Abstract:
The NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) campaign is a field research investigation sponsored by the Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This mission was based in the Cape Verde Islands, 350 miles off the coast of Senegal in west Africa. Commencing in August 2006, NASA scientists employed surface observation networks and
... aircraft to characterize the evolution and structure of African Easterly Waves (AEWs) and Mesoscale Convective Systems over continental western Africa, and their associated impacts on regional water and energy budgets. NASA will also made extensive use of its orbiting satellites (including Aqua, TRMM, and the recently-launched Cloudsat/CALIPSO) and modeling capabilities to improve its forecasts and flight plans.
The counterflow virtual impactor (CVI) was used to measure condensed water content (liquid water or ice in particles about 8 microns in diameter and up) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) on the DC-8 during NAMMA. Water vapor is measured with a MayComm Tunable Diode Laser (TDL) hygrometer and non-volatile particles are examined with an optical particle counter, a condensation nuclei counter and an impactor for subsequent chemical analyses. 
