Final Report Summary - IAGOS-ERI (In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System - European Research Infrastructure)
Executive Summary:
IAGOS combines the expertise of leading European scientific institutions, weather services, aeronautic industry, and major airlines in order to build a unique observing system for long-term observations of atmospheric composition using high-tech instrumentation deployed aboard passenger aircraft. The new RI will provide essential information for improving the scientific basis for the assessment of climate change and air quality. Specifically, IAGOS-ERI will provide open access to high quality in-situ measurements of GHGs and reactive gases, as well as aerosol and cloud particles for scientific and operational users world-wide. The information is of direct relevance to the Copernicus (GMES) Atmospheric Service and it is foreseen to provide the data in real time to operational users through the information system of the World Meteorological Organization, WIS.
IAGOS-ERI builds on the expertise gained in two successful European research projects, i.e. MOZAIC (http://www.obs-mip/mozaic) co-funded by the EC between 1993 and 2003, and CARIBIC (www.caribic-atmospheric.com) co-funded by Germany as part of AFO2000 and by the EC between 1994 and 2013. Important technical developments have been conducted as part of the FP6 Design Study for new RIs (IAGOS-DS). The new RI combines these two complementary components: IAGOS-CORE will provide quasi continuous measurements of ozone and its precursors (CO and NOx), greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and H2O), as well as aerosol and cloud particles. It is planned to install these instruments on a fleet of ca. 20 long-range aircraft of airlines operating on international routes. In IAGOS-CARIBIC, one aircraft (an Airbus A340-600 of Lufthansa) equipped with provisions for deployment of a cargo container containing a laboratory for measurements of trace gases and aerosol, including those above plus organic compounds, and provisions for collecting air samples for post-flight analysis of CFCs, HCFCs, VOCs, and aerosol chemical properties.
Main results of the preparatory phase project include:
• Preparation of a governance structure and statutes for implementation of the IAGOS RI as an international association under Belgian law (AISBL) with its seat in Brussels
• Definition of the required resources for construction and operation of the new RI
• Securing of funding commitments from member organisations, airlines and national funding agencies for construction and operation of the new RI
• Coordination with scientific and operational users of the data products provided by the new RI and establishment of a central database for scientific users, including also the data from the precursor projects MOZAIC and CARIBIC
• Development of structures for near real-time data provision into the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) of the Weather Services (the so-called WMO Information System, WIS)
• Enhancing the aeronautic certification basis for the new instruments deployed in IAGOS and extending the EASA approval for the IAGOS-CORE installation to Airbus A330 aircraft
• Development of the legal basis for collaboration with airlines and development of operational structures for sustainable maintenance of the instrumentation within the legal framework of civil aviation
• Technical improvements related to the sustainable deployment of IAGOS-CARIBIC and the design of novel instrumentation for future implementation.
The results establish the basis for implementation of the RI. In fact construction and operation have already started by installation of IAGOS-CORE on Airbus A340/A330 of Lufthansa, Air France, China Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Iberia, and regular operation of IAGOS-CARIBIC.
Project Context and Objectives:
Project Context
IAGOS combines the expertise of leading European scientific institutions, weather services, aeronautic industry, and major airlines in order to build a unique observing system for long-term observations of atmospheric composition using high-tech instrumentation deployed aboard passenger aircraft. The new RI will provide essential information for improving the scientific basis for the assessment of climate change and air quality. Specifically, IAGOS-ERI will provide high quality in-situ measurements of GHGs and reactive gases, as well as aerosol and cloud particles. The information is relevant for scientists world-wide engaged in research on climate change and air quality and is of direct relevance to the Copernicus (formerly GMES) Atmospheric Service. It is foreseen to provide the data in real time to operational users through the information system of the World Meteorological Organization, WIS.
IAGOS-ERI builds on the expertise gained in two successful European research projects, i.e. MOZAIC (http://www.iagos.fr/mozaic) co-funded by the EC between 1993 and 2003, and CARIBIC (www.caribic-atmospheric.com) co-funded by Germany as part of AFO2000 and by the EC between 1994 and 2013. Important technical developments for IAGOS-ERI have been conducted as part of the FP6 Design Study for new RIs (IAGOS-DS, contract no. 011902). During this study, the MOZAIC instrumentation was redesigned and certified for continuous deployment aboard commercial long-range aircraft. In addition, new instruments for GHGs, aerosol and cloud particles were developed. As a result of this work, IAGOS-CORE will provide measurements of ozone and its precursors (CO and NOx), Greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and H2O), as well as aerosol and cloud particles. It is planned to install these instruments on a fleet of ca. 20 long-range aircraft of airlines operating on international routes. The first installation aboard an A340 of Lufthansa was achieved in July 2011 and is depicted in Figure 1 and Figure 2.
Figure 1: Inlet Plate with probes on the fuselage of the first A340 aircraft (Lufthansa Viersen) equipped with IAGOS-CORE
Figure 2: IAGOS rack installed in the avionics bay of the first IAGOS-CORE aircraft
In addition, one aircraft (an Airbus A340-600 of Lufthansa) has been equipped with special provisions for mounting of a cargo container containing a full-size atmospheric chemistry laboratory for measuring trace gases and the aerosol distribution, including those listed above plus organic compounds, a remote sensing instrument and provisions for collecting air samples for post-flight analysis of distributions of a large suite of CFCs, HCFCs, and VOCs, as well as aerosol chemical properties (see Figure 3). A special inlet system (Figure 4) was permanently installed aboard the Lufthansa aircraft for accurate sampling of aerosol and trace gases. This setup was developed in CARIBIC and has been included in IAGOS for long-term sustainable operation.
Figure 3: Air Cargo Container with scientific instruments deployed in IAGOS-CARIBIC
Figure 4: Inlet system for IAGOS-CARIBIC permanently installed under the body of an A340-600 of Lufthansa
Objectives of the Preparatory Phase
The overall objective of the Preparatory Phase for IAGOS-ERI was to prepare the legal, financial and organisational structure for implementation of the new RI and to develop a funding scheme for the new RI. A key prerequisite was the preparation of the necessary legal preconditions for sustainable deployment of scientific instrumentation on commercial aircraft and the development of a data management structure for implementation of IAGOS-ERI into the global observing system as outlined in the IGACO Report and implemented by WMO. The activities were coordinated with the growing scientific user community and operational users such as WMO, AMDAR and ECMWF.
Technical work performed in the preparatory phase aimed at improvements of the CARIBIC container for routine operation, the evaluation of the performance of new equipment aboard research aircraft, and the design of novel instrumentation including a very small instrument package for deployment on an even wider fleet of aircraft in the future.
In order to meet its objectives, the Preparatory Phase Project was structured into five Work Packages.
WP1: Project management and dissemination
WP2: Coordination with global networks, users and airlines
WP3: Preparation for implementation of the new RI
WP4: Preparation of the legal basis for operation
WP5: New technical developments
In addition, four Work Packages, not funded by the Commission, were included in the preparatory phase. They aimed at continuation of the operation of MOZAIC (WP6) and CARIBIC (WP7), in order to maintain the continuity of the data and cooperation with the world-wide user community, and at evaluation of the scientific quality of the data provided by novel IAGOS equipment by deployment aboard research aircraft (WP8 and WP9).
Project Results:
1. Preparation of the Legal Framework for the new RI
The IAGOS partners discussed several possible legal forms for the new RI, including AISBL, EEIG, ERIC, GMBH and corresponding forms, and agreed (see M3.2.1- 3.2.2) that the RI should be implemented as an International not-for profit association under Belgian law (AISBL) with its seat in Brussels. A model for the governance structure and a draft of the statutes for the IAGOS AISBL were prepared under the lead of the legal department of FZJ. The partners also agreed on the distribution of the different activities between the members and the association as well as associated budgets (see Milestone report M3.2.3).
Table 1: Activities of the new RI and contributions of IAGOS partners. Key activities of the central entity are marked in grey.
After general agreement was obtained, a suitable lawyer (Bird & Bird LLP, Brussels) was contracted by FZJ for preparation and coordination of the final version of the statutes, translation into French language and formal submission of the application to the Belgian Court. The final agreed version of the statutes and associated internal regulations are annexed to the report on Deliverable 3.2. The notary deed for foundation of the AISBL has been scheduled for 28.11.2013.
The governance structure of the AISBL as outlined in Figure 5 is composed of a General Assembly (GA) chaired by a President, an Executive Board (EB) and a Secretariat. The GA is the highest decision making body. The EB is in charge of the daily business, in which it is supported by the Secretariat. An important aspect of the chosen structure of IAGOS is that the main activities (acquisition of instruments, maintenance, data analysis and data archiving/distribution) will be conducted by the partners from own resources including national funding. The data which result from these contributions are granted to the AISBL. The associated in-kind contributions are valued and agreed by the GA according to a predefined scheme. The GA also agrees on the activity plan which is binding for the partners upon finalisation of the associated annual budget. The statutes also foresee penalties for non-performance.
Figure 5: Governance structure of the IAGOS AISBL
It is also foreseen to establish Committees as needed for guiding the GA in its decisions. Of particular importance is the Advisory Committee (AC), which shall be composed of leading international scientists, who will help to monitor the progress and to guide the consortium in their planning of the development of the RI in terms of distribution of the measurements, new developments and accession of new partners. The AC will provide an important link to the international user community of IAGOS.
1.1 Role of Airlines
In the time frame of the project, IAGOS has collaborated with Lufthansa, China Airlines Taiwan, Air France, Cathay Pacific and British Airways/Iberia. During the negotiations, a model contract between the RI and participating airlines was developed (Deliverable D2.5). The contract has been iterated with several airlines, in particular Cathay Pacific and includes a clause for free transportation of the IAGOS instrumentation. A cost model for real-time data transmission will be included as soon as the Real-Time Transmission Unit is ready for installation. As long as the IAGOS Research Infrastructure has not gained legal personality, CNRS and FZJ act on behalf of the consortium.
In the Statutes for the AISBL, it is foreseen that honorary membership is offered to interested airlines. Honorary members do not pay membership fees and have the right to speak but no voting rights in the GA.
2. Definition of Costs for Construction and Operation of the RI
During the project, cost estimates for construction and operation were defined and regularly updated based upon new information obtained, e.g. after revision of the CARIBIC container and completion of the installations aboard the first and second IAGOS-CORE aircraft.
The roadmap for IAGOS-CORE aircraft installations is shown in Figure 6. Also shown is the planned acquisition of scientific instruments (P1=Package 1 and P2=Package 2) and associated installation kits.
Figure 6: Roadmap for IAGOS-CORE aircraft installations including acquisition of instrumentation
By the end of the preparatory phase IAGOS-CORE equipment has been installed on four aircraft (Lufthansa, Air France, China Airlines and Cathay Pacific). Installation of the fifth aircraft (Iberia) is foreseen to be completed in October 2013. It is foreseen to operate and further develop the RI over at least 20 years with regular scientific reviews and with adaptation to new scientific issues and technological developments. IAGOS-CORE equipment will be operated continuously aboard all aircraft (ca. 500 flights per year and a/c); deployment of the CARIBIC container is foreseen on one aircraft with a typical frequency of four consecutive flights per month (ca. 50 flights per year).
2.1 Cost Breakdown
The cost of construction and operation of the IAGOS RI has been estimated by the participants under the lead of FZJ and CNRS. Both partners also coordinated their proposals for IAGOS to be included on the national roadmaps of research infrastructures in France and Germany.
The German proposal was evaluated by an international review committee appointed by the Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat). The evaluation included a specific review of the estimated cost breakdown for construction, operation and decommissioning of the RI, besides the review of scientific quality and impact. The report on the Science-driven Evaluation of Large Research Infrastructure Projects for the National Roadmap (Pilot Phase) is available for download at http://www.wissenschaftsrat.de/en/home.html. The cost breakdown is described below. A detailed budget can be found in the report on Deliverable D 3.1.
