The Convection And Moisture EXperiment (CAMEX) consisted of a series of field research investigations sponsored by the Earth Science Enterprise of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The third field campaign in the CAMEX series (CAMEX-3) was based at Patrick Air Force Base , Florida from 6 August – 23 September, 1998. CAMEX-3 successfully studied Hurricanes Bonnie, Danielle, Earl and Georges. CAMEX-3 collected data for research in tropical cyclone development, tracking, intensification, and landfalling impacts using NASA-funded aircraft and surface remote sensing instrumentation.

CAMEX-3 produced 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, are providing additional insight to hurricane modelers and forecasters who continually strive to improve hurricane predictions.

NASA

The University of Wisconsin was responsible for the deployment and operation of several advanced meteorological instruments at the CAMEX-III ground truth site on Andros Island in the Bahamas. The focus of the ground-based observations was on the accurate measurement of atmospheric water vapor in the column of atmosphere above the ground truth site. Analysis of this data in conjunction with coincident observations from NASA aircraft and weather satellites will contribute to the improvement of hurricane prediction by providing validation of the algorithms and models used in the interpretation of the aircraft and satellite data. The University of Wisconsin ground-based observations on Andros Island were made in close coordination with the Goddard Space Flight Center Scanning Raman Lidar (SRL) and the Wallops Island Flight Facility (WFF) upper air balloon sounding teams.

Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), University of Wisconsin-Madison