VERDI NEWS
24 May 2012
VERDI is history! The instrumentation has been taken off our reliable Polar 5 aircraft. Everything is stored in boxes and is waiting for being shipped back to Germany; some boxes are already on their way. Muskoka has warm and sunny weather, and everything is lush and green. A huge contrast to the freezing cold we experienced in the beginning of VERDI. Thanks to all who helped us: Lake Central Air Services, Kenn Borek Air, the Aurora Research Institute, the town and people of Inuvik, Environment Canada, the DLR Inuvik Satellite Station staff, and most of all Martin and Franzi for their work and patience with us!
19 May 2012
The Polar 5 departs from Inuvik to go to Muskoka airport, Ontario. The trip includes one overnight stay in Winnipeg.
18 May 2012
We packed the equipment and prepared the Polar 5 for the ferry flight back to Muskoka, Ontario. The last official group meeting at 6 pm was combined with the first barbecue of the year, on the sunny porch of Aurora's great row houses.
17 May 2012
Even during our last research flight, we found some ice crystals in the same cloud region!
16 May 2012
The third flight into the same cloud area. A few ice crystals.
15 May 2012
The second flight into the same cloud area. Some ice particles were observed, although it was not very cold.
14 May 2012
Finally flying again. There is a low cloud deck on the southern Beaufort Sea, and it seems today's flight is the first of a series in the same cloud area.
12 May 2012
A few days off, because of warm air from the south, so there won't be any ice in the clouds. Colder air should come back in the next few days.
10 May 2012
Flight into a low cloud which contained no ice. A second higher layer was just dissolving when we arrived to probe it.
8 May 2012
Flight into two low cloud decks over the MacKenzie delta. Thin aerosol was observed above.
7 May 2012
Day off.
6 May 2012
Ground day with some repair works, waiting for spares, and too complex clouds. The weather forecast doesn't look very promising, either.
5 May 2012
Flight over and through a low cloud layer over the Beaufort Sea, while a weather system with complex and high clouds is moving in toward Inuvik from the south. The flight was successful, but a second in-situ probe failed for unknown reasons.
4 May 2012
No flight today. We lost one power circuit on yesterday's flight and need to look into it.
3 May 2012
Flight into a patchy, low cloud that was further north than it should have been according to the forecast. Although it was thin, we could probe it at three altitude levels.
2 May 2012
Messy cloud situation; no flight today.
1 May 2012
Messy cloud situation; no flight today.
30 April 2012
Today's flight brought us into an extensive mixed-phase clouds, and we probed various types of ice particles at many different altitudes between 500 and 12,000 feet.
29 April 2012
Today we probed a very nice, stable layer of low clouds. They contained both liquid water droplets (which
were 20 micrometer in size at the top of the cloud, and 10 micrometer in the middle) and a few ice crystals.
28 April 2012
The aircraft is grounded for a day for maintenance.
27 April 2012
Low clouds, but conditions are good enough for flying. We take this opportunity and do two flights in a row! Good conditions with low clouds over the sea ice, and no high clouds above us. We observed ice particles in the mid-level clouds, while the low clouds (which form from the open water leads in the ice) contained only super-cooled liquid water droplets.
26 April 2012
Low clouds, no flight conditions.
25 April 2012
First (test) flight with the in-situ instrumentation. The instruments work fine; some require heating in this cold environment.
24 April 2012
No flight today. The Polar 5 is re-configured for the full VERDI instrumentation: The EM Bird is taken off, and PMS cloud-particle sensors are installed.
23 April 2012
Third science flight for the sea-ice project.
22 April 2012
Second science flight for the sea-ice project.
21 April 2012
First science flight for the sea-ice project.
19 April 2012
The Polar 5 and the crew have arrived in Inuvik!
9 April 2012
The Polar 5 has arrived in Muskoka, Ontario. In the next days, the aircraft will be prepared for the VERDI measurements.
5 April 2012
The VERDI research license has been issued by the Aurora Research Institute, Inuvik, Canada.
6 March 2012
A test flight with the P5 and the VERDI instrumentation was conducted with views of Heligoland, Bremen, and Bremerhaven harbour at night.
31 January 2012
The Environmental Impact Screening Committee (EISC) has exempt VERDI from the environmental screening procedure. With this document, this prerequisite for the research license has been fulfilled.
27 January 2012
The instrument integration in Bremerhaven has been postponed to the 9th week of the year, with test flights scheduled for Mon/Tue 5/6 March. The sea survival training at AWI is on 29th Feb and 1st March.
9 January 2012
The NWT Research License Application for VERDI has been submitted.
22 December 2011
The VERDI website is released.
21 December 2011
The Environmental Impact Screening Application and the Yukon Scientists and Explorers License Application for VERDI have been submitted.
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