2.1.1 Construction
A budget for acquisition of real estate and construction of buildings is not required for IAGOS, because the necessary laboratory, storage and office space is provided by the participating institutions or will be provided by the company foreseen for handling the logistics. Costs for special technical equipment concern special provisions in the laboratories for calibration and quality assurance of the instruments and special storage areas according to aeronautic rules. Construction and supply of devices and equipment include special instruments (including spares) for equipping 20 aircraft with IAGOS-CORE equipment. For IAGOS-CARIBIC, the container has already been equipped and is operational as a result of the work performed in WP5 (see Deliverable D5.3). However, several instruments are foreseen to be replaced by more powerful ones during the construction phase of IAGOS.
The total budget required for construction is estimated to approximately 45 Mio €. It includes instrumentation of 20 IAGOS-CORE aircraft and IAGOS-CARIBIC and the development and certification costs during the past years. Investments required for keeping the infrastructure and equipment on an adequate level, reflecting the state-of-the-art, are on the order of 1 Mio € per year.
The estimated annual costs for construction are shown in Figure 7. During the construction phase (years 1-6), they total 4-6 Mio € per year, including investment related personnel costs. The cost estimates for investments were based on commercial offers for the CORE instruments and the experience gained with the first IAGOS-CORE installations in 2011-13. Costs for special aircraft layovers have not been included because the modification can usually be conducted during scheduled layovers of the aircraft concerned.
Figure 7: Annual costs of construction of the IAGOS RI, including investments and associated personnel resources. The figure for 2012 includes prior years
2.1.2 Operation
The total costs of operation for the IAGOS RI are shown in Figure 8. Salaries constitute a major cost item for operation of the RI. Maintenance costs incur at the airlines and at the research institutes involved. Major costs also incur for the aeronautic quality management according to EASA rules, required to obtain the Release to Service certificates, and for transportation of the instruments between airlines, maintenance organisation and scientific institutions. Other cost items concern the data transmission and maintenance of the database.
The cost estimate for operation of the instruments, including the required personnel resources and consumables in the institutions for scientific quality assurance (calibrations etc.) are based on the long-term experience gained in the IAGOS precursor projects MOZAIC and CARIBIC.
The costs for world-wide operation of the equipment were estimated in WP4 by enviscope GmbH, together with FZJ and CNRS. They include costs for shipping of the instruments between airlines, maintenance centre and institutions, customs, and maintenance personnel and logistics for re-certification of the equipment (EASA Form 1) and for supply of gases and chemicals required for operation of the Packages 2. The cost estimate also includes regular updates of the certification basis, such as trainings and audits by the authorities.
Figure 8: Total annual cost for operation of the IAGOS RI
2.1.3 Decommissioning
Decommissioning of the infrastructure is fairly simple, as it requires only the removal of the IAGOS installation from the aircraft. The associated costs are estimated at 25 k€ per aircraft. Further decommissioning procedures are not necessary, because instrument ownership and associated intellectual property rights will remain with the member institutions.
2.1.4 Operation of the Central Entity
The estimated budget for operation of the IAGOS AISBL amounts to 170 k€, including half-time positions for the IAGOS Secretary and an administrative person, as well as costs for the organisation of internal meetings. This budget is foreseen to be covered by membership fees from the Full Members of the AISBL.
3. Commitments for Funding of the RI
The beneficiaries undertook continuous actions in their member states to negotiate funding commitments for construction and operation of the RI. This included negotiations with the Research Ministries in Germany and France and the National Environmental Research Council in the U.K. The status of commitment at the end of the preparatory phase is given below.
3.1 Germany
In April 2013, IAGOS was included in the National Roadmap of Research Infrastructures as a result of the review by the Council of Science and Humanities.
• An amount of 4.2 Mio € has been granted by BMBF to the contributing German institutions for the pilot phase of IAGOS-D (11-2012 until 04-2014), in addition to 1.3 Mio € for investments in 2010-2012. At the end of the pilot phase, 5 IAGOS-CORE aircraft are foreseen to be equipped and operated in trial mode together with the partners from France and U.K. The pilot phase also foresees regular operation of the CARIBIC container.
• An amount of 10 Mio € has been earmarked for the remaining construction phase of IAGOS, foreseen to start in Mai 2014.
• A long-term commitment for sustaining IAGOS operation has been expressed by the German Institutions participating in IAGOS (FZJ, MPG, KIT, DLR, TROPOS, IUP).
3.2 France
In 2008, IAGOS was included (together with ICOS) in the National Roadmap of Research Infrastructures, which includes a long-term funding perspective.
• The budget (ca. 0.5 Mio€/a) is granted on an annual basis under CNRS responsibility, following normal practises in France;
• A long-term commitment for sustaining IAGOS operation and maintenance of the IAGOS data- base has been expressed by the Member Institutions (CNRS-INSU, Météo France and Université Toulouse). CNES is committed to continue the support of the IAGOS database as part of ETHER.
3.3 United Kingdom
A proposal for long-term national support was prepared under the lead of UMAN and is under negotiation with NERC/NCAS.
A long-term commitment has been expressed by University of Manchester for scientific support of the BCP operation and data analysis with support from NCAS staff and laboratory and test facilities, including FAAM, through national funding.
3.4 Other Contributions
Taiwan supports IAGOS since 2008 via the National Science Council (NSC) and Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) sponsored projects related to the PGGM (Pacific Greenhouse Gases Measurements Project) for operation of IAGOS equipment on an aircraft of China Airlines (ca. 15 million NTD from NSC and 15 million NTD from EPA during 2008-2012). Future funding of 3 million NTD from NSC and 10 million NTD from EPA is pending confirmation. It is foreseen to equip another Taiwan-based aircraft in the near future.
Hungary: IAGOS is one of the candidates of those foreign research infrastructures which Hungary plans to join. A proposal was submitted in 2013 under the lead of University of Szeged.
Romania: Proposal in preparation under the lead of INCAS
Spain: Proposal in preparation under the lead of the Meteorological State Agency
USA: Initiative under the lead of NOAA to equip and operate 1-2 US-based IAGOS-CORE a/c
3.5 Commitment by the Institutions Involved in IAGOS
As detailed in the German proposal, the committed contributions by the German institutions amount to ca. 50% of the foreseen German contribution. The institutions contribute substantially with personnel resources, by providing the required laboratory and office space, and by contributions to the operational budget and investments. The situation in France is similar with about 50% of the total French contribution committed by the institutions participating in IAGOS, i.e. CNRS and Météo France, and support by CNES for the database. In the U.K. the University of Manchester has committed in-kind support for operation, quality assurance and data analysis of the Backscatter Cloud Probe. The respective letters of commitment are annexed to Deliverable 3.1.
3.6 Commitment by the Airlines Involved in IAGOS
The airlines so far associated with IAGOS have agreed to free transportation of the equipment for IAGOS-CORE. The same business model will be negotiated with new airlines. This contribution amounts to approx. 15% of the running costs.
3.7 Funding by the Copernicus Atmospheric Core Service
Funding for IAGOS is also expected to become available from the operational budget of the Copernicus Atmospheric Service, cf. letters by ECMWF, coordinator of the FP7 project MACC-2, and by EEA, in charge of the in-situ component for Copernicus.
In preparation, FZJ and CNRS presented IAGOS to the European Environment Agency who is in charge of the FP7 project GISC for coordination of the in-situ component of Copernicus. In response to the request by GISC, a cost analysis of the IAGOS data was submitted. The IAGOS consortium agreed that real-time data would only be made available in the future if requested by Copernicus with a commitment for related costs being covered from the Copernicus operational budget.
3.8 Risks and Gaps
The financial risks are considered relatively small as there is no need for construction of buildings. The instruments have already been developed with support by the EC in the projects IAGOS-DS and IAGOS-ERI. Suitable commercial partners have been found with the appropriate technical know-how and legal approvals for the special needs of IAGOS.
A gap in guaranteed funding on the order of 30% has been identified for the period after 2017. This gap must be closed by a combination of the following options:
• Contributions by the participating institutions
• Contributions from national funding
• Contributions from new partners (e.g. USA, HU, RO, …)
• Support from the EC under Horizon 2020
• Support from Copernicus operational budget (Atmospheric Monitoring Service)
From past experience, it is expected that EU-funding can be acquired for upgrading and innovation through individual projects.
As construction is planned to be carried out over several years, it is possible to postpone aircraft installations in case of unforeseen difficulties, until new partners have been found. Particularly important is the very low risk associated with decommissioning of the RI, because the costs for de-installation of the instruments are negligible.
4. Data Management
The development of the scientific database has been completed under the lead of CNRS. Its status is operational and it includes data sets from about 38,000 MOZAIC flights (from August 1994 to May 2013) and from about 1,700 IAGOS flights (from July 2011 to June 2013). The IAGOS database is currently accessed through about 500 logins (individual scientists and/or institutions, projects), 150 of them being new users since September 2009.
4.1 Structure of the Scientific Database of the RI
The development of the database of the RI started from the structure that CNRS and CNES had developed for the MOZAIC project since 2005. The data management structure was modified to accept the new IAGOS data from Packages 1 and 2, as well as meteorological parameters and technical parameters describing the status of each instrument. CNRS coordinated the development with the principal investigators (PIs) of the new instrumentation (Backscatter Cloud Probe, Packages 2 instruments) to include and manage the new datasets in the structure.
Figure 9 describes the data flow between the recorded in-situ raw data and the final products inserted in the central database for different uses. A delayed transmission system has been implemented in Package 1 and is operational on the first four IAGOS-equipped aircraft (Lufthansa since July 2011; China Airlines Taiwan since July 2012, Air France since June 2013, and Cathay Pacific since July 2013). As soon as the aircraft lands, the data are transmitted by GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) to the IAGOS database at Toulouse. Depending on the circumstances at the stopover (quality of the GPRS network, duration of the stop etc.), occasionally the process for data transmission is not triggered before the aircraft takes off again. In such cases, flight data are transferred at the next stopover.
Raw data (L0) received in the central database can be downloaded by the IAGOS PIs, National Meteorological Services and Copernicus Centres for near-real time and/or delayed mode tasks. Because NRT data are not fully calibrated and have not undergone post-flight validation by IAGOS PIs they are foreseen to be deleted by the users when calibrated and validated data (L1) are available in the database. After QA/QC procedures and final calibration have been applied to the data sets (every 2 to 6 months) by the IAGOS PIs, geophysical data (L1) are implemented in the IAGOS central database. In addition, averaged data (L2) and added-value products (L3) are produced by CNRS and included with the measured variables.
Figure 9: Schematic description of the data flow
In order to establish appropriate QA/QC protocols in conformance with those defined in WMO-GAW, a review of the existing procedures in GAW was undertaken under the lead of FZJ. The applicability of these procedures and guidelines was discussed with the partners and was adapted to the special requirements of aircraft measurements as outlined in the IAGOS Quality Management System shown in Figure 10. The results have been summarised in the report on Deliverable D3.3. This report formed the basis for the development of dedicated procedures which will be further elaborated in the FP7 project IGAS (IAGOS for the GMES Atmospheric Service). The IGAS project started in January 2013 for duration of 3 years.
4.2 Real Time Data Transmission
A system for real-time data transmission was also developed in IAGOS. It consists of an aircraft segment that prepares and downlinks specific data reports and a ground segment that receives, converts, and distributes the reports to the Global Telecommunication System of WMO from where it can be downloaded by real-time data users. As shown in Figure 11, the transmission system consists of a special interface (RTTU) which transmits the data from the IAGOS instruments to the aircraft data interface (SDU) and from there via SATCOM to the service provider of the airline (e.g. SITA) and via the E-ADAS Met Server to the GTS.
Figure 10: Conceptual framework of the quality management for IAGOS based on the GAW QA/QC-system (Source: GAW Report 172). The red boxes denote replacements of the GAW-components by IAGOS-specific components.
Météo-France has designed the BUFR format and corresponding template for encoding of the IAGOS data. An end-to-end test of the data transmission chain from IAGOS to the GTS was successfully completed and the BUFR template for IAGOS data was formally accepted by WMO upon successful validation by two Weather Services.
