WIREDGOV

A cutting-edge science instrument being used to monitor greenhouse gases and developed by researchers from STFC’s UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UKATC) in Edinburgh took to the skies aboard a NASA research aircraft for the first time recently.

Based on technology originally used in deep space astronomy the GHOST instrument (Greenhouse Observations of the Stratosphere and Troposphere) was developed by UKATC in a joint effort with the Universities of Edinburgh and Leicester.

The device, on board NASA’s Global Hawk aircraft, is flying above the equatorial regions of the Pacific Ocean at an altitude of 20km, measuring greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane across large regions in fine detail.

These detailed measurements will allow scientists to produce precise maps of where greenhouse gases are being released and taken up at the Earth’s surface – vital information for international climate negotiations.

Andy Vick, Innovations Manager at STFC’s UKATC facility and the lead investigator for the GHOST project celebrated the successful first flight of GHOST and said:

“These incredibly sensitive instruments, that were originally developed to meet major astronomical challenges by dealing with very low levels of light, are now being used to instead accurately measure the incredibly tiny fluctuations in the levels of greenhouse gases. This new information will allow us to better understand these changes and the data collected will be used to evaluate and improve global models used to predict future climate change.”

Also on board the aircraft is a second instrument, AIITS (the Aerosol Ice Interface Transition Spectrometer), which measures particles like dust, water droplets, and ice crystals.

The transport of particles and pollutants between the troposphere and stratosphere plays a crucial role in the climate system and the health of the ozone layer. AIITS was jointly developed by the universities of Hertfordshire and Manchester.

The two instruments were developed as part of a four-year collaboration between the Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) Co-ordinated Airborne Studies in the Tropics (CAST) project and are the first from the UK to take advantage of the Global Hawk’s capabilities.

The uninhabited aircraft, based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Centre, California, can fly at twice the height of Mt. Everest, well above the altitude of commercial jets, for more than a day at a time, travelling the equivalent of half of Earth’s circumference in a single flight.

The two UK pieces of kit were joined onboard by instruments from NASA’s Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment (ATTREX) project.

Further information:

STFC media office 
Wendy Ellison 
Tel: +44 (0)1925 603 232
Mob: +44 (0)7919 548 012

UKATC Based at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh and operated by STFC, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) is the national centre for astronomical technology. The UK ATC designs and builds instruments for many of the world’s major telescopes. It also project manages UK and international collaborations and its scientists carry out observational and theoretical research into questions such as the origins of planets and galaxies. The UK ATC has been at the forefront of previous key initiatives at the VLT, including the construction of KMOS (K-band Multi-Object Spectrograph) which enables 24 objects to be observed simultaneously in infrared light.

NERC is the UK's main agency for funding and managing research, training and knowledge exchange in the environmental sciences. Our work covers the full range of atmospheric, Earth, biological, terrestrial and aquatic science, from the deep oceans to the upper atmosphere and from the poles to the equator. We co-ordinate some of the world's most exciting research projects, tackling major issues such as climate change, environmental influences on human health, the genetic make-up of life on Earth, and much more. NERC is a non-departmental public body. We receive around £370m of annual funding from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS).