Preparations for the first measurement flight over the Pacific: HALO in the hangar in Anchorage.
Photo: Martin Riese, Forschungszentrum Jülich
PHILEAS: HALO takes off from Anchorage for further measurement flights
Leipzig, 29.08.2023
Press release of Forschungszentrum Jülich and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Anchorage. In the PHILEAS project (Probing High Latitude Export of Air from the Asian Summer Monsoon), measurement flights with the high-altitude research aircraft HALO have been carried out since August 6, 2023, under the leadership of Forschungszentrum Jülich and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. The scientists involved want to investigate the influence of the Asian summer monsoon on the global climate until the beginning of October. After the first campaign phase from Oberpfaffenhofen with flights to the eastern Mediterranean region and northern Europe, they have drawn a positive interim balance: Among other things, the measurements showed increased concentrations of climate gases such as methane and heavily polluted air masses. HALO has now landed in Anchorage, Alaska. Over the weekend, the second part of the campaign began there with measurement flights over the Pacific. In a new video on the YouTube channel of Forschungszentrum Jülich, the researchers present the methods and goals of the PHILEAS campaign.
A working group from the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) and the Leipzig University is participating with a device: "We participate in the campaign by measuring physical properties of aerosols. Such in-situ measurements are a good opportunity to observe nucleation processes in the atmosphere to learn more about cloud formation," explains Prof. Mira Pöhlker from TROPOS and the Leipzig University.
To the press release of Forschungszentrum Jülich and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz: https://www.fz-juelich.de/de/aktuelles/news/pressemitteilungen/2023/phileas-halo-startet-in-anchorage-zu-weiteren-messfluegen
To the video: https://youtu.be/56W6WP7zpWA
The partners
In addition to the Jülich Research Center and the University of Mainz, partners in the PHILEAS project are the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research in Leipzig (TROPOS), the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, and the Universities of Frankfurt and Wuppertal. The scientific flights are supported by a team of about 70 people.
HALO
The research aircraft HALO (High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft) is a joint initiative of German environmental and climate research institutions. HALO is funded by grants from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Helmholtz Association, the Max Planck Society (MPG), the Leibniz Association, the Free State of Bavaria, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Research Center Jülich (FZJ) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). DLR is both the owner and operator of the aircraft.