HALO instrumentation
HALO basic measurement system
HALO is equipped with a basis sensor system permanently installed at the aircraft, called BAHAMAS (Basic Halo Measurement and Sensor System). This system provides data on aircraft position and basic atmospheric parameters during every HALO mission. It is operated and mainained by the DLR Flight Experiments (FX) facility in Oberpfaffenhofen.
Skip to: Top | User instrumentation | structures
User Instrumentation for HALO
A variety of instruments is available for operation on HALO. The aircraft is equipped with a suiting set of instruments according to the main scientific foci of each mission. The instrumentation is operated and maintained by the various groups at the institutions involved with the HALO project.
Remote sensing instrumentation is a suit of active and passive instruments that use Lidar, Radar, Microwave, and optical sensors to measure trace gases, aerosols, or basic atmospheric parameters.
Aerosol and particle mesurements are important to understand cloud physics. The instruments sample outside air pumped into the aircraft through special inlets, and use different techniques to investigate number concentration, particle size distribution, shape, optical, and chemical properties of aerosols.
Learning about trace gas concentrations is a basis to undestand sources and sinks and learn about chemical processes or transport throughout the atmosphere.
HALO can be equipped with underwing canisters that hold smaller instruments that directly probe the air in front of HALO’s wings. Most are (cloud-) particle probes, but some also measue trace gases or basic atmospheric parameters.
Dropsondes are small instruments that can be released on a parachute during flight. They record basic atmosphric parameters on their way down to the surface.
Skip to: Top | HALO basic measurement system | structures
Special structures for HALO instrumentation
Air inlets are installed on top (or bottom) of the HALO cabin to enable airflow through the measurement systems abord. Different inlets are used, depending on the main research interest.
The HALO belly pod is a large housing unit that can be installed under the main cabin to protect larger remote sensing instruments measureing below the aircraft. This housing allows for lager optical viewports than the cabin itself.
HALO can be equipped with underwing canisters that hold smaller instruments that directly probe the air in front of HALO’s wings. Currently, up to twelfe instruments can be installed in under-wing carriers.
The HALO Large Wing Pods (HLWPs) are canisters that can be mounted underneath the HALO wings. They allow for slightly larger and heavier instrumentation than the PMS carriers. This new infrastructure will first be deployed in upcoming HALO misions scheduled for 2028/2029.
Skip to: Top | HALO basic measurement system | User instrumentation