First transfer flight, Friedrichshafen to Mainz Finthen

After a delay of 3 days due to rainy weather conditions the Zeppelin equipped with the photochemistry package (CL-8) left the Friedrichshafen airport at 9:30. We had beautiful flying conditions, all the instruments worked without any trouble so far.. The weather was very sunny and cloudless. The outside temperature was about 5 °C so that the Zeppelin could reach heights of about 1500 ft above ground. The cold temperatures led also to good conditions in the gondola so that the scientist and the crew did not sweat a drop. 

On the ground meanwhile the equipment was packed by  the Ground crew and they made their way to Malmsheim the airport for the tank stop and than further to Mainz-Finthen.

The Zeppelin travelled past the svabian alp passing smaller cities as Sigmaringen, Tübingen and the castle Hohenzollern… flying mostly over rural regions covered with forest and some smaller villages heading towards Stuttgart. The measured concentrations of  the Nitrogen oxide, a pollutand mainly from traffic , showed the expected variations and to our surprise even showed the plume from Stuttgart at the forecasted location  but a bit more extended.

 At 11:15 the Zeppelin reached Malmsheim, which is close to Stuttgart, to make a quick refueling stop. Having spent 30 min on the ground we continued our way to Mainz-Finthen, flying over the highway A8 towards Karlsruhe passing Pforzheim.

Karlsruhe was reached at 12:30. The Rhine harbor, a region with a lot of industries especially refineries, was an excellent opportunity to observe the effects of these emissions on air quality. The Zeppelin cycled therefore at two heights over this region. The model forecast predicted low ozone in this aerea, the observation based on the quick look data confirmed. To see this kind of agreement of forecast and reality in realtime is really great.

Having spent 20 min cycling over Karlsruhe the Zeppelin continued its way towards Mannheim passing an agricultural region and the Rhine valley, different chemical conditions to be analzed.

Due to perfect weather conditions the Zeppelin reached Mainz-Finthen at 14:00, way before schedule. So additional measurements were possible above Mainz and the downstream Rhine valley.

At 16:45 the ground crew had prepared the mast, though they had  some delay by traffic, so that the Zeppelin could land.  We were welcomed very warmly in Mainz Finthen by a lot of people waiting to see the Zeppelin NT and our experiments.

As we could see in our quick look data, all instruments had worked well. So we secured our data, performed calibrations in the field, which is very different to the Zeppelin hangar and switched off our instruments for the night.

Start of transfer flight - finally!

Unfortunately, the weather did not permit the start of the transfer flight on monday, as it was planned.
Today the Zeppelin left Friedrichshafen to fly via Mainz/Finthen (D) to Rotterdam (NL). Along the flight route one should be able to spot the Zeppelin while it measures with the photochemistry layout.

The Zeppelin is expected to arrive at Rotterdam airport friday afternoon.
The instruments not currently on board are awaiting the airship in a Hangar on the airport already.

Successful test flights with all cabin layouts and Top Platform

The last few days have been very busy, but also very successful. On thursday, the SOA (secondary organic aerosol) package went out on a hot and sunny day.

After the airship had done circles in three different heights over a close by forest, it returned quickly into the hangar, where the Top Platform was mounted.

After the mounting, there was still enough time to do the first 2012 flight with Top Platform.

 

We were all happy to hear from the scientists operating the Top Platform, that the laser was stable over all achieved altitudes and meaningful OH, HO2 and OH lifetime data were recorded.

On friday, the cabin layout was changed to the photochemisty package, which is also going to be used for the upcoming transfer flights to the Netherlands. While in the process ofexchanging racks, the pilots informed us, that weather with high windspeeds was about to pass through the region. Within one and a half hour, we would have to move out of the hangar to at least get a one hour flight. This was of course increasing pressure on the mechanics from Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik and the scientists responsible for the to be exchanged racks. With a combined effort, setup processes on the moving airship and last-minute hotfixes, we were ready just in time to have the last cabin layout take off on this day.

The flight was only relatively short, but all instruments worked properly. Quick-look data of the flights was discussed later in a relaxed atmosphere.


As the weather does not permit flights today and tomorrow, we are looking forward to seeing the airship flying to Rotterdam on monday morning.

First Zeppelin test flight – a scientist’s experience

I was super excited and honored to be able to be part of the first Zeppelin test flight 2012. There’s just something overwhelmingly thrilling to see your instrument flight for the first time. To be exact it was the second time for the instrument, NAIS, but first for me. The first test flight with NAIS was made in November. NAIS is part of the nucleation package and it measures the size distribution of the atmospheric ions and total particles. NAIS measures ions from 0.8 nm up to 47 nm and particles from 2 nm up to 47 nm. With NAIS we are hoping to see how the size distribution is changing during a nucleation event and have data to compare with other instruments, which measure different variables.

