OMO
Oxidation Mechanism Observation
Mission status: Completed
Persons in Charge
Mission-PI
- Prof. Dr. Jos Lelieveld, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz
- Dr. Hartwig Harder, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz
Mission coordinator
- Dr. Marcel Dorf, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz
Contact point at DLR-FX for this mission:
HALO Project Management: Martina Hierle
Postal address:
DLR Oberpfaffenhofen
Flugexperimente (FX)
Münchener Str. 20
82234 Weßling
Germany
HALO Deployment Base
HALO was operated from different bases during this mission:
Time Period
The OMO mission with HALO consisted of two field campaigns: OMO-EU and OMO-Asia.
OMO-EU campaign phases:
Mission phases
- 24 Nov 2014 – 21 Jan 2015 || Preparation, Payload integration, EMI testing
- 22 Jan 2015 – 27 Jan 2015 || Mission execution
- 28 Jan 2015 – 30 Jan 2015 || Dismounting of Payload
OMO-Asia campaign phases:
Mission phases
- 26 May 2015 – 10 Jul 2015 || Preparation, Payload integration, EMI testing
- 11 Jul 2015 – 20 Jul 2015 || Mission Phase I – Oberpfaffenhofen
- 21 Jul 2015 – 01 Aug 2015 || Mission Phase II – Paphos I
- 02 Aug 2015 – 10 Aug 2015 || Mission Phase III – Gan
- 11 Aug 2015 – 27 Aug 2015 || Mission Phase IV – Paphos II
- 28 Aug 2015 – 04 Sep 2015 || Dismounting of Payload
Project description
The OMO aircraft measurement campaign addressed the „self-cleaning capacity“ of the atmosphere. It focused on oxidation processes and air pollution chemistry downwind of South Asia during the summer monsoon. The self-cleaning mechanism converts natural and human-made pollutants into more soluble products that can be removed by rain. This is critical for air quality and climate change, both regionally and worldwide considering rapidly growing pollution emissions, especially in Asia.
HALO on the airport of Gan (Maldives)
during the OMO-Asia campaign
The measurements took place in July and August 2015 in the upper troposphere at 10-15 km altitude. The goal was to study the influence of convective clouds and rainfall on atmospheric composition during the monsoon. While soluble gases and aerosol particles can rain out, the removal efficiency is poorly known. Monsoon clouds can have a strong and large-scale impact on atmospheric chemistry through the vertical redistribution of sunlight, pollutants and humidity. The chemical, transport and deposition processes are investigated to advance computer models and improve air quality and climate change calculations.
The German institutions of the consortium belong to the Max Planck Society, the Helmholtz Association and universities that have a track record in airborne atmospheric research, for example in the Indian Ocean Experiment, conducted in the dry season, to which the OMO measurements can be contrasted. The consortium has recently developed a comprehensive set of instrumentation for the HALO aircraft.
The flight patterns included tracks across the Arabian Sea, the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea to study zonal and meridional concentration gradients and large-scale impacts of the monsoon. Vertical (stack) flights were performed in regions of particular interest, so that a range of atmospheric conditions could be analyzed and the extent of pollution layers investigated. The measurements document long-distance pollution transports and their influence on regional-to-global atmospheric composition and climate.
Partners
- Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz (MPIC)
- Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZ Jülich)
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
- University of Bremen
- Heidelberg University
- University of Wuppertal
- German Aerospace Center, Institute of Atmospheric Physics (DLR-IPA)
Scientific instruments and payload configuration
List of scientific instruments for the mission:
Cabin and exterior configuration of HALO for the mission
HALO flights for this mission
OMO-EU
Flights are listed by
Aircraft registration | Date | Take-off / Landing (UT) | Total flight time (h) | From / To | Mission #
- D-ADLR | 2015-01-21 | 10:45:00 – 13:00:00 | 2.250 | EDMO – EDMO | Flight test
- D-ADLR | 2015-01-24 | 10:15:00 – 13:40:00 | 3.417 | EDMO – EDMO | RF01
- D-ADLR | 2015-01-25 | 09:30:00 – 15:10:00 | 5.667 | EDMO – EDMO | RF02
- D-ADLR | 2015-01-27 | 10:30:00 – 15:25:00 | 4.917 | EDMO – EDMO | RF03
OMO-ASIA
Flights are listed by
Aircraft registration | Date | Take-off / Landing (UT) | Total flight time (h) | From / To | Mission #
- D-ADLR | 2015-07-10 | 07:40:00 – 09:30:00 | 1.833 | EDMO – EDMO | RF01
- D-ADLR | 2015-07-13 | 09:35:00 – 11:55:00 | 2.333 | EDMO – EDMO | RF02
- D-ADLR | 2015-07-16 | 10:00:00 – 12:40:00 | 2.667 | EDMO – EDMO | RF03
- D-ADLR | 2015-07-21 | 09:00:00 – 12:25:00 | 3.417 | EDMO – LCPH | Transfer / RF04
- D-ADLR | 2015-07-25 | 05:55:00 – 11:10:00 | 5.250 | LCPH – LCPH | RF05
- D-ADLR | 2015-07-28 | 06:10:00 – 14:00:00 | 7.833 | LCPH – LCPH | RF06
- D-ADLR | 2015-08-01 | 05:50:00 – 14:35:00 | 8.750 | LCPH – VRMG | Transfer / RF07
- D-ADLR 2015-08-06 | 02:00:00 – 06:40:00 | 4.667 | VRMG – OBBI | RF08a
- D-ADLR | 2015-08-06 | 07:45:00 – 12:55:00 | 5.167 | OBBI – VRMG | RF08b
- D-ADLR | 2015-08-08 | 07:30:00 – 11:25:00 | 3.917 | VRMG – VRMG | RF09
- D-ADLR 2015-08-09 | 01:50:00 – 06:30:00 | 4.667 | VRMG – OBBI | RF10a
- D-ADLR | 2015-08-09 | 07:40:00 – 12:35:00 | 4.917 OBBI – VRMG | RF10b
- D-ADLR | 2015-08-10 | 04:50:00 – 09:35:00 | 4.750 | VRMG – OBBI | RF11a
- D-ADLR | 2015-08-10 | 10:55:00 – 14:30:00 | 3.583 | OBBI – LCPH | RF11b
- D-ADLR | 2015-08-13 | 06:00:00 – 14:55:00 | 8.917 | LCPH – LCPH | RF12
- D-ADLR | 2015-08-15 | 05:50:00 – 15:10:00 | 9.333 | LCPH – LCPH | RF13
- D-ADLR | 2015-08-18 | 06:15:00 – 15:10:00 | 8.917 | LCPH – LCPH | RF14
- D-ADLR | 2015-08-23 | 05:55:00 – 12:40:00 | 6.750 | LCPH – LCPH | RF15
- D-ADLR | 2015-08-25 | 06:05:00 – 14:35:00 | 8.500 | LCPH – LCPH | RF16
- D-ADLR | 2015-08-27 | 08:40:00 – 14:35:00 | 5.917 | LCPH – EDMO | Transfer / RF17
More information
Press releases, media etc.
Press release German Embassy Nicosia (August 11, 2015):
German research aircraft in Cyprus
Press release Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie (May 17, 2015)
Flying 100,000 kilometers through the monsoon
Report in „in-cyprus“ (August 14, 2015):
Monsoon research in Paphos
Report on DLR-FX homepage (August 6, 2015):
HALO auf Kampagne „OMO-Asien“
Press release DLR (July 17, 2015):
Forschungsflugzeug HALO: Auf der Langstrecke für Messungen im asiatischen Sommermonsun