In order to prepare the future operational phase of IAGOS, CNRS has implemented the encoding and decoding functions for providing data in the BUFR format in the IAGOS central database. By this, BUFR reports of the IAGOS data are available in near-realtime (via GSM) for pre-operational studies, e.g. within the framework of the FP7 project MACC-2. As outlined in detail below, the data are already downloaded by MACC-2 partners from the IAGOS database in order to prepare the automation of validation tasks of MACC forecasts and reanalysis with IAGOS ozone and carbon monoxide measurements. The delay of the thus transmitted data varies from a few hours (for data sampled during descent of the aircraft and transmitted after landing) to a few days (if data transmission at the stopover was not triggered). Hence, IAGOS NRT data cannot be used for truly operational purposes requiring guaranteed lead-times of < 3 hours.
Figure 11: Overview of the IAGOS real-time data transmission
5. Preparation of the Legal Basis for Operation of the RI
An important objective of the preparatory phase was the preparation of the legal basis for routine operation of scientific instruments aboard passenger aircraft, including aeronautic certification for Airbus A340 and A330 aircraft, real-time data transmission, and the development of an operational concept, as described below.
5.1 Extension of the IAGOS STC to Airbus A330 Aircraft
The IAGOS-CORE instrumentation had the EASA approval (STC) for installation on Airbus A340 aircraft. This is an aircraft with four engines that is mainly used for long-haul flights, thus providing a large amount of data from the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The A330 is basically the same aircraft type, except for having only two engines, which also serves mid-range operation. The advantage of using A330 is that more vertical profiles during arrival and departure from the airports become available. In addition the fleet of potential carriers that could participate in IAGOS increases. The extension to another type of aircraft is also crucial because the A340 fleet is expected to gradually be taken out of service within the next decades. The transfer from the A340 approval (STC) to an approval that is valid for A330 as well has been achieved by Sabena Technics under contract of CNRS. The first A330 provided by Cathay Pacific Airways (see Figure 20) was equipped with this STC in July 2013.
5.2 Certification of new Instruments for Greenhouse Gases and Aerosol
The new instruments for the measurement of aerosol (Package 2c) and Greenhouse Gases (Package 2d) have been developed in cooperation between enviscope GmbH and DLR/FZJ and Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry Jena (MPI-BGC), respectively, under the authority of the EASA-approved Design Organisation P3Voith aerospace GmbH. The components of the instruments are integrated in aluminium housings adapted from that of the existing Packages 2a and 2b for measurements of nitrogen oxides. In addition two cylinders containing calibration gases in case of Package 2d and a butanol supply in case of Package 2c (cf. Figure 12) are mounted at the IAGOS rack in place of the oxygen cylinders used for Package 2a and 2b.
Package 2c contains an optical particle counter (OPC) and two condensation particle counters (CPC) for the analysis of different aerosol particle sizes. The OPC measures the particle size distribution in the particle diameter range from 0.25 to 32 µm. For smaller aerosol diameters (< 100 nm) the integral number concentration of particles is measured by two CPCs, one of which is equipped with a thermo-denuder operated at 250°C for removing volatile material from the aerosols prior to counting. In the CPC, particles that are too small to be detected directly are grown by condensation of material from the gas phase on the particle nucleus until the resulting droplets are large enough for optical detection. Thereby the size information is lost and only the total number of particles is measured.
Figure 12: Aerosol Analyser (Package 2c) mounted in IAGOS aircraft with butanol supplies connected.
For particle growth, liquid butanol supplied from an external reservoir tank is used (Figure 13). Excessive butanol is wasted to a storage tank. The butanol supply system was designed and manufactured by enviscope in collaboration with FZJ and DLR and tested at FZJ laboratories.
Figure 13: Butanol supply for IAGOS P2c
A special inlet system for the collection of aerosol particles was designed by enviscope, FZJ, DLR and TROPOS. The inlet was designed as a replacement of the Rosemount housing used for collection of trace gases in Package 2a, 2b and 2d. A prototype aerosol inlet was manufactured by enviscope and certified by Sabena Technics for the IGAOS Inlet Plate with national co-funding from the German project MAEL.
Figure 14: IAGOS inlet plate with the aerosol intake mounted in the upper position.
Package 2d is designed for the autonomous measurement of CO2, CH4, CO and water vapour at high precision. The measurement principal is cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) in the infrared spectral range. The instrument is based on a commercial analyser by PICARRO Inc., which was redesigned to meet the IAGOS requirements regarding physical dimensions, performance and safety issues. A prototype was manufactured under the authority of GFM/enviscope and was tested at MPI-BGC laboratories and in the frame work of the FP7 project EUFAR (JRA DENCHAR) during test flights with a Learjet.
Figure 15: Greenhouse Gas Analyser (Package 2d)
After passing the qualification program established by the DO with shock- and EMI-tests according to RTCA DO-160, the prototypes of Package 2c and 2d successfully passed ground tests on-board the Lufthansa IAGOS aircraft (D-AIGT). After approval is granted by the European Aviation Safety Administration (EASA) the new instrument packages are ready for operation.
5.3 Certification of the IAGOS-CARIBIC Container
After completion of the technical revisions described below, the CARIBIC container was re-certified under authority of the DO Lufthansa Technik. The approval was obtained in spring 2010.
5.4 Organisational Structure for Sustainable Operation
The IAGOS instruments are designed to measure autonomously during flight. After several months of operation some parts have to be serviced or replaced in order to ensure the quality of the measured data. A package has therefore to be removed from the aircraft and replaced by a spare instrument to allow continuous operation.
The concept of the IAGOS maintenance centre has been developed and forms a focal point of contact for airlines and research institutes. The logistics workflow for all IAGOS packages and supplies has been established by enviscope. From the IAGOS maintenance centre, spare parts are sent to the airline in due time so that the replacement can be performed by the airline personnel during regular aircraft checks. The instruments to be overhauled will be sent to the research institute for calibration. The maintenance work has to be done under the authority of a legal maintenance organisation which holds a legal approval of the European authority EASA. Each work step is documented and archived according to legal aviation standards. After cross-checking that all work and documentation has been done correctly the maintenance organisation provides a release-to-service document (i.e. EASA Form 1). After maintenance the instrument is stored at the IAGOS maintenance centre until it is sent to an airline for the next installation. In addition, all Package 2 options need external supplies that have to be refilled after several weeks. The logistics for these supplies have been included in the operational scheme with the same principle as described for the packages.
Figure 16: Flow chart of IAGOS maintenance centre logistics with “Operation” loop to the airlines and “Maintenance” loop to the research institutes. Package1 will be maintained by LGM /Sud Ingénierie. All other components will be released to service by GFM.
For management of the logistics, several tools have been developed. These include a database for documenting and archiving of the state and location of every IAGOS component. Information concerning logistics is provided to the different stakeholders by a special website and automatic email service. Flow charts (cf. Figure 16) have been developed to describe and check the process chains for maintenance and operation of IAGOS instruments. The maintenance logistics system is designed as an open system allowing to be scaled to future demands.
6. Technical Achievements
6.1 Real Time Data Transmission
Package1 contains the main data processing unit which disseminates the data collected during flight via GPRS when the aircraft has arrived at an airport (see above). The Real Time Transmission Unit (RTTU), which has been developed by Météo-France, connects the data processing unit of Package 1 to the standard satellite communication system (SDU) of the aircraft. Thereby, data can be transmitted in-flight using a SATCOM link to a data server of E-ADAS, from where the data can be downloaded in real time over the WMO Global Telecommunication System (WIS) by any Meteorological Service.
The RTTU is based on commercial-of-the-shelf (COTS) parts and LINUX operation system. Software for data transmission using SATCOM has been developed and tested in laboratory. The instrument has been tested for environmental qualification to demonstrate compliance with airworthiness specifications (RTCA DO-160). In a last step the RTTU has successfully passed an end to end transmission test on board an IAGOS aircraft during a ground test. Three prototypes of the RTTU have been manufactured. This work provides the basis for implementation of the RTTU into IAGOS aircraft as part of the FP7 project IGAS.
Figure 17: IAGOS satellite communication data transfer scheme and RTTU unit
6.2 Evaluation of the Backscatter Cloud Probe
The new Backscatter Cloud Probe (BCP), which had been developed in the FP6 project IAGOS-DS and is part of IAGOS Package 1 installation, was successfully tested aboard the FAAM BAe 146 aircraft. It was then deployed in a series of NERC-funded projects in 2010 (SepTex and UK Met. Office CONSTRAIN) and 2011 (e.g. FENNEC), including a series of high altitude validation flights. During the campaigns, the BCP was compared with a number of research instruments (e.g. CDP-100, CAPS-CAS and Nevzorov cloud instruments), provided by NERC funded projects (e.g. APPRAISE-clouds, RONOCO & SepTex missions).
6.3 Design of a Small Instrument Package
The small package was designed to measure water vapour and cloud particles. The goal was a total weight of less than 20kg (including control electronics and inlets) and a minimal installation overhead. As shown on the left side of Figure 18, the instrument package consists of the BCP, the hygrometer housing containing a SAW hygrometer and a Vaisala Humicap sensor, the air throughput assembly, the mounting flange and the data acquisition system (DAS). The electronics enclosure incorporates the control board for the BCP, the components of the DAS and the power conversion board. Main power and aircraft position are collected by the DAS, similar to the IAGOS-CORE system and are distributed to the separate instruments.
The prototype instrument package is shown in Figure 18. The sensors are directly mounted on the rear side of the IAGOS Inlet Plate. The electronics are to be mounted at a convenient location in the vicinity of the inlet plate.
Figure 18: Schematics (left) and CAD drawing (right) of the small package mounted on an IAGOS Inlet Plate for A340/A330 aircraft. Blue lines represent airflow paths and red lines represent electric connections between instruments the control box and the aircraft.
An alternative location for installation of the small package has been explored in partnership with British Airways for potential installation on Boeing B777 aircraft. This location was on the rear of an under-wing dry tank inspection hatch cover in the outboard wing space. The hatches are designed for use in routine maintenance and would require minimal modification to the aircraft structure. Nevertheless, power and communication must be provided by running cables down the leading edge of the wing to the main seal at the wing/body interface. Two blank inspection hatch covers were purchased by UCAM and detailed CAD diagrams were generated for the components of this plate. A conceptual reduced instrument suite design was generated on the rear of such an under wing hatch cover with suitable inlets and exhaust on the face on the plate. Due to wider financial and regulatory issues this approach was not followed beyond the conception phase.
6.4 Modification of the IAGOS-CARIBIC Container
In IAGOS-CARIBIC a modified air-freight container equipped with trace gas and aerosol measurement instruments is flown regularly on board a passenger aircraft of Lufthansa. The measurement system consists of a dedicated air inlet system and the CARIBIC container which houses the scientific instruments. Major objective of Task 5.2 was the conversion of the IAGOS-CARIBIC measurement system from a scientific experiment into an operational observation system, which meets the core objective of IAGOS. In order to reach this goal, technical improvements were required. These can be split in two activities: a) the modification and improvement of the IAGOS-CARIBIC container and b) the re-certification of the container according to aviation rules.
Actions to improve the reliability of the operation of the CARIBIC container and to reduce the maintenance work of individual instruments included the implementation of new instrument modules and a complete redesign of the internal communication system. The latter included the design of new Ethernet communication boards which was necessary to reduce false communication between the master computer that controls the entire container and the individual instruments. In addition, several new instruments were installed in the CARIBIC container for the in-situ measurement of trace gases H2O, H2O isotopes, CH4, CO2, O3, NO2, and the aerosol particle size distribution (OPC) and provisions for the collection of 88 air samples for chemical analysis of trace gases in the laboratory after the flights. Furthermore, the DOAS system for remote sensing of, e.g. SO2 and BrO was improved. The installation of new equipment implied major revisions in the wiring and pneumatics inside the container. The ventilation system was improved in order to get rid of hot spots (T > 45°C) which, in the past, had led to unreliable data for some of the instruments. The final container set-up was extensively tested and the documentation for the aviation approval was up-dated. A second inlet system was also constructed in order to have a spare part available for the case of damage during aircraft maintenance.
After completion of the technical modification in spring 2010 and certification under EASA regulations, routine operation (four consecutive inter-continental flights per month) of the new system was started in June 2011.
