New instrument for atmospheric research

An advanced laser-based instrument to help research into climate change is being developed for one of the world’s leading atmospheric research aircraft.

Professor Paul Kaye, Dr Edwin Hirst and Dr Richard Greenaway at the University of Hertfordshire’s Science and Technology Research Institute (STRI) have been commissioned by the US University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) to build the instrument for their new HIAPER (High-performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research) aircraft, based in Colorado.

The instrument, which is being tailored to UCAR’s requirements, will be used to study microscopic water droplets and ice crystals in clouds, providing information to meteorologists to help them to make climate prediction models more accurate.

Professor Kaye said: “We had already developed instruments for the Met Office and other researchers in the UK to help them understand some of the processes that take place in clouds and how these ultimately affect our climate and potential global warming. UCAR scientists became aware of this work and asked us to design and build a new instrument for their use. It’s a significant step for us because the HIAPER aircraft is a very exciting development to be contributing to.”

Dr Hirst, the principal designer of the instrument, said: “We have just had the Critical Design Review in Colorado and are aiming to deliver the final instrument to UCAR at the end of the year. One of the toughest challenges has been to meet all of the conditions to meet the air-worthiness requirements laid down by the US authorities.”

The UH researchers are all part of the Particle Instruments Research Group in the STRI, and the HIAPER project is just one of several currently underway. “We have had other enquiries from the USA, Canada, and Europe for similar types of instrument”, said Dr Greenaway, who developed the instrument’s software. “All in all, the next 12 months is going to be very busy for us!”

The US National Science Foundation owns HIAPER, which is maintained and operated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). UCAR manages NCAR under primary sponsorship by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Media Contact

Helene Murphy alfa

More Information:

http://www.herts.ac.uk

All latest news from the category: Ecology, The Environment and Conservation

This complex theme deals primarily with interactions between organisms and the environmental factors that impact them, but to a greater extent between individual inanimate environmental factors.

innovations-report offers informative reports and articles on topics such as climate protection, landscape conservation, ecological systems, wildlife and nature parks and ecosystem efficiency and balance.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors