Signature Exploitation at Cog ??

[bobandgeri]

Saw this at the cog parking area yesterday - on the summit a heavy tripod was being set up on top of the generator building. Anybody know what they may be doing?

 

[MichaelJ]

Only a guess, but I'd say they're going to be testing out the ability to determine exactly what type of plane the radar has detected. That's the context in which I've heard the term before - exploiting the ability to map a radar signature to a specific piece of hardware.

We already know they love to fly around the Whites for training...

 

[DougPaul]

The white unit at the left end of the trailer looks like it might be a very-short wavelength radar or radio antenna. Millimeter wave?

Only a guess, but I'd say they're going to be testing out the ability to determine exactly what type of plane the radar has detected. That's the context in which I've heard the term before - exploiting the ability to map a radar signature to a specific piece of hardware.

Perhaps--but the sign probably only refers to the organization, not the exact task.

A quick Google search brings up such titles as "Cloud Optical Depth Retrieval from Cloud Radar and Microwave Radiometer Measurements". Sounds to me like a good match to Mt Washington.

A more detailed search brings up the phrase "lidar in the lee of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire" in a paragraph referring to "refraction turbulance" and "backscattered radar return" (DTIC Aeronomy; Bow Waves; Hypersonic Speed; Infrared Spectroscopy; Shock Waves 20040075222 Air Force Research Lab., Hanscom AFB, MA Estimating Velocity Turbulence Magnitudes Using the Thermosonde Jumper, G.; Roadcap, J.; Tracy, P.; McHugh, John P.; Jan. 9, 2003; 12 pp.; In English Contract(s)/Grant(s): Proj-1010 Report No.(s): AD-A423151; AFRL-VS-HA-TR-2004-1054). From http://202.118.250.135/nasa/STAR/star0413.pdf.

Could also be nasty-environmental testing--Mt Washington has been used in the past for environmental testing of such things as jet engines.

We already know they love to fly around the Whites for training...

It is my understanding that that is largely National Guard rather than research or active duty.

Doug

 

[skiguy]

This is actually a search and destroy apparatus designed for dissident hikers whom moon the Cog

 

[DrewKnight]

I saw this hunk o' machinery yesterday myself... I agree with MichaelJ's guess -- it's definitely some kind of radar dome, with a big-ass generator on the trailer, complete with a free-standing A/C unit...

I wouldn't presume to question Doug's research; my only issue is the dome itself doesn't look like it would emit light in any kind of concentrated beam, so I would stick with the radar theory (vs. lidar)... though maybe the lidar unit is the mysterious piece up on top of the generator?

Bob / Geri -- what time were you at the Cog Base? I must shamefacedly admit to having been on the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak... we took my in-laws (train-loving octogenarians, though pretty spritely on their feet) up the Cog and caught a very pleasant afternoon at the summit -- intermittent clouds, highs in the high 50s, light winds. Would have been a good day for a traverse, though it seems like things were slipping a bit by the time we rode down at 3:30pm.

 

[bobandgeri]

Drewnight - we were back down at @ 5:30. Perhaps you were on one of the trains we took photos of a little below the summit?

http://rbhayes.net/latest/Presi-Stroll/index.htm

 

[roadtripper]

I'm going to start mooning that thing instead of the Cog to see what happens

 

[Little Rickie]

They broke the legs off R2D2!

 

[DrewKnight]

Drewnight - we were back down at @ 5:30. Perhaps you were on one of the trains we took photos of a little below the summit?

Did Geri set the self-timer and run to join you as the first train chuffed by? I think so!

 

[Paradox]

That is obviously a closeline strung from the observation trailer to an auxillary heating unit. They are clearly experimenting with a better way to dry clothes and stay one step ahead of Al-Qaeda!

 

[bobandgeri]

Did Geri set the self-timer and run to join you as the first train chuffed by? I think so!

Nope - Mark and I ran ahead in order to get to the trains in time to take a photo - Geri continued up the trail to the summit.

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Light Beam

"my only issue is the dome itself doesn't look like it would emit light in any kind of concentrated beam"

Drew Knight

No, but the big red searchlight might emit some.

KDT

 

[DougPaul]

I wouldn't presume to question Doug's research; my only issue is the dome itself doesn't look like it would emit light in any kind of concentrated beam, so I would stick with the radar theory (vs. lidar)... though maybe the lidar unit is the mysterious piece up on top of the generator?

My internet research was generic (to show what kind of research the Signature Research group at AFRL, Hanscom AFB has done in the past on Mt Washington). I didn't necessarily find anything that pertains to the current project. (Thus there may not be a lidar.)

And my identification of the (radar?) antenna on the left end of the truck bed was because I know what antennas tend to look like...

My guess is that it some some kind of remote sensing of the atmosphere research and/or testing.

Doug

 

[Stan]

I think it may have to do with identifying hikers who moon the cog.

 

[Waumbek]

I think it may have to do with identifying hikers who moon the cog.

Nope, it's a way of stealing Dave's password and locking up this thread. Just wait, you'll see....

 

[NewHampshire]

A quick Google search turned up this:

http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA443401

Sounds like it has a prupose for being near Mt. Washington, so I think this is the project in question.

Brian

 

[DougPaul]

A quick Google search turned up this:

http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA443401

Sounds like it has a prupose for being near Mt. Washington, so I think this is the project in question.

That was my first reference. Note the date--Nov 2004.

The current project may or may not be related.

Doug

 

[NewHampshire]

That was my first reference. Note the date--Nov 2004.

The current project may or may not be related.

Doug

Oops, sorry....I got lost in all the big words in your origional post

Brian

 

[darren]

If you read the full 2004 report there is a picture showing the exact same equipment so it looks like it is a similar study. Although I don't think they will be launching Minuteman rockets around Mt. Washington.

Full report:

http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA443401&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

The big white parabolic dish antenna with radome that is pointing up is the Air Force Cloud Profiling Radar (AFCPR), which is a 35 GHz radar. The smaller white cube on the roof of the shelter is the "Radiometrics Inc. WVP-1500 Water Vapor Profiling Radiometer is a 5 channel microwave radiometer capable of accurate determination of the total integrated liquid water and the total integrated water vapor. The radiometer also provides the water vapor profile from 0 to 10 km AGL, at a resolution of 100 m up to 1 km altitude and 250 m at greater altitudes."

The 2004 study "measurements support the Signature Exploitation Program
development effort at AFRL to detect rocket emissions through optically thick clouds. The instruments used were the Air Force Research Laboratory Ka-band (35 GHz) Doppler radar, termed the Air Force Cloud Profiling Radar and a Radiometrics Corp. model WVQ-1500, 5-channel (22-30 GHz) water vapor profiling microwave radiometer."

I'm guessing they are doing similar measurements without the rockets. Rocket exhaust has different water density than clouds and they are using the equipment to detect the difference. I wonder if they can use the cog to simulate a rocket launch..similar plumes. (Doug - that is a joke)

Bottom line is experimentation in support of early detection and classification of rocket launches.

- darren

 

[Little Rickie]

Bottom line is experimentation in support of early detection and classification of rocket launches.
- darren

That's why they are using R2D2. He can do all those things and save the universe at the same time.

I wish they hadn't take his legs off though.