6.5 Design Study for a SO2 Analyser (Package 2e)
During the last year of the project a design study for a new package to measure in-situ SO2 was included as a new task by DLR. The measurement method selected for this new IAGOS module is chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) with continuous in-flight calibration using isotopically labeled SO2. The major elements of the CIMS instrument include an ion source, a reaction chamber, a mass filter with pumping system, gas and electrical supplies, instrument control and data acquisition unit. The design of the set-up in the IAGOS Package 2 housing is shown in Figure 19. As a result of the study a concept which meets the requirements given by the existing IAGOS provisions (Package 2) in terms of size, weight, electrical load and safety requirements has been evaluated. The instrument modules have been selected and a first laboratory set-up has been successfully tested. One of the gas cylinders will be used for oxygen, the other for calibration gas.
Figure 19: Set-up of the new instrument for SO2 measurements in the IAGOS Package 2 housing
Potential Impact:
The overall impact of the project results is directly related to the implementation and development of the IAGOS Research Infrastructure. The achievements and deliverables of the preparatory phase provide the necessary conditions in terms of governance and legal structure, financial planning and commitment for founding of the RI as an International Association (AISBL) with its seat in Brussels, and the aeronautic framework for construction and operation of the RI. The status of planning for implementation is as follows:
1. Founding of the AISBL
The notary deed for founding of the AISBL is scheduled for 28 November 2013. FZJ, CNRS, MPG, MF, KIT, DLR, TROPOS, and UMAN have subscribed as founding members. It is expected that the Association will be registered in February 2014. It is foreseen to include other institutions later and to offer honorary membership to Airlines, Airbus, WMO and ECMWF.
2. Construction
Construction has already started in 2011 with implementation of IAGOS-CORE equipment aboard an A340 of Lufthansa and with recertification of the CARIBIC installation. In the following years, installations were achieved aboard A340 of China Airlines and Air France. The first A330 was equipped in July 2013 at Cathay Pacific Airways and the fifth IAGOS-CORE aircraft has been modified in November 2013 at Iberia.
3. Operation
Operation of the IAGOS RI has started in 2011. Besides IAGOS-CARIBIC and the five IAGOS-CORE aircraft (cf. Figure 20), there are still two MOZAIC aircraft operational at Lufthansa, which will be phased out in 2014 after 20 years of service. Upon EASA approval, the new Package 2 instruments will be installed and it is foreseen to equip 2-3 new aircraft per year during the construction phase with national funding from Germany, France and the U.K.
Clearly, an important step towards the goal of IAGOS for quasi-global coverage has already been made with the installation on China Airlines in Taiwan and Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong, who serve routes over the Pacific region towards North America and Australia (Figure 21). Future plans include cooperation with South African Airways and Qantas for routes over the Southern part of the S.H. and with Finnair for polar routes in the N.H.
Figure 20: The six IAGOS aircraft equipped so far
4. Data Management
The IAGOS data management system has been implemented and is being accessed by scientific users as well as operational users in preparation of Copernicus (see below). QA/QC structures developed in the project will be formally implemented as part of IGAS.
Figure 21: Flight routes of the IAGOS-CORE aircraft since July 2011
5. Societal impact
IAGOS will form a key component of the global observing system required to further understand and monitor atmospheric composition associated with climatic change and air quality as outlined in the IGACO Theme report to IGOS (Barrie et al., 2004). This report formed the basis for the IAGOS-ERI proposal and for development of the in-situ component for GMES.
According to the review conducted by an international panel appointed by the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) for evaluation of research infrastructures for a national roadmap , IAGOS will exactly fulfil this objective: “IAGOS will fill a very important gap that exists with regards to the understanding and monitoring of atmospheric composition associated with climatic change. It complements existing ground-based observatories and satellite observations by providing observations in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere with unique detail and accuracy. No comparable infrastructure exists worldwide, which underlines the importance of IAGOS. “
The wider societal impact will be through the usage of the data provided by IAGOS in research performed by international user groups through scientific publications and by utilisation of the results in international assessments such as IPCC. More than 500 individual scientists or groups are registered on the database. Today, more than 200 publications using MOZAIC/IAGOS data have been published since 1997 (60 in the last 5 years), having received more than 4000 citations (2500 in the last 5 years; source: isi web of science). The new regions sampled by the new participating airlines (North Pacific and South-East Asia with China Airlines, West Africa and Caribbean with Air France, Middle-East and Australia with Cathay Pacific, and South America with Iberia) and the availability of new measurements thanks to the development of new packages, will definitely enhance the fields of investigations and applications for new results.
Figure 22: Screenshot of an example of automatic validation of the forecast runs by the IAGOS-NRT profiles of ozone and CO. http://www.iagos.fr/macc
The data provided by IAGOS are essential for the GMES/Copernicus Atmospheric Service with the consequential impact of more accurate and timely information of society with respect to climate change and air quality.
In order to prepare the use of IAGOS real time data for operational purposes, NRT-data are already being used in the framework of the EU FP7 MACC-2 program to evaluate the operational analyses and forecasts that will be used for the GMES/Copernicus Atmospheric Service. Results are available on the dedicated web page (http://www.iagos.fr/macc). Figure 22 gives an example, showing latest profiles from IAGOS along with the respective forecast runs.
At the end of each month, once the data have been checked and approved by the PIs, monthly mean profiles of IAGOS data are created for individual airports and for geographical regions (where appropriate), and compared with the NRT forecasts. They are posted on the website, and are used to form the basis of the validation reports which are issued every three months by the MACC/VAL work package. These reports summarise the findings from the previous season based on monthly averaged data which are statistically more robust than individual profiles, and which have been quality checked by the PIs, thus giving more confidence in the results.
IAGOS data are also used for evaluation of the global reanalysis and/or assimilation in regional air quality models. The IAGOS data are used along with MOZAIC data to provide continuity over the reanalysis period (2003-2012) which began under the first phase of the MACC project (EU FP7, 2009-2011) (Ordonez et al., 2010; Elguindi et al., 2010). The website contains monthly averaged profiles at individual airports from 2003-2012, monthly averaged scores for each year, and a MOZAIC-model climatology for the upper troposphere – lower stratosphere. These results are published every six months in the MACC-2 validation report for the global reanalysis and have also been published in the scientific literature (Inness et al., 2013).
6. Socio-economic Impact
The success of IAGOS has only been possible through an innovation alliance between scientific institutes, major airlines and companies specialised in instrumentation and aviation.
Aiming at an operational structure that operates in the highly regulated environment of civil aviation, IAGOS had from the beginning a strong industrial involvement. This includes the participation of major European Airlines and the strong involvement of industrial partners in the design and certification of the instrumentation. Approximately 50 percent of the EC funding, in addition to substantial national funding, has gone to industrial partners (i.e. enviscope GmbH) and other SMEs, e.g. LGM, Sabena Technics, P3Voith Aerospace GmbH, Grimm Aerosol Technik GmbH & Co. KG, Lufthansa Technik, Atmosphere, CGP Associates Ltd., acting as subcontractors for the development of instrumentation and special software, and for aeronautic certification.
Future impact is directly linked to the development of the IAGOS fleet and its long-term operation. Construction and maintenance of the instrumentation will be achieved by SMEs, such as LGM for Package 1, enviscope GmbH, GFM GmbH, P3 Voith Aerosopace GmbH, and Picarro Inc. for package 2 systems, Sabena Technics for delivering the EASA certifications of the IAGOS-CORE installation and Lufthansa Technik for certification of IAGOS-CARIBIC. IAGOS has already stimulated new activities in these companies, leading to employment of new personnel. This effect will grow over the development of the RI.
Other effects include activities of logistics companies for the shipping of equipment between airlines, maintenance organisations and the scientific institutions and indirect effects related to companies such as Grimm Aerosol Technik GmbH & Co. KG and Picarrro Inc., for manufacturing of compounds and software used in the different packages. The high degree of reliability and the need for unattended operation of the IAGOS instruments will stimulate innovation in these companies and will provide spin-off to other related fields. The development of novel instrumentation for high precision measurements and unattended operation in IAGOS have already led to industrial development of new or improved instruments for particles and greenhouse gases.
The small instrument package designed in IAGOS-ERI has the potential for widening of the IAGOS activities, especially with partners whose fleet is composed of medium or small aircraft having limitations in available space for instrument installation. Such interest has been expressed, e.g. during negotiations between IAGOS and potential partners from Romania.
The strong interest of the aviation sector in IAGOS is demonstrated by commitments from Lufthansa, Air France, Iberia/British Airways, China Airlines and Cathay Pacific, who agreed to provide free transportation of the IAGOS-CORE equipment (50-100 k€/ac/yr). Reasons are their intention to contribute to a better understanding of climate change with particular emphasis on the impact of aviation and the scientific basis for emission trading. Some of the data are directly relevant for aviation operations, including the optimisation of flight routes for climate effects and for the assessment of impact of aviation on climate.
Another potentially interesting contribution of IAGOS is in the field of aviation operations, including flight safety. In the wake of the Eyjafjalla eruption, the CARIBIC container was deployed on three dedicated flights upon request by Lufthansa. A special workshop on volcanic ash organised by IAGOS and WMO attracted stakeholders from aviation industry and the volcanic ash forecasting community. The conclusion of the workshop was that IAGOS data could make important contributions for improving ash forecasting and could help airlines to improve engine maintenance. Consequently, UMAN and FZJ initiated discussions with the BCP manufacturer about possible upgrade paths including the capability for water/ice discrimination and the detection of volcanic ash. A design study launched with national support from the U.K. and Germany led to a new variant (BCP-D) that includes depolarisation. Prototypes of the BCP-D are currently being tested in the laboratory and aboard research aircraft before it may be considered for substitution of the BCP in IAGOS.
7. Dissemination and Exploitation of Results
Promotion of routine observations from aircraft was achieved by actions of all partners through scientific publications, press releases and presentations at international conferences, for example those organised by WMO, EGU, AGU and ACCENT-plus and GEOSS.
Publications in peer-reviewed journals, participations to international conferences and workshops are listed in Tables A1 and A2. As IAGOS is a follow-up and integration of two successful projects developed during the last two decades, MOZAIC and CARIBIC, exploitation of results is clearly based on the expertise gained within these two projects. The IAGOS database already includes all the data recorded by MOZAIC. CARIBIC data will be included in the frame of the IGAS project. More than 500 individual scientists or groups are registered on the database. Today, more than 200 (60 in the last 5 years) papers made use of MOZAIC data, having more than 4000 (2500 in the last 5 years) citations, have been published since 1997 (source: isi web of science). The new regions sampled by the new participating airlines (North Pacific and South-East Asia with China Airlines, West Africa and Caribbean with Air France, Middle-East and Australia with Cathay Pacific, and South America with Iberia) and the availability of new measurements thanks to the development of the different packages options, will definitely enhance the fields of investigations and applications for new results.
The main exploitation of the achievements made in IAGOS-ERI is by implementation of the new RI in terms of a legal entity, as well as by construction and operation of the RI, as outlined above. The further development of the central database and implementation of real-time data transmission is one of the objectives of the FP7 project IGAS which aims at exploiting and improving the results of IAGOS-ERI by providing data streams, both in near-real-time and in delayed mode, to the Copernicus Atmospheric Service, currently represented by MACC-2 in its pre-operational state. A major focus of IGAS is to increase accessibility and interoperability of the data by developing and implementing new database tools besides harmonizing and documenting data quality. The data will be used for validation of satellite measurements and for comparison with model forecasts and reanalysis, as is already being done within MACC-2.
As highlighted in Figure 23 IGAS also aims at enhancing the capabilities of the new RI through targeted instrument development for the measurement of aerosols, VOCs, speciated cloud water/ice/volcanic ash particles, and water vapour, based on the achievements and results of IAGOS-ERI.
