1st of July:
On Sunday 1st, the Zeppelin equipped with the CL5
– SOA layout, started the flight with a height profile in Ozzano. Afterwards it
continued to Monte Cimone, a mountain with a measurement site in the Apennines. Since some of the instruments there are also
characterizing aerosols, this flight permitted to get a better insight into
aerosol properties at different heights for this mountain site. To reach the
mountains, we first crossed Bologna
and then followed a valley in the west of the city. In this way we could
measure the transition of air masses coming from rural and urban sites. During
the morning hours the wind was mostly coming from the Monte Cimone, which is
one of the highest peaks in this part of the Apennines
but later on the wind basically stopped. While following the valley, the
Zeppelin mostly flew at low heights of about 500ft. At the same time, the
measurement vehicle MOSQUITA followed the Zeppelin’s path on the ground.
3rd of July:
On this day a longer flight was chosen towards Bosco Fontana. This is a protected
forest region north of Bologna,
very close to Mantova. The forest consists of broad-leaved trees, which is the
common local tree type for this region. This target was chosen to support
measurements that are taking place there within the scope of the Èclaire
project. This is an EU funded project that investigates climate change and
pollution impacts for European ecosystems.
Our objective was to start the flight at 6a.m with CL5-SOA
layout, reach Bosco Fontana and circle around this area at different height
levels. Although the transfer flight towards the forest turned out to be
trickier due to strong head winds, we managed to do three profiles at three
different heights just above the forest. On this specific day the overall
outside temperature was of only 31°C, compared to the almost 40°C of the
previous days, which allowed us to reach each time the maximum height of 2000ft
without having to release any helium. On all three occasions we reached above
the planetary boundary layer, which was clearly visible in the measured particle
concentrations. While doing these circles, the MOSQUITA followed us on the
ground.
On the way back to Ozzano airport we basically followed
the Po River towards the south, passing several industries. Finally the
Zeppelin landed at 11:35 a.m. 
4th of July:
On this day the flight to Monte Cimone with CL5- SOA was
repeated since there had been some problems at the ground site on the previous
flight. At 6a.m. the Zeppelin was headed to Bologna, crossed the industrial zone and flew
into the valley that starts west from the city. Again the MOSQUITA could follow
the Zeppelin path very well through the valley. During this 5 hour flight, the
Zeppelin went back and forth between industrial zone and mountain site to
detect differences in air masses coming from the rural and urban sites.