The scientists are waiting for takeoff.

Like in every proper test flight, the schedule didn’t hold as planned. It took few extra hours to get the Zeppelin ready, but when everything was finally ready, we had to move fast. We were three scientists who got onboard, and waited for the take off seated. I got to sit next to the pilot. I was a bit nervous, after all it was my first Zeppelin flight and I quite didn’t know what to expect – flight wise and instrument wise. The take off was short and smooth. We floated up in the air. 

The NAIS is sampling through the window.

After the take off we were allowed to unbuckle ourselves and go to the instruments. My task was to get the NAIS inlet out of the Zeppelin window, since most of the inlets were suppose to be inside the aircraft during takeoff and landing.  So inlet out and wait for the first data. What a positive surprise it was to see that the instrument worked even better than expected. With a working instrument, I got to enjoy the flight and the view of Bodensee, Alps and the forest under us. I’m certain that this will be a great campaign!  

View from high above.

First test flights in 2012

Today we had our first test flights for 2012!

PEGASOS-Zeppelin's first scientific flight for 2012

Cabin layout number nine, consisting of CPN-, API-, NAS- and NOX-Racks

The instruments for  cabin layout 9 (CL9, nucleation) were already installed (tooled, as the specialists say) on saturday. For sunday, we had a bad weather forecast, so we had the chance for some free time (which most experimentalists still used for working on the instruments)

Sitting on the airfield with perfect weather

For today, the weather forecast was looking good, so we moved the airship out of the hangar at 10:30 a.m. After the pre-flight checks were done by the pilot, it was realized that switching the electricity for the racks from generator ground power to airship power did not work as expected. The troubleshooting turned out to be complex. After a few hours of hard work, the engineers and technicians of Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik managed to find and fix the problem.

Second airship with touristic passengers passing the PEGASOS airship

Spectral radiometer and inlet lines for API-ToF and CPN-Rack

As a consequence of that, we were able to start the first test flight at 3:30 p.m. After 3/4 of an hour, the scientific staff on board was changed and another 15 min flight was performed. All instruments on board seemed to perform well and quick-look data from the flight was later on discussed.

Second airship landing close to the PEGASOS Zeppelin

 After landing for the second time, the airship had to be moved quickly into the hangar because of increasing wind speeds. Under these rushed conditions, the electricity for the racks had to be switched another two times to get to power socket supply. These switchings were giving us trouble in November, but this time every switch went smoothly and we are very happy that we can now expect seamless power supply for the instruments.

PEGASOS Zeppelin landing

Official campaign start

Today we held our kick-off event for the PEGASOS campaigns in Friedrichshafen. With Prof. Annette Schavan (German minister of education and research), Robert-Jan Smits (Director-General for research and innovation of the European Commissions) and great weather we had ideal conditions for the event.

Prof. Anette Schavan holding her speech for the kick-off event.

Robert-Jan Smits holding his speech for the official campaign start.

Our coordinator Spyros Pandis from Forth, Greece and Andreas Wahner from Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany and Thomas Brandt, CEO of ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH & Co KG here presented the planned flight routes and scientific background of the project.

 

 

The representatives from politics and press were given the chance for intensive exchange with scientists, explaining the operating principles of our instruments and the advantages of the Zeppelin as platform for atmospheric science studies.

Prof. Wahner showing the Top Platform to Prof. Schavan and Mr. Smits.

PD Astrid Kiendler-Scharr explaining the Top Platform to a childrens's reporter.

Scientists looking at the now completely decorated Zeppelin Airship.

Some press coverage can be found at:

Forschungszentrum Jülich press release
German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) press release
NZZ online
Krone.at
Child news "logo" 

Welt Online 1
Welt Online 2

3sat 

Stern

Zeit Online
Deutschlandfunk 
Hamburger Abendblatt 

Stuttgarter Zeitung

Boulevard Baden

Aachener Zeitung

PEGASOS 2012 field campaign preparations

Over the last few days, the instruments and their operators have been arriving in Friedrichshafen. Instruments are turned on for the first time after shipping, calibrations are performed. Issues arising from shipping the instruments or just appearing now are being fixed.

The Airship is being made pretty for the flights (and also the official launch ceremony).

It is exciting for everyone involved in the field campaign to see it nearing, becoming real.

Tomorrow we will celebrate the official start of the campaign in an opening ceremony with  Prof. Annette Schavan (German minister of education and research), Robert-Jan Smits (Director-General for research and innovation of the European Commissions), and other high ranking guests. Pictures and links to media coverage will follow here.

We are all looking forward to a successful launch!