Figure 23: Illustration of the IGAS Work Packages improving the linkage between the IAGOS RI and the Copernicus Atmospheric Service (source: http://www.igas-project.org)
List of Websites:
Website
www.iagos.org
Contact
Dr. Andreas Volz-Thomas
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
IEK-8
42425 Jülich
e-mail: iagos-coordinator@fz-juelich.de
IAGOS combines the expertise of leading European scientific institutions, weather services, aeronautic industry, and major airlines in order to build a unique observing system for long-term observations of atmospheric composition using high-tech instrumentation deployed aboard passenger aircraft. The new RI will provide essential information for improving the scientific basis for the assessment of climate change and air quality. Specifically, IAGOS-ERI will provide open access to high quality in-situ measurements of GHGs and reactive gases, as well as aerosol and cloud particles for scientific and operational users world-wide. The information is of direct relevance to the Copernicus (GMES) Atmospheric Service and it is foreseen to provide the data in real time to operational users through the information system of the World Meteorological Organization, WIS.
IAGOS-ERI builds on the expertise gained in two successful European research projects, i.e. MOZAIC (http://www.obs-mip/mozaic) co-funded by the EC between 1993 and 2003, and CARIBIC (www.caribic-atmospheric.com) co-funded by Germany as part of AFO2000 and by the EC between 1994 and 2013. Important technical developments have been conducted as part of the FP6 Design Study for new RIs (IAGOS-DS). The new RI combines these two complementary components: IAGOS-CORE will provide quasi continuous measurements of ozone and its precursors (CO and NOx), greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and H2O), as well as aerosol and cloud particles. It is planned to install these instruments on a fleet of ca. 20 long-range aircraft of airlines operating on international routes. In IAGOS-CARIBIC, one aircraft (an Airbus A340-600 of Lufthansa) equipped with provisions for deployment of a cargo container containing a laboratory for measurements of trace gases and aerosol, including those above plus organic compounds, and provisions for collecting air samples for post-flight analysis of CFCs, HCFCs, VOCs, and aerosol chemical properties.
Main results of the preparatory phase project include:
• Preparation of a governance structure and statutes for implementation of the IAGOS RI as an international association under Belgian law (AISBL) with its seat in Brussels
• Definition of the required resources for construction and operation of the new RI
• Securing of funding commitments from member organisations, airlines and national funding agencies for construction and operation of the new RI
• Coordination with scientific and operational users of the data products provided by the new RI and establishment of a central database for scientific users, including also the data from the precursor projects MOZAIC and CARIBIC
• Development of structures for near real-time data provision into the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) of the Weather Services (the so-called WMO Information System, WIS)
• Enhancing the aeronautic certification basis for the new instruments deployed in IAGOS and extending the EASA approval for the IAGOS-CORE installation to Airbus A330 aircraft
• Development of the legal basis for collaboration with airlines and development of operational structures for sustainable maintenance of the instrumentation within the legal framework of civil aviation
• Technical improvements related to the sustainable deployment of IAGOS-CARIBIC and the design of novel instrumentation for future implementation.
The results establish the basis for implementation of the RI. In fact construction and operation have already started by installation of IAGOS-CORE on Airbus A340/A330 of Lufthansa, Air France, China Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Iberia, and regular operation of IAGOS-CARIBIC.
Project Context and Objectives:
Project Context
IAGOS combines the expertise of leading European scientific institutions, weather services, aeronautic industry, and major airlines in order to build a unique observing system for long-term observations of atmospheric composition using high-tech instrumentation deployed aboard passenger aircraft. The new RI will provide essential information for improving the scientific basis for the assessment of climate change and air quality. Specifically, IAGOS-ERI will provide high quality in-situ measurements of GHGs and reactive gases, as well as aerosol and cloud particles. The information is relevant for scientists world-wide engaged in research on climate change and air quality and is of direct relevance to the Copernicus (formerly GMES) Atmospheric Service. It is foreseen to provide the data in real time to operational users through the information system of the World Meteorological Organization, WIS.
IAGOS-ERI builds on the expertise gained in two successful European research projects, i.e. MOZAIC (http://www.iagos.fr/mozaic) co-funded by the EC between 1993 and 2003, and CARIBIC (www.caribic-atmospheric.com) co-funded by Germany as part of AFO2000 and by the EC between 1994 and 2013. Important technical developments for IAGOS-ERI have been conducted as part of the FP6 Design Study for new RIs (IAGOS-DS, contract no. 011902). During this study, the MOZAIC instrumentation was redesigned and certified for continuous deployment aboard commercial long-range aircraft. In addition, new instruments for GHGs, aerosol and cloud particles were developed. As a result of this work, IAGOS-CORE will provide measurements of ozone and its precursors (CO and NOx), Greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and H2O), as well as aerosol and cloud particles. It is planned to install these instruments on a fleet of ca. 20 long-range aircraft of airlines operating on international routes. The first installation aboard an A340 of Lufthansa was achieved in July 2011 and is depicted in Figure 1 and Figure 2.
Figure 1: Inlet Plate with probes on the fuselage of the first A340 aircraft (Lufthansa Viersen) equipped with IAGOS-CORE
Figure 2: IAGOS rack installed in the avionics bay of the first IAGOS-CORE aircraft
In addition, one aircraft (an Airbus A340-600 of Lufthansa) has been equipped with special provisions for mounting of a cargo container containing a full-size atmospheric chemistry laboratory for measuring trace gases and the aerosol distribution, including those listed above plus organic compounds, a remote sensing instrument and provisions for collecting air samples for post-flight analysis of distributions of a large suite of CFCs, HCFCs, and VOCs, as well as aerosol chemical properties (see Figure 3). A special inlet system (Figure 4) was permanently installed aboard the Lufthansa aircraft for accurate sampling of aerosol and trace gases. This setup was developed in CARIBIC and has been included in IAGOS for long-term sustainable operation.
Figure 3: Air Cargo Container with scientific instruments deployed in IAGOS-CARIBIC
Figure 4: Inlet system for IAGOS-CARIBIC permanently installed under the body of an A340-600 of Lufthansa
Objectives of the Preparatory Phase
The overall objective of the Preparatory Phase for IAGOS-ERI was to prepare the legal, financial and organisational structure for implementation of the new RI and to develop a funding scheme for the new RI. A key prerequisite was the preparation of the necessary legal preconditions for sustainable deployment of scientific instrumentation on commercial aircraft and the development of a data management structure for implementation of IAGOS-ERI into the global observing system as outlined in the IGACO Report and implemented by WMO. The activities were coordinated with the growing scientific user community and operational users such as WMO, AMDAR and ECMWF.
Technical work performed in the preparatory phase aimed at improvements of the CARIBIC container for routine operation, the evaluation of the performance of new equipment aboard research aircraft, and the design of novel instrumentation including a very small instrument package for deployment on an even wider fleet of aircraft in the future.
In order to meet its objectives, the Preparatory Phase Project was structured into five Work Packages.
WP1: Project management and dissemination
WP2: Coordination with global networks, users and airlines
WP3: Preparation for implementation of the new RI
WP4: Preparation of the legal basis for operation
WP5: New technical developments
In addition, four Work Packages, not funded by the Commission, were included in the preparatory phase. They aimed at continuation of the operation of MOZAIC (WP6) and CARIBIC (WP7), in order to maintain the continuity of the data and cooperation with the world-wide user community, and at evaluation of the scientific quality of the data provided by novel IAGOS equipment by deployment aboard research aircraft (WP8 and WP9).
Project Results:
1. Preparation of the Legal Framework for the new RI
The IAGOS partners discussed several possible legal forms for the new RI, including AISBL, EEIG, ERIC, GMBH and corresponding forms, and agreed (see M3.2.1- 3.2.2) that the RI should be implemented as an International not-for profit association under Belgian law (AISBL) with its seat in Brussels. A model for the governance structure and a draft of the statutes for the IAGOS AISBL were prepared under the lead of the legal department of FZJ. The partners also agreed on the distribution of the different activities between the members and the association as well as associated budgets (see Milestone report M3.2.3).
Table 1: Activities of the new RI and contributions of IAGOS partners. Key activities of the central entity are marked in grey.
After general agreement was obtained, a suitable lawyer (Bird & Bird LLP, Brussels) was contracted by FZJ for preparation and coordination of the final version of the statutes, translation into French language and formal submission of the application to the Belgian Court. The final agreed version of the statutes and associated internal regulations are annexed to the report on Deliverable 3.2. The notary deed for foundation of the AISBL has been scheduled for 28.11.2013.
The governance structure of the AISBL as outlined in Figure 5 is composed of a General Assembly (GA) chaired by a President, an Executive Board (EB) and a Secretariat. The GA is the highest decision making body. The EB is in charge of the daily business, in which it is supported by the Secretariat. An important aspect of the chosen structure of IAGOS is that the main activities (acquisition of instruments, maintenance, data analysis and data archiving/distribution) will be conducted by the partners from own resources including national funding. The data which result from these contributions are granted to the AISBL. The associated in-kind contributions are valued and agreed by the GA according to a predefined scheme. The GA also agrees on the activity plan which is binding for the partners upon finalisation of the associated annual budget. The statutes also foresee penalties for non-performance.
Figure 5: Governance structure of the IAGOS AISBL
It is also foreseen to establish Committees as needed for guiding the GA in its decisions. Of particular importance is the Advisory Committee (AC), which shall be composed of leading international scientists, who will help to monitor the progress and to guide the consortium in their planning of the development of the RI in terms of distribution of the measurements, new developments and accession of new partners. The AC will provide an important link to the international user community of IAGOS.
1.1 Role of Airlines
In the time frame of the project, IAGOS has collaborated with Lufthansa, China Airlines Taiwan, Air France, Cathay Pacific and British Airways/Iberia. During the negotiations, a model contract between the RI and participating airlines was developed (Deliverable D2.5). The contract has been iterated with several airlines, in particular Cathay Pacific and includes a clause for free transportation of the IAGOS instrumentation. A cost model for real-time data transmission will be included as soon as the Real-Time Transmission Unit is ready for installation. As long as the IAGOS Research Infrastructure has not gained legal personality, CNRS and FZJ act on behalf of the consortium.
In the Statutes for the AISBL, it is foreseen that honorary membership is offered to interested airlines. Honorary members do not pay membership fees and have the right to speak but no voting rights in the GA.
2. Definition of Costs for Construction and Operation of the RI
During the project, cost estimates for construction and operation were defined and regularly updated based upon new information obtained, e.g. after revision of the CARIBIC container and completion of the installations aboard the first and second IAGOS-CORE aircraft.
The roadmap for IAGOS-CORE aircraft installations is shown in Figure 6. Also shown is the planned acquisition of scientific instruments (P1=Package 1 and P2=Package 2) and associated installation kits.
Figure 6: Roadmap for IAGOS-CORE aircraft installations including acquisition of instrumentation
By the end of the preparatory phase IAGOS-CORE equipment has been installed on four aircraft (Lufthansa, Air France, China Airlines and Cathay Pacific). Installation of the fifth aircraft (Iberia) is foreseen to be completed in October 2013. It is foreseen to operate and further develop the RI over at least 20 years with regular scientific reviews and with adaptation to new scientific issues and technological developments. IAGOS-CORE equipment will be operated continuously aboard all aircraft (ca. 500 flights per year and a/c); deployment of the CARIBIC container is foreseen on one aircraft with a typical frequency of four consecutive flights per month (ca. 50 flights per year).
2.1 Cost Breakdown
The cost of construction and operation of the IAGOS RI has been estimated by the participants under the lead of FZJ and CNRS. Both partners also coordinated their proposals for IAGOS to be included on the national roadmaps of research infrastructures in France and Germany.
The German proposal was evaluated by an international review committee appointed by the Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat). The evaluation included a specific review of the estimated cost breakdown for construction, operation and decommissioning of the RI, besides the review of scientific quality and impact. The report on the Science-driven Evaluation of Large Research Infrastructure Projects for the National Roadmap (Pilot Phase) is available for download at http://www.wissenschaftsrat.de/en/home.html. The cost breakdown is described below. A detailed budget can be found in the report on Deliverable D 3.1.
