For the past 15 years, a Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 has been instrumental in climate research, gathering atmospheric data on scheduled flights. Since its inaugural flight on July 8, 2011, with the IAGOS measuring system onboard, the aircraft has contributed significantly to climate science, coordinated by the Forschungszentrum Jülich.
IAGOS: A Global Observing System
The IAGOS program, which stands for In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System, utilizes commercial aircraft to continuously collect atmospheric measurement data. Currently, 10 aircraft operated by eight airlines are equipped with the IAGOS system, enabling a comprehensive approach to climate monitoring.
The compact measuring system is permanently installed beneath the cockpit, allowing outside air to be channeled to measuring instruments via probes on the aircraft fuselage. After each flight, data is automatically transmitted to the central IAGOS database located at the French CNRS partner in Toulouse. Once validated, this data is made freely available to researchers worldwide.
Significance of Atmospheric Data Collection
According to Prof. Andreas Petzold from Forschungszentrum Jülich, “With IAGOS, we use commercial aircraft as flying observatories. This allows us to obtain measurement data from regions of the atmosphere that are particularly important for climate and weather but cannot be recorded at this level of detail and resolution using satellites or research aircraft alone.”
