Author Archives: larsv

What a start at Svalbard!

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Finally, the last (AC)³ campaign is about to begin. COMPEX – Clouds over cOMPlEX environment – starts with windy conditions, but Polar 5 arrived safely. Over the next 5 weeks, we will conduct research flights from Longyearbyen, Svalbard, to investigate Arctic clouds and precipitation in regions with complex topography and sea-ice conditions. Using a suite of advanced remote sensing instruments on a research aircraft, the campaign will measure cloud microphysics, precipitation, radiation, and atmospheric thermodynamic structure, including in-cloud and sub-cloud water vapor profiles. The observations will support the validation of satellite measurements from the EarthCARE mission and improve the understanding and modeling of cloud and precipitation processes in the Arctic. After landing, we unload the aircraft under real arctic conditions. The temperature was around -11 °C, and we had strong easterly winds up to 80 km/h, so with wind chill, it felt much colder (-25 °C). Tomorrow’s flight is already planned to head west and target the sea ice edge. Let’s hope for good flying conditions and clouds like those predicted in the model.

Stay tuned!

Snow White and the 7 flights

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Today we took off for the 7th and last time with Polar 5. With a newly mixed crew, all PhDs were able to fly again, one of them even made her debut as PI. Mika actively supported her and helped, for example, to write the flight log.
As a PI, of course, you also have other tasks. The day before, the flight route has to be planned and a flight plan has to be written and sent out. During the flight, you have to keep an eye on the flight altitude and the times when the planned points are reached. You also communicate with the pilots from time to time and make sure that all measurements are started and finished at the right time. But of course, everyone thinks along and knows what to do with their instruments, so they make it easier for you to complete the PI tasks.
The view during the flight was great again – we flew over Porsangerfjord on the north coast of Norway, where we could observe the cloud cover thickening towards the north. On the satellite track we launched 5 dropsondes this time and the satellite flew over us in such a way that Polar 5 can be seen again as a signal in the EarthCARE radar data!
Everyone was very happy with this last flight. But Mika was also a little sad because it was the last flight for COMPEX-EC and he had enjoyed flying so much. But the next campaign is sure to come and you can also look forward to a final blog entry in which we look back on the campaign and say goodbye to you!

From watching clouds to eating chocolate cake

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Yesterday’s flight took us out over the open sea, where we expected to see some beautiful convective clouds towering up to 4 km. That meant we had to climb higher again — this time to about 4.5 km. Just before takeoff, we checked the latest satellite images and saw that we’d be flying right into a cold air outbreak (CAO) combined with a small low-pressure system moving eastward towards the Barents Sea. Such weather conditions are always fascinating to fly in, as you can expect an interesting mix of clouds and clear sky. In a CAO, cold air is advected over the relatively warm ocean, leading to a strong temperature difference between the sea surface and the higher layers of the troposphere. This causes the atmosphere near the ground to become unstable – the air can rise, cool down – and condensation occurs: clouds form that can tower up impressively. These promising prospects were, of course, particularly exciting for Mika. During the flight, he carefully monitored the dropsondes – and even threw one or two of them out of the plane himself (but only once they were ready for measurement, of course!). And when there was nothing to do, he was busy taking photos of the beautiful clouds that we were able to admire during our flight. Thanks to Mika, we were able to drop a total of 9 dropsondes, the highest number ever during our campaign! This flight was truly special, as our PI of this flight, Marcus, had his 40th birthday! After landing back in Kiruna, our ground team surprised him with a chocolate birthday cake. Naturally, we gathered the whole crew for a birthday photo. Not only did we have a successful flight with lots of stunning clouds along our track, but we also had a special birthday celebration for our PI. Happy 40th birthday, Marcus!

From runway to bowling lane

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After two days without a flight, today we could finally take off again. The conditions could have been a little better, but that didn’t stop us from flying to continue our research. The forecast was clear – higher clouds than on the first flights, which is why we needed to go up to over 5 km. But before we got on the plane, the group photo of the entire COMPEX-EC crew was on the agenda. A perfect photo on the first try, and we were ready to board the plane.
The EarthCARE track north of Kiruna over the Norwegian Sea was well suited for the day and the planning focused on flying on the track against and with the satellite flight direction. In addition, dropsondes on a regular grid were launched to provide more precise vertical profiles on the way there and back.
Said, done!
The flight went very well with 6 dropsondes and the EarthCARE underflight. We were also able to observe interesting clouds again, including the typical cellular convection pattern of a cold-air outbreak and some showers. As Polar 5 had to stand outside during the nights, frozen water persisted on the windows, but did not stop us from taking pictures of the cloud formations.
After the successful completion of also this research flight, the fifth successful one by the way, the team enjoyed an evening together in the bowling center. The pins were hit just as well as we matched EarthCARE satellite with our flights – Doublestrike! Mika also took part, but clearly had a hard time with the big bowling balls.
Stay tuned, because the campaign is not over yet!

Satellites, fresh snow and three unicorns

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Hello everyone,
it snowed all day today and the conditions were not ideal for flying. But we had a good alternative program! In the morning, we were given a guided tour of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and got to see various observation devices and satellite models. Of course, we also wanted to spend some time outside in the fresh snow and enjoyed the winter wonderland on walks in the afternoon and late evening. Mika loved it outside, finally some really nice snow and not just the icy residue left over after the thaw of the last few days. He even saw a snow hare and these three funny unicorns. They’ve never been spotted here in Kiruna before. Very special!
Tomorrow the conditions will be better again and the next flight will head north. Stay tuned!

