Polly without XT

On Polarstern the TROPOS is operating a lidar system PollyXT to measure cloud and aerosol profiles with a strong laser beam (polly.tropos.de). Here in Longyearbyen we also could find some Polly although it will not last until the end of ACLOUD. 

Half an hour ago Polar 5 and 6 departed from Longyearbyen to visit the PollyXT at Polarstern. On board Polar 5 we operate a similar instrument, the AMALi (Airborne Mobile Aerosol Lidar). Let's hope for good measurements. 

Strange holes

Any idea about these holes?

Meeting Polarstern

On Tuesday Polar 6 had the first meeting with Polarstern. One goal was measuring aerosol next to Polarstern. On Polarstern aerosol measurements are carried out as well, so comparisons are possible.
Yesterday, for further comparisons and also for detecting clouds even in low level flights, the pointing direction of the LIDAR was changed to look upward, like it is doing on Polarstern.

Terminus of the glacier close to Longyearbyen

At the beginning of the yesterday flight, a glacier on the way to Ny-Aalesund was overflown in low altitude to measure the albedo and the reflectivity. At the AWIPEV observatory in Ny-Aalesund all remote sensing instruments were running and are providing a good opportunity for comparisons.
The meeting with Polarstern and Polar 5 & 6 went really well and the measurements provided good results.


Also yesterday the pilot crew of Polar 5 changed as scheduled and a new pilot and a new copilot had control of the plane. In the next days also the new pilots of Polar 6 will arrive.

Polarstern breaking ice

Not an albedo flight

Yesterday we aimed the second time for a meeting with Polarstern. Initially planned as a clear sky flight to measure the surface albedo of sea ice in different areas and close to Polarstern, this plan did not work out in detail. Exactly in the observation area we encountered again a large field of thin low level clouds. The forecast models did predict that these clouds will disolve in the evening but they did not that fast showing that weather models still have serious ploblems in predicting clouds over sea ice.

Due to the flexibility of Polar 5 & 6 we quickly could change our plans during the flight and switched into cloud mode flying below, in, and above clouds. The meeting with Polarstern also had to be adjusted. When Polarstern hit the sea ice, the cruising speed drastically decreased and the predicted position was far from the location of Polarstern during the flight. Communication with the tower of Polarstern worked well and we finally found the ship. Again we sampled the clouds in different altitutes and added legs for remote sensing and the aerosol and trace gas profile.
Obviously people on board Polarstern were aware of our overflights and took some pictures.

Latest flights and outlook

This morning Polar 5 and 6 took off really early. Scheduled take off was at 7:00 local time. The plan was to fly above the clouds and also at low altitude to do amongst other things some calibration patterns, albedo, cloud remote and in-situ measuring.

Flight under the clouds and above sea ice

Clouds near Svalbard

Unfortunately Polar 5 encountered too much icing and had to return to Longyearbyen after 3 hours. Polar 6 instead had a flight of more than 4 hours and returned succesfully.

Tomorrow, Polar 6 and Polarstern, which is passing Svalbard on the West, will have a first meeting. On Wednesday a joint flight of both aircraft to Polarstern is planned.

Polar 5 on a Satellite Mission

Today, Polar 5 started for a satellite mission having a date with Cloudsat and all the other satellite of the A-Train satellite constellation. Therefore, the flight plan had to be scheduled more precise then for other flights. The meeting was at 11:27 local time with about 1.5 hours flight time until the exact overpass. We aimed to follow the track for one hour having the meeting in the center of the leg. So everybody had to take the seat half an hour before start to guaranty no delay during the starting procedure. The training of the last flights helped and is morning Polar 5 needed only 20 min from starting the engines until take off.

Although we had beautiful sunny weather at the airport with high risk of getting sun burned, a lot of clouds where found on the satellite track.

First Ny Alesund Overpass

Another fish-eye photo taken from Polar 5 during the second research flight, where you might find some interesting detail.