19 Jul 2004
The BAe 146 Atmospheric Research Aircraft (ARA) is making its first overseas deployment in July as part of the Intercontinental Transport of Pollutants (ITOP) programme that is taking place in the Azores.
This follows the granting of the Type Certificate on May 5 with the hand-over of the Certificate of Airworthiness the following day. On May 10, BAE SYSTEMS Regional Aircraft formally handed over the aircraft to Directflight and it was flown to Cranfield, Bedfordshire, to start the role-change for ITOP.
The aircraft is operated by Directflight on behalf of the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM). FAAM is run jointly by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Centres for Atmospheric Science and the Met Office.
The role change has entailed the replacement of instrumentation on some of the racks on board the aircraft with specialist equipment appropriate for the ITOP task.
The ITOP project is funded by NERC and will centre on two measurement phases in the UK and the Azores using the BAe 146 ARA, which will operate in conjunction with NASA Douglas DC-8 and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) P-3 aircraft as part of an international study on the fate of North American emissions.
The project aims to track and investigate a mass of polluted air as it leaves the United States and travels across the Atlantic to the UK and mainland Europe. Scientists from six countries co-ordinating five research aircraft, as well as numerous ground stations and satellites, will measure chemical reactions within the air-mass as it travels, quantifying the resultant pollutants delivered to Europe.
With the help of sophisticated UK tracking models, US scientists will start the campaign by making measurements in a polluted air-mass off the east coast of the USA. UK scientists will then fly out from the Azores to intercept the same air mass and make similar measurements from the BAe 146 ARA. To complete the picture, German scientists will intercept it in their Falcon aircraft as it lands over Europe. During the Azores measurement phase mid-air wing-tip to wing-tip calibrations between aircraft will also be carried out during the mission.
A month later the BAe 146 ARA is planned to deploy to Treviso, Italy for the ADRIEX experiment where it will conduct some eight flights over the heavily polluted Northern Adriatic/Po Valley region to examine the radiative impact of industrial aerosols. ADRIEX is being funded jointly by NERC and the Met Office.
The flights will be performed in conjunction with surface based sun-photometers to determine the accuracy of the retrieval algorithms in terms of the aerosol optical depth, size distribution, and refractive indices. Flights will also be performed over ocean to validate the direct radiative effect/aerosol optical depths from the GERB and SEVERI instruments on board the MSG (Meteosat Second Generation) satellite.
The BAe146 ARA will be joined by the Proteus aircraft from the USA for the ADRIEX experiment. This aircraft will be flying at high altitudes and will be concentrating on remote sensing measurements using infrared spectroscopy.
About BAE SYSTEMS Regional Aircraft:
Systems Regional Aircraft is responsible for Customer Support, Engineering and Asset Management activities covering a world-wide base of 160 customers operating over 1,100 aircraft in addition to managing a trading and leasing portfolio of some 350 aircraft.
About BAE SYSTEMS
BAE Systems is an international company engaged in the development, delivery and support of advanced defence and aerospace systems in the air, on land, at sea and in space. The company designs, manufacturers and supports military aircraft, surface ships, radar, avionics, communications, electronics and guided weapon systems. It is a pioneer in technology with a heritage stretching back hundreds of years. It is at the forefront of innovation, working to develop the next generation of intelligent defence systems.
BAE Systems has major operations across five continents and customers in some 130 countries. The company has 90,000 people and generates annual sales of approximately 12 billion through its wholly-owned and joint venture operations.
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