CAMEX-4

The Convection And Moisture EXperiment (CAMEX) was a series of field research investigations sponsored by the Earth Science Enterprise of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The fourth field campaign in the CAMEX series (CAMEX-4) was held from August 16 to 24 September 14, 2001, and was based out of Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida.

CAMEX-4 was focused on the study of tropical cyclone (hurricane) development, tracking, intensification, and landfalling impacts using NASA-funded aircraft and surface remote sensing instrumentation. The primary aircraft used during CAMEX-4 were the NASA DC-8 and ER-2 research airborne platforms. These instrumented aircraft flew over, through, and around selected hurricanes as they approached landfall in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and along the east coast of the United States. The NASA aircraft investigated upper altitude regions of the hurricane not normally sampled. Where possible, measurements were compared and validated with coincident observations from the QuikSCAT, Terra, and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) platforms. 

This study yielded high spatial and temporal information of hurricane structure, dynamics, and motion. These data, when analyzed within the context of more traditional aircraft, satellite, and ground-based radar observations, provided additional insight to hurricane modelers and forecasters who continually strive to improve hurricane predictions. More accurate hurricane predictions at landfall resulted in decreasing the size of necessary coastal evacuations and increasing the warning time for those areas.