APPRAISE: Aerosol properties, processes and influences on the Earth's climate
Chilbolton Observatory has supported the NERC APPRAISE project in several ways, most notably by providing customised ground-based measurements using the CAMRa radar and UV Raman lidar (in addition to all the routine operation instruments) during FAAM (link opens in a new window) aircraft flights.
To date, flight campaigns using the BAE-146 aircraft have taken place during the periods November 2007 - January 2008, December 2008 - March 2009 and February - March 2010. Measurements have taken place in a variety of cloud conditions, with particular emphasis on mixed phase (i.e. ice and water) clouds. Chilbolton Observatory instruments provide valuable scientific data and also provide real-time information to the aircraft which are essential in determining where to fly for maximum scientific benefit.
A mobile observatory containing a wide variety of instruments for quantifying atmospheric aerosols was hosted at the site during the December 2008 - March 2009 field campaign. In addition, an intercomparison of sunphotometers took place at the site during summer 2008.
