Science Council Working Group on Large-Scale Facilities for Fundamental Scientific Research
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August 31, 2001 Science Council Working Group on Large-Scale Facilities for Fundamental Scientific Research Sub-working group for HALO Questionnaire concerning project HALO High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft - 2 - Application by Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) and Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG). This Questionnaire has been answered by the team of HALO project scientists and members of the DLR Flight Facilities. Points of Contact: Prof. Dr. Meinrat O. Andreae and Prof. Dr. Jos Lelieveld Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie Postfach 3060 55020 Mainz Email: [email protected] [email protected] Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schumann, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen Postfach 1116 82230 Wessling, Tel 08153 28 2520, Fax: -1841 Email: [email protected] Dr. Helmut Ziereis Project Leader HALO Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt Oberpfaffenhofen Postfach 1116 82230 Wessling, Tel. 08153 28 2542, Fax: -1841 Email: [email protected] Volkert Harbers and Dr. Monika Krautstrunk Flight Facilities of DLR Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt Oberpfaffenhofen Postfach 1116 82230 Wessling Email: [email protected] [email protected] - 3 - A Executive summary Please provide a brief summary of the facility project (scientific vision, strategic im- portance, scientific objectives and purpose, max. two pages). Physical, chemical and biological processes within the atmosphere and at the Earth’s sur- face maintain the conditions necessary for life on Earth. In the past decades, we have ob- served important changes in climate and in the composition of the atmosphere, which are expected to affect the well-being of humankind and the biosphere. The resulting concern about global change has stimulated much necessary research, including instrument/tech- nique development, satellite and in-situ observations. Out of this research has grown an un- derstanding of Earth as a system, involving physical, chemical, biological and human proc- esses. This understanding is described in analytical and numerical models of increasing so- phistication and complexity. These models in turn require observations for testing, validation and further development. Processes within, or important to the atmosphere cover wide ranges of temporal and spa- tial scales, from microseconds to decades, from microscopic to global. Consequently, we need observations covering that same range of scales, in order to provide the information needed to test and develop our understanding of these processes. Remote sensing from satellites provides information at global scales, but only covers a limited set of parameters, and only at fairly coarse spatial and temporal resolution. Thus in-situ measurements, particu- larly from aircraft, play an essential and complementary role in the development of our un- derstanding of atmospheric and biogeochemical processes. The flexibility in mission design and in the choice of scientific payload, including in-situ measurements, sampling devices, and remote-sensing instrumentation, that is available with aircraft can not be achieved with any other platform. Access to a suitable aircraft for measurements throughout the global at- mosphere including the upper tropical transition region and the very sensitive lowermost stratosphere, is therefore essential for addressing the current challenges within atmospheric research. Atmospheric research at the onset of the 21st century is characterised by an integral ap- proach. The atmosphere is investigated as part of a coupled system that involves chemical, physical and biological processes and human activities. This view is reflected in the goals and scientific hypotheses of current and upcoming national and international research pro- grammes on global change. These programmes include studies on the interactions between meteorology, chemistry, climate, the biosphere and human activities in key regions of the Earth where major changes are occurring. Such key regions of global change, or “global choke-points” are 1) The Eurasian region, especially the boreal zone, where rapid climate change is presently being observed, provid- ing a unique opportunity to study the interactions between climate change, biosphere and atmospheric chemistry. 2) The Amazon Basin, where large-scale land use change and de- forestation is expected to interfere with the self-cleaning processes of the atmosphere and the energy dynamics of the global atmospheric circulation. 3) The Southeast Asian region, where rapid population growth, industrialisation and urbanisation result in intense regional air pollution and large-scale impacts on the atmospheric environment. To effectively study proc- esses in these and other remote regions requires a long-range (>8000 km) aircraft, which is currently not available to the German research community. The proposed High Altitude and Long-range (HALO) aircraft will be a prime research facility to stimulate, coordinate, and per- form such research on a global scale. Investigating the complex processes in the Earth System, and in the atmosphere in par- ticular, requires intensive field measurement campaigns that involve large teams of scientists from research institutions and universities. It is essential to simultaneously employ a range of in-situ and remote sensing instrumentation to characterise air chemistry, aerosols, clouds, radiation fluxes, and the dynamics of the atmosphere. Simultaneous measurements of nu- merous such parameters must be performed to characterise the photochemical and chemical pathways of trace gas and aerosol production and destruction. Such measurements are key to constrain photochemical transport models of the atmosphere. Examples of the scientific - 4 - challenges that will be addressed with HALO are: 1) The influence of aerosol particles on cloud microphysics, chemical processes, and radiative transfer; 2) The significance and role of exchange processes between biosphere and atmosphere, within the troposphere, and between troposphere and stratosphere; 3) The physico-chemical processes resulting in oxi- dation of biogenic and anthropogenic emissions and aerosol formation and transport in the tropical troposphere; 4) Long-range transport of pollutants that affect regional and global air quality and climate. Such complex scientific objectives imply large science teams and scien- tific payloads, as developed by the German atmospheric research community, which can be accommodated with the proposed HALO aircraft. Recent studies suggest that the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere region is of key importance for atmospheric chemistry and climate. Yet, this important part of the Earth’s at- mosphere has received little study so far, in large part because of the lack of an appropriate observational platform. The proposed HALO aircraft, with its high operational ceiling (>15 km) will make it possible to investigate the chemistry of the whole troposphere and the lower stratosphere, including the influence of increasing aircraft emissions, and to study the significance and role of cirrus clouds (including sub-visible cirrus and aircraft condensation trails) in atmospheric radiative transfer, climate and atmospheric chemistry. The scientific challenges outlined above require an aircraft combining long range, high ceiling altitude and large scientific payload. There is presently no such aircraft available for research worldwide. The most capable German research aircraft, a Falcon E, has far more limited capabilities and is over 25 years old, so that a replacement will have to be sought in the foreseeable future. An engineering and technical feasibility study has shown that two types of aircraft, the Gulfstream V and the Global Express, are particularly suited for HALO, based on their performance specifications. The aircraft is to be equipped with multi-purpose openings, mounting points, and basic instrumentation. We propose that the HALO aircraft will be operated through the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) flight facilities in Oberpfaffen- hofen, to benefit from the large experience and operational infrastructure available at this institution. Access for the scientific use will be through peer-reviewed proposals to a Scien- tific Steering Committee. In addition to its role for the German atmospheric research commu- nity, HALO will also be offered as a European research facility. It is to be expected that the availability of such a powerful and capable measurement platform would have a "magnet effect", similar to the internationally highly respected German research vessels. The research with HALO will take advantage of the specialised contributions by a large number of universities and research institutions supporting this initiative, notably in the de- velopment of highly sensitive and fast response instrumentation required for aircraft meas- urements. It will also provide prime opportunities and challenges for the active involvement of graduate students. The universities supporting HALO perform study programs in environ- mental physics and chemistry, for which research projects utilising HALO will be of great sig- nificance. The HALO project was initiated by a meeting of the German atmospheric science com- munity in May 2000, including participants from Universities, the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), the Hermann von Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren (HGF), the Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (WGL), and the Fraunhofer- Gesellschaft (FhG).