2.1.1 Construction
A budget for acquisition of real estate and construction of buildings is not required for IAGOS, because the necessary laboratory, storage and office space is provided by the participating institutions or will be provided by the company foreseen for handling the logistics. Costs for special technical equipment concern special provisions in the laboratories for calibration and quality assurance of the instruments and special storage areas according to aeronautic rules. Construction and supply of devices and equipment include special instruments (including spares) for equipping 20 aircraft with IAGOS-CORE equipment. For IAGOS-CARIBIC, the container has already been equipped and is operational as a result of the work performed in WP5 (see Deliverable D5.3). However, several instruments are foreseen to be replaced by more powerful ones during the construction phase of IAGOS.
The total budget required for construction is estimated to approximately 45 Mio €. It includes instrumentation of 20 IAGOS-CORE aircraft and IAGOS-CARIBIC and the development and certification costs during the past years. Investments required for keeping the infrastructure and equipment on an adequate level, reflecting the state-of-the-art, are on the order of 1 Mio € per year.
The estimated annual costs for construction are shown in Figure 7. During the construction phase (years 1-6), they total 4-6 Mio € per year, including investment related personnel costs. The cost estimates for investments were based on commercial offers for the CORE instruments and the experience gained with the first IAGOS-CORE installations in 2011-13. Costs for special aircraft layovers have not been included because the modification can usually be conducted during scheduled layovers of the aircraft concerned.
Figure 7: Annual costs of construction of the IAGOS RI, including investments and associated personnel resources. The figure for 2012 includes prior years
2.1.2 Operation
The total costs of operation for the IAGOS RI are shown in Figure 8. Salaries constitute a major cost item for operation of the RI. Maintenance costs incur at the airlines and at the research institutes involved. Major costs also incur for the aeronautic quality management according to EASA rules, required to obtain the Release to Service certificates, and for transportation of the instruments between airlines, maintenance organisation and scientific institutions. Other cost items concern the data transmission and maintenance of the database.
The cost estimate for operation of the instruments, including the required personnel resources and consumables in the institutions for scientific quality assurance (calibrations etc.) are based on the long-term experience gained in the IAGOS precursor projects MOZAIC and CARIBIC.
The costs for world-wide operation of the equipment were estimated in WP4 by enviscope GmbH, together with FZJ and CNRS. They include costs for shipping of the instruments between airlines, maintenance centre and institutions, customs, and maintenance personnel and logistics for re-certification of the equipment (EASA Form 1) and for supply of gases and chemicals required for operation of the Packages 2. The cost estimate also includes regular updates of the certification basis, such as trainings and audits by the authorities.
Figure 8: Total annual cost for operation of the IAGOS RI
2.1.3 Decommissioning
Decommissioning of the infrastructure is fairly simple, as it requires only the removal of the IAGOS installation from the aircraft. The associated costs are estimated at 25 k€ per aircraft. Further decommissioning procedures are not necessary, because instrument ownership and associated intellectual property rights will remain with the member institutions.
2.1.4 Operation of the Central Entity
The estimated budget for operation of the IAGOS AISBL amounts to 170 k€, including half-time positions for the IAGOS Secretary and an administrative person, as well as costs for the organisation of internal meetings. This budget is foreseen to be covered by membership fees from the Full Members of the AISBL.
3. Commitments for Funding of the RI
The beneficiaries undertook continuous actions in their member states to negotiate funding commitments for construction and operation of the RI. This included negotiations with the Research Ministries in Germany and France and the National Environmental Research Council in the U.K. The status of commitment at the end of the preparatory phase is given below.
3.1 Germany
In April 2013, IAGOS was included in the National Roadmap of Research Infrastructures as a result of the review by the Council of Science and Humanities.
• An amount of 4.2 Mio € has been granted by BMBF to the contributing German institutions for the pilot phase of IAGOS-D (11-2012 until 04-2014), in addition to 1.3 Mio € for investments in 2010-2012. At the end of the pilot phase, 5 IAGOS-CORE aircraft are foreseen to be equipped and operated in trial mode together with the partners from France and U.K. The pilot phase also foresees regular operation of the CARIBIC container.
• An amount of 10 Mio € has been earmarked for the remaining construction phase of IAGOS, foreseen to start in Mai 2014.
• A long-term commitment for sustaining IAGOS operation has been expressed by the German Institutions participating in IAGOS (FZJ, MPG, KIT, DLR, TROPOS, IUP).
3.2 France
In 2008, IAGOS was included (together with ICOS) in the National Roadmap of Research Infrastructures, which includes a long-term funding perspective.
• The budget (ca. 0.5 Mio€/a) is granted on an annual basis under CNRS responsibility, following normal practises in France;
• A long-term commitment for sustaining IAGOS operation and maintenance of the IAGOS data- base has been expressed by the Member Institutions (CNRS-INSU, Météo France and Université Toulouse). CNES is committed to continue the support of the IAGOS database as part of ETHER.
3.3 United Kingdom
A proposal for long-term national support was prepared under the lead of UMAN and is under negotiation with NERC/NCAS.
A long-term commitment has been expressed by University of Manchester for scientific support of the BCP operation and data analysis with support from NCAS staff and laboratory and test facilities, including FAAM, through national funding.
3.4 Other Contributions
Taiwan supports IAGOS since 2008 via the National Science Council (NSC) and Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) sponsored projects related to the PGGM (Pacific Greenhouse Gases Measurements Project) for operation of IAGOS equipment on an aircraft of China Airlines (ca. 15 million NTD from NSC and 15 million NTD from EPA during 2008-2012). Future funding of 3 million NTD from NSC and 10 million NTD from EPA is pending confirmation. It is foreseen to equip another Taiwan-based aircraft in the near future.
Hungary: IAGOS is one of the candidates of those foreign research infrastructures which Hungary plans to join. A proposal was submitted in 2013 under the lead of University of Szeged.
Romania: Proposal in preparation under the lead of INCAS
Spain: Proposal in preparation under the lead of the Meteorological State Agency
USA: Initiative under the lead of NOAA to equip and operate 1-2 US-based IAGOS-CORE a/c
3.5 Commitment by the Institutions Involved in IAGOS
As detailed in the German proposal, the committed contributions by the German institutions amount to ca. 50% of the foreseen German contribution. The institutions contribute substantially with personnel resources, by providing the required laboratory and office space, and by contributions to the operational budget and investments. The situation in France is similar with about 50% of the total French contribution committed by the institutions participating in IAGOS, i.e. CNRS and Météo France, and support by CNES for the database. In the U.K. the University of Manchester has committed in-kind support for operation, quality assurance and data analysis of the Backscatter Cloud Probe. The respective letters of commitment are annexed to Deliverable 3.1.
3.6 Commitment by the Airlines Involved in IAGOS
The airlines so far associated with IAGOS have agreed to free transportation of the equipment for IAGOS-CORE. The same business model will be negotiated with new airlines. This contribution amounts to approx. 15% of the running costs.
3.7 Funding by the Copernicus Atmospheric Core Service
Funding for IAGOS is also expected to become available from the operational budget of the Copernicus Atmospheric Service, cf. letters by ECMWF, coordinator of the FP7 project MACC-2, and by EEA, in charge of the in-situ component for Copernicus.
In preparation, FZJ and CNRS presented IAGOS to the European Environment Agency who is in charge of the FP7 project GISC for coordination of the in-situ component of Copernicus. In response to the request by GISC, a cost analysis of the IAGOS data was submitted. The IAGOS consortium agreed that real-time data would only be made available in the future if requested by Copernicus with a commitment for related costs being covered from the Copernicus operational budget.
3.8 Risks and Gaps
The financial risks are considered relatively small as there is no need for construction of buildings. The instruments have already been developed with support by the EC in the projects IAGOS-DS and IAGOS-ERI. Suitable commercial partners have been found with the appropriate technical know-how and legal approvals for the special needs of IAGOS.
A gap in guaranteed funding on the order of 30% has been identified for the period after 2017. This gap must be closed by a combination of the following options:
• Contributions by the participating institutions
• Contributions from national funding
• Contributions from new partners (e.g. USA, HU, RO, …)
• Support from the EC under Horizon 2020
• Support from Copernicus operational budget (Atmospheric Monitoring Service)
From past experience, it is expected that EU-funding can be acquired for upgrading and innovation through individual projects.
As construction is planned to be carried out over several years, it is possible to postpone aircraft installations in case of unforeseen difficulties, until new partners have been found. Particularly important is the very low risk associated with decommissioning of the RI, because the costs for de-installation of the instruments are negligible.
4. Data Management
The development of the scientific database has been completed under the lead of CNRS. Its status is operational and it includes data sets from about 38,000 MOZAIC flights (from August 1994 to May 2013) and from about 1,700 IAGOS flights (from July 2011 to June 2013). The IAGOS database is currently accessed through about 500 logins (individual scientists and/or institutions, projects), 150 of them being new users since September 2009.
4.1 Structure of the Scientific Database of the RI
The development of the database of the RI started from the structure that CNRS and CNES had developed for the MOZAIC project since 2005. The data management structure was modified to accept the new IAGOS data from Packages 1 and 2, as well as meteorological parameters and technical parameters describing the status of each instrument. CNRS coordinated the development with the principal investigators (PIs) of the new instrumentation (Backscatter Cloud Probe, Packages 2 instruments) to include and manage the new datasets in the structure.
Figure 9 describes the data flow between the recorded in-situ raw data and the final products inserted in the central database for different uses. A delayed transmission system has been implemented in Package 1 and is operational on the first four IAGOS-equipped aircraft (Lufthansa since July 2011; China Airlines Taiwan since July 2012, Air France since June 2013, and Cathay Pacific since July 2013). As soon as the aircraft lands, the data are transmitted by GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) to the IAGOS database at Toulouse. Depending on the circumstances at the stopover (quality of the GPRS network, duration of the stop etc.), occasionally the process for data transmission is not triggered before the aircraft takes off again. In such cases, flight data are transferred at the next stopover.
Raw data (L0) received in the central database can be downloaded by the IAGOS PIs, National Meteorological Services and Copernicus Centres for near-real time and/or delayed mode tasks. Because NRT data are not fully calibrated and have not undergone post-flight validation by IAGOS PIs they are foreseen to be deleted by the users when calibrated and validated data (L1) are available in the database. After QA/QC procedures and final calibration have been applied to the data sets (every 2 to 6 months) by the IAGOS PIs, geophysical data (L1) are implemented in the IAGOS central database. In addition, averaged data (L2) and added-value products (L3) are produced by CNRS and included with the measured variables.
Figure 9: Schematic description of the data flow
In order to establish appropriate QA/QC protocols in conformance with those defined in WMO-GAW, a review of the existing procedures in GAW was undertaken under the lead of FZJ. The applicability of these procedures and guidelines was discussed with the partners and was adapted to the special requirements of aircraft measurements as outlined in the IAGOS Quality Management System shown in Figure 10. The results have been summarised in the report on Deliverable D3.3. This report formed the basis for the development of dedicated procedures which will be further elaborated in the FP7 project IGAS (IAGOS for the GMES Atmospheric Service). The IGAS project started in January 2013 for duration of 3 years.
4.2 Real Time Data Transmission
A system for real-time data transmission was also developed in IAGOS. It consists of an aircraft segment that prepares and downlinks specific data reports and a ground segment that receives, converts, and distributes the reports to the Global Telecommunication System of WMO from where it can be downloaded by real-time data users. As shown in Figure 11, the transmission system consists of a special interface (RTTU) which transmits the data from the IAGOS instruments to the aircraft data interface (SDU) and from there via SATCOM to the service provider of the airline (e.g. SITA) and via the E-ADAS Met Server to the GTS.
Figure 10: Conceptual framework of the quality management for IAGOS based on the GAW QA/QC-system (Source: GAW Report 172). The red boxes denote replacements of the GAW-components by IAGOS-specific components.
Météo-France has designed the BUFR format and corresponding template for encoding of the IAGOS data. An end-to-end test of the data transmission chain from IAGOS to the GTS was successfully completed and the BUFR template for IAGOS data was formally accepted by WMO upon successful validation by two Weather Services.
