CVI Requirements for Aircraft Mounting

These apply to a typical installation with the NCAR CVI basic components; CN counter, Lyman-alpha hygrometer, flow and temperature control, and data system. Approximately 5 liters per minute of sample flow is available for integration with other instrumentation.

Components (19" rack height, depth, weight)

  1. Data System including open laptop and UPS (14", 20", 20 lbs)
  2. Main temperature and flow box (7", 24", 31 lbs)
  3. Ancillary flow box (4", 16", 12 lbs)
  4. CN and Lyman alpha sensor plate (6", 24", 15 lbs). Includes flow splitter with capacity for additional instruments.
  5. Lyman-alpha control electronics (4", 10", 5 lbs)
  6. Pump (8", 10", 14 lbs)
  7. Cables and power strips (10 lbs)
  8. Compressed nitrogen cylinder (aluminum). This can be size AL (53" high by 8" diam, 76 lbs full) or BL (39" high by 7.25" diam, 45 lbs). AL lasts about 18 hrs at 250 mb or 4.5 hrs at 1000 mb; BL lasts about 10 hrs at 250 mb or 2.5 hrs at 1000 mb.
Total: Min. 43" high, 107 lbs excluding cylinder weight; 183 lbs with 1 AL cylinder

Inlet Probe

There are two versions of the CVI probe built at NCAR: One designed for the NCAR C-130 Photo: 133K that has also flown on the University of North Dakota Citation, and another originally designed for the NASA DC-8 that also flies on the NCAR Electra. The C-130 probe weighs 16 pounds and requires a minimum 3" opening plus surrounding hard point; the Electra probe is larger and requires a minimum 9" inch opening plus surrounding hard point.

Power Requirements

  1. Electra probe configuration: 4A 28V DC, 8A 115V AC
  2. C-130 probe configuration (w/o shroud): 8A 28V DC, 8A 115V AC

New Instrument!

Through an NSF Small-Business Technology Transfer grant, there is now a commercial, more compact version of the CVI to measure cloud condensed water content. This Cloud Spectrometer and Impactor (CSI) is manufactured by Droplet Measurement Technologies and includes a cloud droplet size spectrometer.

For more information, contact me: twohy@coas.oregonstate.edu

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Last updated 3/15/2005.