, which houses the King Airs. About 15 individuals are involved with the support of the aircraft, including engineers, technicians, support scientists, pilots, mechanics, a scheduler and office
4 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
University of Wyoming researchers and UW’s King Air research aircraft were part of a study that found intense snowstorms in upstate New York just east of Lake Ontario are fueled by a well-organized air circulation driven by the heat released by the lake. While there, they studied one episode of intense snowfall, including one storm that dropped 40 inches in 24 hours.
staff. Additionally, several faculty are closely involved with airborne research and with the development of new capabilities.
The University of Wyoming has operated aircraft for atmospheric research for the past 50 years, using three different Beechcraft platforms. Airborne research started at the university in the 1960s when a twin- engine Beechcraft C-45 supported research funded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on the effects of cloud seeding. A doctorate-granting Department of Atmospheric Science was established in 1971, the same year a Beech Queen Air replaced the C-45. The scope of department research broadened in the 1970s, with the aircraft, faculty and staff supporting the National Science Foundation’s National Hail Research Experiment and the World Meteorological Organization’s weather modification verification projects in Spain.
The university purchased the King Air 200T new in 1977, initially supported through funds from the
JANUARY 2018