CAINA 2025 - erste ACTOS Flüge erfolgreich absolviert
Eemshaven,
09.04.2025
– Birgit Wehner/ Holger Siebert
First test flight with ACTOS over the Wadden Sea succesful!
In the CAINA project a consortium of international scientists is investigating how aerosol particles and clouds interact in a nitrogen-dominated chemical regime, by combining field experiments, chamber studies and modeling. The project is based in the Netherlands, where nitrogen pollution is particularly problematic.
The TROPOS part are in-situ measurements with the helicopter-borne plarform ACTOS performed from the heliport in Eemshaven.
After setting up our base on the helipad in Eemshaven on the Dutch side of the Ems delta last Tuesday, today was finally the day: the first test flight with ACTOS over the Wadden Sea. Due to temporary airspace restrictions, it was only a one-hour flight with an approx. 18 km long leg at 300 m above the Wadden Sea, followed by a profile up to 6500 ft - a good 2 km in altitude - before we set out to land in Eeemshaven again. Take-off and landing were smooth and almost perfect. Now we are looking at the data to see if all the instruments worked properly and are trying to fix a few system problems before our next flight. A real measurement flight is scheduled for tomorrow at 11:00 local time and we hope to finally see some clouds in the next few days and be able to measure them.
