The scientific community, especially in the areas of cloud physics and dynamics, atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric electricity, radar meteorology, remote sensing, and boundary layer meteorology, assembled at Rapid City, South Dakota October 23-25, 2006 to participate in discussions about a Next Generation Storm-Penetrating Aircraft (NGSPA), with focus on the Fairchild A-10, twin-engine, military jet.

The goal of this workshop was to outline the various research areas in the geosciences in which the NGSPA capabilities could be used, and the types of instrumentation that should be flown in order to support the research.

The workshop agenda can be accessed through this link: http://www.ias.sdsmt.edu/spa-workshop2006/agenda.htm. Links can be found in the agenda to the various presentations that were given.

A report to NSF outlining proposed experimental objectives, and the platform capabilities and necessary instrumentation for such experiments, is being drafted. This report will help the NSF decide what resources to dedicate to support the acquisition and modification of an A-10, to function as the Next-Generation SPA. Input from the scientific community was solicited, and a report has been presented to the NSF. To view a PDF of this report, please use this link: SPA Workshop Report 2007.