HALO, a modified Gulfstream G550 (GV) twin engine business jet, is capable of carrying a payload up to altitudes of 14.5 km or potential temperatures of 420 K which is above the lowermost stratosphere (LMS) at mid-latitudes. The aircraft is therefore the ideal tool to investigate the vertical structure of temperature and trace gases in the SH UTLS as well as dynamical processes in the middle atmosphere. Large part of the required instruments was already successfully employed in previous UTLS missions in the Northern hemisphere (e.g. POLSTRACC-GWLCYCLE2-SALSA (PGS) and WISE). To investigate middle atmosphere dynamics (e.g. gravity waves), a new sophisticated upward-looking temperature lidar-system is included.
Instrument | Technique | Measured quantities | Principal investigator |
Remote sensing | |||
ALIMA | lidar | line-of-sight wind (FL + 100 km), T, stratospheric aerosols | Bernd Kaifler |
GLORIA | infrared limb sounder | curtains/3D-distributions: T, H2O, HDO, O3, PAN, CH4, N2O, CFC-11/12, HCFC-12, SF6, C2H6, CH3OH, CH2O, NH3, NO2, N2O5, ClONO2, BrONO2, HO2NO2 | Peter Preusse, Michael Höpfner |
Mini-DOAS | UV/Vis/near-IR spectrometer | curtains of brominated VSLS | Klaus Pfeilsticker |
In situ | |||
BAHAMAS | Basic Halo Measurement and Sensor System | u, v, w, p, T, humidity, aircraft position and aircraft parameter data | Andreas Giez |
FISH | Lyman-α hygrometer | total H2O | Martina Krämer |
GhOST-MS | GC/MS | SF6, CFC-12, halogenated VSLS | Andreas Engel |
HAGAR-V | GC-ECD, GC/MS, IR-detector | CO2, SF6, CH4, N2O, CFC-11, CFC-12, Halon-1211, short-lived NMHCs | Michael Volk |
AIMS | CI-MS | HCl, HNO3, ClONO2, SO2, H2Ogas | Christiane Voigt |
UMAQS | QCL | CO, N2O, CH4, C2H6, CO2 | Peter Hoor |
FAIRO | chemilum. detector, UV-spectrometer | O3 | Andreas Zahn |
AENEAS | chemilum. detector | NO, NOy | Helmut Ziereis |
AMICA | absorption spectrometer | OCS, CO, CO2 | Marc von Hobe |
KITsonde | multi-sensor dropsonde | profiles of p, T, RH, wind | Andreas Wieser |