EU-PEGASOS: Transfer flight, Mainz-Finthen to Rotterdam

In the morning the weather looked very overcast so that we were not sure if it would clear up for the flight to Rotterdam.

Suddenly the clouds vanished so the Zeppelin could start the second transfer flight at 10:36. As we had good weather conditions the pilots could fly an additional round over the airport so quality assurance measurements could be taken and journalists took nice shots of the Zeppelin. Then we left to heading to Bonn-Hangelar for the tankstop.

On the way from Bonn to Rotterdam we passed Cologne, lignite opencast mining areas and the Forschungszentrum Jülich. Crossing the Netherlands east to west, we passed over different source areas.

Meanwhile the scientists from Germany, Finland, Switzerland and the Netherlands held a first airport meeting to plan in more detail for the next flights and coordinate with our partners performing measurements at Cabauw tower and on board the Skyarrow, a small aircraft equipped to measure meteorological parameters and CO2 and water vapor concentrations and fluxes.

At 18:00 the Zeppelin landed at Rotterdam the Hague airport, where we eagerly awaited it. The operators of the individual instruments got ready to enter the Zeppelin for data downloads, instrument service and calibrations. For the few meters from the hangar to the Zeppelin we have to wear reflective vests to be clearly visible. At 21:30 finally all work was finished for the day and we are looking forward to our saturday flight, where we want to explore the vertical distribution of trace gases and pollutants close to the Cabauw tower.