Major Research Issues
- Measuring atmospheric fluxes of heat, water (evaporation) and greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4)
- Spatial variability of surface fluxes
- Boundary layer profiling
Short Technical Description
- Fully certified aircraft (pilot + passenger): range 300-400km, typical altitude for surface fluxes 200ft, ceiling ~6000ft, cruise speed 70knts; payload ~50kg max depending on configuration
- Equipment: turbulence probe, thermocouple, IRGA H2O/CO2/CH4, PAR and net radiometers, infrared thermometer, laser altimeter, IGPS, DAC computer
- Processing and mapping software
Options And Conditions
Available in joint projects, otherwise available subject to time constraints and operational cost funding
Unit Cost Of Use
- Operational costs around €400 per flight hour (fuel, pilot, insurance, airport taxes, etc)
- Scientific/technical preparation planning: €1000 per day, # hrs depending on complexity of operations, special permits, etc
- Post processing: €800 per day, # hrs depending on complexity of dataset (minimum about 4hrs per flying hour)