In order to prepare the future operational phase of IAGOS, CNRS has implemented the encoding and decoding functions for providing data in the BUFR format in the IAGOS central database. By this, BUFR reports of the IAGOS data are available in near-realtime (via GSM) for pre-operational studies, e.g. within the framework of the FP7 project MACC-2. As outlined in detail below, the data are already downloaded by MACC-2 partners from the IAGOS database in order to prepare the automation of validation tasks of MACC forecasts and reanalysis with IAGOS ozone and carbon monoxide measurements. The delay of the thus transmitted data varies from a few hours (for data sampled during descent of the aircraft and transmitted after landing) to a few days (if data transmission at the stopover was not triggered). Hence, IAGOS NRT data cannot be used for truly operational purposes requiring guaranteed lead-times of < 3 hours.
Figure 11: Overview of the IAGOS real-time data transmission
5. Preparation of the Legal Basis for Operation of the RI
An important objective of the preparatory phase was the preparation of the legal basis for routine operation of scientific instruments aboard passenger aircraft, including aeronautic certification for Airbus A340 and A330 aircraft, real-time data transmission, and the development of an operational concept, as described below.
5.1 Extension of the IAGOS STC to Airbus A330 Aircraft
The IAGOS-CORE instrumentation had the EASA approval (STC) for installation on Airbus A340 aircraft. This is an aircraft with four engines that is mainly used for long-haul flights, thus providing a large amount of data from the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The A330 is basically the same aircraft type, except for having only two engines, which also serves mid-range operation. The advantage of using A330 is that more vertical profiles during arrival and departure from the airports become available. In addition the fleet of potential carriers that could participate in IAGOS increases. The extension to another type of aircraft is also crucial because the A340 fleet is expected to gradually be taken out of service within the next decades. The transfer from the A340 approval (STC) to an approval that is valid for A330 as well has been achieved by Sabena Technics under contract of CNRS. The first A330 provided by Cathay Pacific Airways (see Figure 20) was equipped with this STC in July 2013.
5.2 Certification of new Instruments for Greenhouse Gases and Aerosol
The new instruments for the measurement of aerosol (Package 2c) and Greenhouse Gases (Package 2d) have been developed in cooperation between enviscope GmbH and DLR/FZJ and Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry Jena (MPI-BGC), respectively, under the authority of the EASA-approved Design Organisation P3Voith aerospace GmbH. The components of the instruments are integrated in aluminium housings adapted from that of the existing Packages 2a and 2b for measurements of nitrogen oxides. In addition two cylinders containing calibration gases in case of Package 2d and a butanol supply in case of Package 2c (cf. Figure 12) are mounted at the IAGOS rack in place of the oxygen cylinders used for Package 2a and 2b.
Package 2c contains an optical particle counter (OPC) and two condensation particle counters (CPC) for the analysis of different aerosol particle sizes. The OPC measures the particle size distribution in the particle diameter range from 0.25 to 32 µm. For smaller aerosol diameters (< 100 nm) the integral number concentration of particles is measured by two CPCs, one of which is equipped with a thermo-denuder operated at 250°C for removing volatile material from the aerosols prior to counting. In the CPC, particles that are too small to be detected directly are grown by condensation of material from the gas phase on the particle nucleus until the resulting droplets are large enough for optical detection. Thereby the size information is lost and only the total number of particles is measured.
Figure 12: Aerosol Analyser (Package 2c) mounted in IAGOS aircraft with butanol supplies connected.
For particle growth, liquid butanol supplied from an external reservoir tank is used (Figure 13). Excessive butanol is wasted to a storage tank. The butanol supply system was designed and manufactured by enviscope in collaboration with FZJ and DLR and tested at FZJ laboratories.
Figure 13: Butanol supply for IAGOS P2c
A special inlet system for the collection of aerosol particles was designed by enviscope, FZJ, DLR and TROPOS. The inlet was designed as a replacement of the Rosemount housing used for collection of trace gases in Package 2a, 2b and 2d. A prototype aerosol inlet was manufactured by enviscope and certified by Sabena Technics for the IGAOS Inlet Plate with national co-funding from the German project MAEL.
Figure 14: IAGOS inlet plate with the aerosol intake mounted in the upper position.
Package 2d is designed for the autonomous measurement of CO2, CH4, CO and water vapour at high precision. The measurement principal is cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) in the infrared spectral range. The instrument is based on a commercial analyser by PICARRO Inc., which was redesigned to meet the IAGOS requirements regarding physical dimensions, performance and safety issues. A prototype was manufactured under the authority of GFM/enviscope and was tested at MPI-BGC laboratories and in the frame work of the FP7 project EUFAR (JRA DENCHAR) during test flights with a Learjet.
Figure 15: Greenhouse Gas Analyser (Package 2d)
After passing the qualification program established by the DO with shock- and EMI-tests according to RTCA DO-160, the prototypes of Package 2c and 2d successfully passed ground tests on-board the Lufthansa IAGOS aircraft (D-AIGT). After approval is granted by the European Aviation Safety Administration (EASA) the new instrument packages are ready for operation.
5.3 Certification of the IAGOS-CARIBIC Container
After completion of the technical revisions described below, the CARIBIC container was re-certified under authority of the DO Lufthansa Technik. The approval was obtained in spring 2010.
5.4 Organisational Structure for Sustainable Operation
The IAGOS instruments are designed to measure autonomously during flight. After several months of operation some parts have to be serviced or replaced in order to ensure the quality of the measured data. A package has therefore to be removed from the aircraft and replaced by a spare instrument to allow continuous operation.
The concept of the IAGOS maintenance centre has been developed and forms a focal point of contact for airlines and research institutes. The logistics workflow for all IAGOS packages and supplies has been established by enviscope. From the IAGOS maintenance centre, spare parts are sent to the airline in due time so that the replacement can be performed by the airline personnel during regular aircraft checks. The instruments to be overhauled will be sent to the research institute for calibration. The maintenance work has to be done under the authority of a legal maintenance organisation which holds a legal approval of the European authority EASA. Each work step is documented and archived according to legal aviation standards. After cross-checking that all work and documentation has been done correctly the maintenance organisation provides a release-to-service document (i.e. EASA Form 1). After maintenance the instrument is stored at the IAGOS maintenance centre until it is sent to an airline for the next installation. In addition, all Package 2 options need external supplies that have to be refilled after several weeks. The logistics for these supplies have been included in the operational scheme with the same principle as described for the packages.
Figure 16: Flow chart of IAGOS maintenance centre logistics with “Operation” loop to the airlines and “Maintenance” loop to the research institutes. Package1 will be maintained by LGM /Sud Ingénierie. All other components will be released to service by GFM.
For management of the logistics, several tools have been developed. These include a database for documenting and archiving of the state and location of every IAGOS component. Information concerning logistics is provided to the different stakeholders by a special website and automatic email service. Flow charts (cf. Figure 16) have been developed to describe and check the process chains for maintenance and operation of IAGOS instruments. The maintenance logistics system is designed as an open system allowing to be scaled to future demands.
6. Technical Achievements
6.1 Real Time Data Transmission
Package1 contains the main data processing unit which disseminates the data collected during flight via GPRS when the aircraft has arrived at an airport (see above). The Real Time Transmission Unit (RTTU), which has been developed by Météo-France, connects the data processing unit of Package 1 to the standard satellite communication system (SDU) of the aircraft. Thereby, data can be transmitted in-flight using a SATCOM link to a data server of E-ADAS, from where the data can be downloaded in real time over the WMO Global Telecommunication System (WIS) by any Meteorological Service.
The RTTU is based on commercial-of-the-shelf (COTS) parts and LINUX operation system. Software for data transmission using SATCOM has been developed and tested in laboratory. The instrument has been tested for environmental qualification to demonstrate compliance with airworthiness specifications (RTCA DO-160). In a last step the RTTU has successfully passed an end to end transmission test on board an IAGOS aircraft during a ground test. Three prototypes of the RTTU have been manufactured. This work provides the basis for implementation of the RTTU into IAGOS aircraft as part of the FP7 project IGAS.
Figure 17: IAGOS satellite communication data transfer scheme and RTTU unit
6.2 Evaluation of the Backscatter Cloud Probe
The new Backscatter Cloud Probe (BCP), which had been developed in the FP6 project IAGOS-DS and is part of IAGOS Package 1 installation, was successfully tested aboard the FAAM BAe 146 aircraft. It was then deployed in a series of NERC-funded projects in 2010 (SepTex and UK Met. Office CONSTRAIN) and 2011 (e.g. FENNEC), including a series of high altitude validation flights. During the campaigns, the BCP was compared with a number of research instruments (e.g. CDP-100, CAPS-CAS and Nevzorov cloud instruments), provided by NERC funded projects (e.g. APPRAISE-clouds, RONOCO & SepTex missions).
6.3 Design of a Small Instrument Package
The small package was designed to measure water vapour and cloud particles. The goal was a total weight of less than 20kg (including control electronics and inlets) and a minimal installation overhead. As shown on the left side of Figure 18, the instrument package consists of the BCP, the hygrometer housing containing a SAW hygrometer and a Vaisala Humicap sensor, the air throughput assembly, the mounting flange and the data acquisition system (DAS). The electronics enclosure incorporates the control board for the BCP, the components of the DAS and the power conversion board. Main power and aircraft position are collected by the DAS, similar to the IAGOS-CORE system and are distributed to the separate instruments.
The prototype instrument package is shown in Figure 18. The sensors are directly mounted on the rear side of the IAGOS Inlet Plate. The electronics are to be mounted at a convenient location in the vicinity of the inlet plate.
Figure 18: Schematics (left) and CAD drawing (right) of the small package mounted on an IAGOS Inlet Plate for A340/A330 aircraft. Blue lines represent airflow paths and red lines represent electric connections between instruments the control box and the aircraft.
An alternative location for installation of the small package has been explored in partnership with British Airways for potential installation on Boeing B777 aircraft. This location was on the rear of an under-wing dry tank inspection hatch cover in the outboard wing space. The hatches are designed for use in routine maintenance and would require minimal modification to the aircraft structure. Nevertheless, power and communication must be provided by running cables down the leading edge of the wing to the main seal at the wing/body interface. Two blank inspection hatch covers were purchased by UCAM and detailed CAD diagrams were generated for the components of this plate. A conceptual reduced instrument suite design was generated on the rear of such an under wing hatch cover with suitable inlets and exhaust on the face on the plate. Due to wider financial and regulatory issues this approach was not followed beyond the conception phase.
6.4 Modification of the IAGOS-CARIBIC Container
In IAGOS-CARIBIC a modified air-freight container equipped with trace gas and aerosol measurement instruments is flown regularly on board a passenger aircraft of Lufthansa. The measurement system consists of a dedicated air inlet system and the CARIBIC container which houses the scientific instruments. Major objective of Task 5.2 was the conversion of the IAGOS-CARIBIC measurement system from a scientific experiment into an operational observation system, which meets the core objective of IAGOS. In order to reach this goal, technical improvements were required. These can be split in two activities: a) the modification and improvement of the IAGOS-CARIBIC container and b) the re-certification of the container according to aviation rules.
Actions to improve the reliability of the operation of the CARIBIC container and to reduce the maintenance work of individual instruments included the implementation of new instrument modules and a complete redesign of the internal communication system. The latter included the design of new Ethernet communication boards which was necessary to reduce false communication between the master computer that controls the entire container and the individual instruments. In addition, several new instruments were installed in the CARIBIC container for the in-situ measurement of trace gases H2O, H2O isotopes, CH4, CO2, O3, NO2, and the aerosol particle size distribution (OPC) and provisions for the collection of 88 air samples for chemical analysis of trace gases in the laboratory after the flights. Furthermore, the DOAS system for remote sensing of, e.g. SO2 and BrO was improved. The installation of new equipment implied major revisions in the wiring and pneumatics inside the container. The ventilation system was improved in order to get rid of hot spots (T > 45°C) which, in the past, had led to unreliable data for some of the instruments. The final container set-up was extensively tested and the documentation for the aviation approval was up-dated. A second inlet system was also constructed in order to have a spare part available for the case of damage during aircraft maintenance.
After completion of the technical modification in spring 2010 and certification under EASA regulations, routine operation (four consecutive inter-continental flights per month) of the new system was started in June 2011.