From high above the clouds to deep underground

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Hello back,
Today we had a flight-free day, but that doesn’t mean we sat lazily on the couch, of course. We used the morning for tasks such as flight segmentation and processing and visualizing the measured data. In the afternoon, part of our crew visited the iron ore mine in Kiruna. We were picked up by bus in the new town and on the way to the mine we saw, which buildings will have to make way for the mine in the future. This included the church, which is to be moved in one piece! It’s hard to imagine, but preparations are in full swing.
The mine is so big that you actually have underground roads and the bus takes you underground to the visitor area about 500 m underground. There we got an impression of how the iron mining processes work and what changes are planned for the future to make them climate neutral. A 3D model of the area was also used to explain how and why parts of Kiruna have to be moved or rebuilt.
We saw lots of different machines and equipment, such as an excavator used to transport the blasted rock (see photo of us in the excavator shovel).
In between, there was a short break with hot drinks and cookies, which were particularly tasty for Mika, who really wanted to be part of the excursion. When he impatiently asked when he would finally be able to fly again, we told him that the conditions on Thursday were unfortunately not so good, but that there was hope for Friday. So if you also want to know whether we can take off on Friday, just check our blog regularly!
See you soon 🙂

The beauty of Sea Ice and Lenticularis Clouds

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On Tuesday, we flew towards the Bothnian Sea – an exciting flight, especially because we could see sea ice from the aircraft! This time, we flew relatively high and reached an altitude of 5200 m – the highest altitude we have flown so far during this campaign. The reason for this? The clouds reached 5000 m, and we aimed to fly above them so our instruments could better detect them.
Fortunately, the clouds broke up just enough to give us a breathtaking view of the Bothnian Sea. As you can imagine, Mika was thrilled and immediately climbed into the glass dome of Polar 5 to enjoy the 360° view. But safety first – we had to secure him there, otherwise, he might have jumped around in excitement after discovering the sea ice.
It was really impressive to see the Bothnian Sea from above, with Finland on one side and Sweden on the other. On the way back, we got to see another treat: Lenticularis clouds, which form when moist air flows over mountains and is pushed to higher altitudes in wave-like patterns. As the air rises in these waves and cools down as a result, clouds form on the ridges, which are smooth and lenticular. Overall, we had a very nice flight!
Our next day will be different, as we will visit a special place here in Kiruna, so stay tuned!

Winter Wonderland

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Hej, it’s great that you’re still following us! Totally worth it, because Polar 5 started its next research flight with our crew today at shortly after 12 UTC.
Mika was of course very excited again and was the first to fasten his seat belt because he could hardly wait to take off again.
Today’s track took us northwest over the Lofoten Islands to underfly EarthCARE over the sea. By the way, on the map you can see today’s flight track as well as those of the first two flights. Cool, isn’t it? The western straight sections from north to south are always the sections where we underfly EarthCARE. The small squares are so-called radiation squares, which are used to calibrate the radiation measuring device “albedometer” in conditions without clouds above the aircraft.
We are slowly settling into a routine for operating the instruments and the procedures, but what you can see from the plane is of course still breathtaking! The view from the small glass dome on the ceiling of the plane was particularly beautiful today.
The conditions were great. At first we had clear skies and were able to enjoy the view of the winter wonderland snow-covered mountains until we reached a large cloud cover, above which we then had great measuring conditions for our campaign.

Tomorrow will be the fourth flight, this time towards the Bothnian Sea, which is still partly covered in sea ice. We’re sure it will be great.
So, stay tuned 🙂

From clouds to clear sky and back again!

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Our second flight took us south of Kiruna over land before heading towards Pallas, where a Cloudnet station is located.This is great as we can compare the measurements from the Cloudnet station with our airborne measurements, which is good for validation. Science can be so nice! Although we were not entirely sure if we would find many clouds along our flight path before takeoff, we actually had a very interesting case with lots of clouds and also clear sky conditions. The EarthCARE match took place when there were only a few clouds and some snow on the surface, which is very interesting for the validation. So we managed to fly the EarthCARE track right during a nice transition from cloudy to clear sky conditions. This time Mika was very interested in what the spectrometers measured during our flight. Feeling a little tired, Mika made himself comfortable on Christian’s shoulder, curious about what he was doing—or maybe just wanting a better view out the window. All in all, it was a pleasant flight with some lovely clouds and beautiful views out the window!

Next up: tomorrow’s flight towards the Norwegian coast—low-level cloud conditions are looking promising again, so stay tuned!

It’s a match!

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Yesterday, some of us took our first flight with Polar 5. The prospects were great because, according to the satellite image, our planned flight track would even lead through a cold air outbreak! So, the anticipation was already high. After some preparations in the hangar and a safety briefing from the pilot, Kyle, the crew could settle into the aircraft. Luggage was stowed, devices switched on, seatbelts fastened, and at 11:03 UTC, we were ready for takeoff. On our way north to turn over the Norwegian/Barents Sea onto the track of the EarthCare satellite, we flew over beautiful snowy landscapes and low clouds. After Mika was quite nervous during takeoff, he didn’t want to leave the window; he was so impressed by the view! After most of the measurements had already been initiated at the beginning of the flight, we also started the lidar measurements over the sea. We also launched several dropsondes along the satellite’s path, which record vertical wind, humidity, and temperature profiles on their way to the ground. Now, we were flying on the trajectory that the satellite would cross during this period, and our underflight was successful: The satellite flew directly overhead. It’s a match! This is also indicated by the dot in the satellite’s radar measurements, which represents our aircraft. We landed shortly after 16 UTC with good measurements and some great impressions.
The next flight will take place on Sunday. Stay tuned!