Greenhouse Gases - Measuring on the Fly with an Agile HIPPO (HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations)

Observations of CO2 from a long-range research jet are painting the first global portrait of Earth's carbon cycle. The heart of the HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations project (HIPPO - http://www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2009/hippo.jsp ) is the NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V, shown here preparing for Phase II of the project.

Called HIAPER, the G-V has a range of about 7,000 miles. The jet can take readings of Earth's surface at 1,000 feet and then climb through the troposphere as high as 47,000 feet--into the lower stratosphere.

Starting in January 2009 and continuing for three years, the project's scientists are sending the G-V into the skies five times, for several days each time, at different seasons. Many of the instruments aboard the G-V have been designed especially for the HIPPO project. They enable scientists to measure carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases across the planet in real time--a major improvement on the old method of collecting a few samples in flasks for later analysis back at the lab. Each flight provides a snapshot of greenhouse gas concentrations for one segment of the world. The result will be a global map of of our planetary carbon footprint, assembled flight by flight.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• HIAPER
• HIPPO
• Gulfstream
• G-V
• atmospheric chemistry
• carbon dioxide
• carbon cycle
• greenhouse gas
• CO2
• research
• aircraft
• Arctic
• Antarctic
• NSF
• NCAR
• Harvard
• climate change
• global warming