6.5 Design Study for a SO2 Analyser (Package 2e)
During the last year of the project a design study for a new package to measure in-situ SO2 was included as a new task by DLR. The measurement method selected for this new IAGOS module is chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) with continuous in-flight calibration using isotopically labeled SO2. The major elements of the CIMS instrument include an ion source, a reaction chamber, a mass filter with pumping system, gas and electrical supplies, instrument control and data acquisition unit. The design of the set-up in the IAGOS Package 2 housing is shown in Figure 19. As a result of the study a concept which meets the requirements given by the existing IAGOS provisions (Package 2) in terms of size, weight, electrical load and safety requirements has been evaluated. The instrument modules have been selected and a first laboratory set-up has been successfully tested. One of the gas cylinders will be used for oxygen, the other for calibration gas.
Figure 19: Set-up of the new instrument for SO2 measurements in the IAGOS Package 2 housing
Potential Impact:
The overall impact of the project results is directly related to the implementation and development of the IAGOS Research Infrastructure. The achievements and deliverables of the preparatory phase provide the necessary conditions in terms of governance and legal structure, financial planning and commitment for founding of the RI as an International Association (AISBL) with its seat in Brussels, and the aeronautic framework for construction and operation of the RI. The status of planning for implementation is as follows:
1. Founding of the AISBL
The notary deed for founding of the AISBL is scheduled for 28 November 2013. FZJ, CNRS, MPG, MF, KIT, DLR, TROPOS, and UMAN have subscribed as founding members. It is expected that the Association will be registered in February 2014. It is foreseen to include other institutions later and to offer honorary membership to Airlines, Airbus, WMO and ECMWF.
2. Construction
Construction has already started in 2011 with implementation of IAGOS-CORE equipment aboard an A340 of Lufthansa and with recertification of the CARIBIC installation. In the following years, installations were achieved aboard A340 of China Airlines and Air France. The first A330 was equipped in July 2013 at Cathay Pacific Airways and the fifth IAGOS-CORE aircraft has been modified in November 2013 at Iberia.
3. Operation
Operation of the IAGOS RI has started in 2011. Besides IAGOS-CARIBIC and the five IAGOS-CORE aircraft (cf. Figure 20), there are still two MOZAIC aircraft operational at Lufthansa, which will be phased out in 2014 after 20 years of service. Upon EASA approval, the new Package 2 instruments will be installed and it is foreseen to equip 2-3 new aircraft per year during the construction phase with national funding from Germany, France and the U.K.
Clearly, an important step towards the goal of IAGOS for quasi-global coverage has already been made with the installation on China Airlines in Taiwan and Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong, who serve routes over the Pacific region towards North America and Australia (Figure 21). Future plans include cooperation with South African Airways and Qantas for routes over the Southern part of the S.H. and with Finnair for polar routes in the N.H.
Figure 20: The six IAGOS aircraft equipped so far
4. Data Management
The IAGOS data management system has been implemented and is being accessed by scientific users as well as operational users in preparation of Copernicus (see below). QA/QC structures developed in the project will be formally implemented as part of IGAS.
Figure 21: Flight routes of the IAGOS-CORE aircraft since July 2011
5. Societal impact
IAGOS will form a key component of the global observing system required to further understand and monitor atmospheric composition associated with climatic change and air quality as outlined in the IGACO Theme report to IGOS (Barrie et al., 2004). This report formed the basis for the IAGOS-ERI proposal and for development of the in-situ component for GMES.
According to the review conducted by an international panel appointed by the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) for evaluation of research infrastructures for a national roadmap , IAGOS will exactly fulfil this objective: “IAGOS will fill a very important gap that exists with regards to the understanding and monitoring of atmospheric composition associated with climatic change. It complements existing ground-based observatories and satellite observations by providing observations in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere with unique detail and accuracy. No comparable infrastructure exists worldwide, which underlines the importance of IAGOS. “
The wider societal impact will be through the usage of the data provided by IAGOS in research performed by international user groups through scientific publications and by utilisation of the results in international assessments such as IPCC. More than 500 individual scientists or groups are registered on the database. Today, more than 200 publications using MOZAIC/IAGOS data have been published since 1997 (60 in the last 5 years), having received more than 4000 citations (2500 in the last 5 years; source: isi web of science). The new regions sampled by the new participating airlines (North Pacific and South-East Asia with China Airlines, West Africa and Caribbean with Air France, Middle-East and Australia with Cathay Pacific, and South America with Iberia) and the availability of new measurements thanks to the development of new packages, will definitely enhance the fields of investigations and applications for new results.
Figure 22: Screenshot of an example of automatic validation of the forecast runs by the IAGOS-NRT profiles of ozone and CO. http://www.iagos.fr/macc
The data provided by IAGOS are essential for the GMES/Copernicus Atmospheric Service with the consequential impact of more accurate and timely information of society with respect to climate change and air quality.
In order to prepare the use of IAGOS real time data for operational purposes, NRT-data are already being used in the framework of the EU FP7 MACC-2 program to evaluate the operational analyses and forecasts that will be used for the GMES/Copernicus Atmospheric Service. Results are available on the dedicated web page (http://www.iagos.fr/macc). Figure 22 gives an example, showing latest profiles from IAGOS along with the respective forecast runs.
At the end of each month, once the data have been checked and approved by the PIs, monthly mean profiles of IAGOS data are created for individual airports and for geographical regions (where appropriate), and compared with the NRT forecasts. They are posted on the website, and are used to form the basis of the validation reports which are issued every three months by the MACC/VAL work package. These reports summarise the findings from the previous season based on monthly averaged data which are statistically more robust than individual profiles, and which have been quality checked by the PIs, thus giving more confidence in the results.
IAGOS data are also used for evaluation of the global reanalysis and/or assimilation in regional air quality models. The IAGOS data are used along with MOZAIC data to provide continuity over the reanalysis period (2003-2012) which began under the first phase of the MACC project (EU FP7, 2009-2011) (Ordonez et al., 2010; Elguindi et al., 2010). The website contains monthly averaged profiles at individual airports from 2003-2012, monthly averaged scores for each year, and a MOZAIC-model climatology for the upper troposphere – lower stratosphere. These results are published every six months in the MACC-2 validation report for the global reanalysis and have also been published in the scientific literature (Inness et al., 2013).
6. Socio-economic Impact
The success of IAGOS has only been possible through an innovation alliance between scientific institutes, major airlines and companies specialised in instrumentation and aviation.
Aiming at an operational structure that operates in the highly regulated environment of civil aviation, IAGOS had from the beginning a strong industrial involvement. This includes the participation of major European Airlines and the strong involvement of industrial partners in the design and certification of the instrumentation. Approximately 50 percent of the EC funding, in addition to substantial national funding, has gone to industrial partners (i.e. enviscope GmbH) and other SMEs, e.g. LGM, Sabena Technics, P3Voith Aerospace GmbH, Grimm Aerosol Technik GmbH & Co. KG, Lufthansa Technik, Atmosphere, CGP Associates Ltd., acting as subcontractors for the development of instrumentation and special software, and for aeronautic certification.
Future impact is directly linked to the development of the IAGOS fleet and its long-term operation. Construction and maintenance of the instrumentation will be achieved by SMEs, such as LGM for Package 1, enviscope GmbH, GFM GmbH, P3 Voith Aerosopace GmbH, and Picarro Inc. for package 2 systems, Sabena Technics for delivering the EASA certifications of the IAGOS-CORE installation and Lufthansa Technik for certification of IAGOS-CARIBIC. IAGOS has already stimulated new activities in these companies, leading to employment of new personnel. This effect will grow over the development of the RI.
Other effects include activities of logistics companies for the shipping of equipment between airlines, maintenance organisations and the scientific institutions and indirect effects related to companies such as Grimm Aerosol Technik GmbH & Co. KG and Picarrro Inc., for manufacturing of compounds and software used in the different packages. The high degree of reliability and the need for unattended operation of the IAGOS instruments will stimulate innovation in these companies and will provide spin-off to other related fields. The development of novel instrumentation for high precision measurements and unattended operation in IAGOS have already led to industrial development of new or improved instruments for particles and greenhouse gases.
The small instrument package designed in IAGOS-ERI has the potential for widening of the IAGOS activities, especially with partners whose fleet is composed of medium or small aircraft having limitations in available space for instrument installation. Such interest has been expressed, e.g. during negotiations between IAGOS and potential partners from Romania.
The strong interest of the aviation sector in IAGOS is demonstrated by commitments from Lufthansa, Air France, Iberia/British Airways, China Airlines and Cathay Pacific, who agreed to provide free transportation of the IAGOS-CORE equipment (50-100 k€/ac/yr). Reasons are their intention to contribute to a better understanding of climate change with particular emphasis on the impact of aviation and the scientific basis for emission trading. Some of the data are directly relevant for aviation operations, including the optimisation of flight routes for climate effects and for the assessment of impact of aviation on climate.
Another potentially interesting contribution of IAGOS is in the field of aviation operations, including flight safety. In the wake of the Eyjafjalla eruption, the CARIBIC container was deployed on three dedicated flights upon request by Lufthansa. A special workshop on volcanic ash organised by IAGOS and WMO attracted stakeholders from aviation industry and the volcanic ash forecasting community. The conclusion of the workshop was that IAGOS data could make important contributions for improving ash forecasting and could help airlines to improve engine maintenance. Consequently, UMAN and FZJ initiated discussions with the BCP manufacturer about possible upgrade paths including the capability for water/ice discrimination and the detection of volcanic ash. A design study launched with national support from the U.K. and Germany led to a new variant (BCP-D) that includes depolarisation. Prototypes of the BCP-D are currently being tested in the laboratory and aboard research aircraft before it may be considered for substitution of the BCP in IAGOS.
7. Dissemination and Exploitation of Results
Promotion of routine observations from aircraft was achieved by actions of all partners through scientific publications, press releases and presentations at international conferences, for example those organised by WMO, EGU, AGU and ACCENT-plus and GEOSS.
Publications in peer-reviewed journals, participations to international conferences and workshops are listed in Tables A1 and A2. As IAGOS is a follow-up and integration of two successful projects developed during the last two decades, MOZAIC and CARIBIC, exploitation of results is clearly based on the expertise gained within these two projects. The IAGOS database already includes all the data recorded by MOZAIC. CARIBIC data will be included in the frame of the IGAS project. More than 500 individual scientists or groups are registered on the database. Today, more than 200 (60 in the last 5 years) papers made use of MOZAIC data, having more than 4000 (2500 in the last 5 years) citations, have been published since 1997 (source: isi web of science). The new regions sampled by the new participating airlines (North Pacific and South-East Asia with China Airlines, West Africa and Caribbean with Air France, Middle-East and Australia with Cathay Pacific, and South America with Iberia) and the availability of new measurements thanks to the development of the different packages options, will definitely enhance the fields of investigations and applications for new results.
The main exploitation of the achievements made in IAGOS-ERI is by implementation of the new RI in terms of a legal entity, as well as by construction and operation of the RI, as outlined above. The further development of the central database and implementation of real-time data transmission is one of the objectives of the FP7 project IGAS which aims at exploiting and improving the results of IAGOS-ERI by providing data streams, both in near-real-time and in delayed mode, to the Copernicus Atmospheric Service, currently represented by MACC-2 in its pre-operational state. A major focus of IGAS is to increase accessibility and interoperability of the data by developing and implementing new database tools besides harmonizing and documenting data quality. The data will be used for validation of satellite measurements and for comparison with model forecasts and reanalysis, as is already being done within MACC-2.
As highlighted in Figure 23 IGAS also aims at enhancing the capabilities of the new RI through targeted instrument development for the measurement of aerosols, VOCs, speciated cloud water/ice/volcanic ash particles, and water vapour, based on the achievements and results of IAGOS-ERI.
Figure 23: Illustration of the IGAS Work Packages improving the linkage between the IAGOS RI and the Copernicus Atmospheric Service (source: http://www.igas-project.org)
List of Websites:
Website
www.iagos.org
Contact
Dr. Andreas Volz-Thomas
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
IEK-8
42425 Jülich
e-mail: iagos-coordinator@fz-juelich.de