ULM Project

Ulrich Lemmin

Baikal-Selenga workshop, Geneva, 31 October 2012

Scientific objectives

• Study the dynamical processes occurring in the boundary layer between the atmosphere and lakes or land using a light, highly mobile, airborne platform.

• Study areas: o Air/water exchange of heat and gases

o Micrometeorologyo Sediment suspension in rivers and lakes

o Biomass dynamics in lakeso Vegetation dynamics on lando Aerosol dynamicso Forest fires

Scientific objectives

• Understanding of o System dynamics of air/water interaction

o Climate change effectso Greenhouse gas transporto Atmospheric pollution distribution

• Applications ino Environmental monitoringo Land/lake managemento Biomass assessmento Carbon accounting

Scientific objectives

These studies will provide information which will be complementary to

o Satellite data, providing higher spatial and temporal resolution

o Ground-based measurements, providing greater point density.

This allows studying boundary layer process dynamics with unprecedented resolution.

Partners

• Switzerland: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne (EPFL)

• France: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Orme des Merisiers, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

• Russia:o Moscow State Universityo BAIKAL Institute of Nature Management

(Siberian Branch of RAS)

Principal airborne platform:

ULM

ULM Project

Proposed sub projects:

13/17

ULM Project

Time table:Lake Geneva May 2013Lake Geneva-Lake Baikal June 2013Lake Baikal July 2013

13/17

ULM on Lake Geneva

13/17

Possible scientific objectives for flightsover Lake Geneva and Baikal

• Study the dynamical processes occurring close to and above the lakes, which are mainly due to the presence of mountains. The airborne lidar offers a unique opportunity to identify the structure of the lower atmosphere in the vicinity of the lakes. Modeling groups are required for the post-treatment (one identified in France).

• Assess the capability of forest to regrow after forest fires in the Lake Baikal area. The lidar will measure the canopy top. Forest fires are frequent in this area and have occurred at different periods in the past. The study areas remain to be defined around Lake Baikal.

Expérience Léman – Baïkal

Typical flight plans with lidarfor atmospheric studies

Firing through the helice

The ULA carrying the Raman lidar (lidar-ULA) will fly ahead between 3000 and 4000 m above the ground level (agl).

The ULA carrying the fluxmeters will fly behind the lidar-ULA and will be equiped by a Rayleigh-Mie lidar.

Two ULAs (ULM in French) will fly in formation.

12

Instruments used

The instruments make up the payloads of 2 ultra-light aircrafts (ULA).

ULA 1 (remote sensing)

Raman lidar Meteorological probe (pressure, temperature, relative humidity)

GPS Artificial horizon

ULA flight above Gibraltar bay(Summer 2011)

Expérience Léman – Baïkal

13

Instruments used

The instruments make up the payloads of 2 ultra-light aircrafts (ULA).

ULA 2 (in situ measurements)

Rayleigh-Mie lidar Meteorological probe (pressure, temperature, relative humidity)

Pyranometer (visible solar irradiance) Artificial horizon GPS

ULM project

13/17

ULM project

13/17

Airborne lidar experiment from Lake Geneva (Léman) to Baikal

Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Orme des Merisiers, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

16Expérience Léman – Baïkal

Contact: patrick.chazette@cea.fr

17

Scientific objectives during the main tripbetween Lake Geneva and Lake Baikal • Identification of the biomass burning plume encountered during the trip between the Lake Geneva and Lake Baikal (directly from the measurements)

• Characterization of the biomass burning plumes using the aerosol optical properties (directly from the measurements)

• Use of the lidar-derived parameters (vertical atmospheric structures, aerosol extinction coefficient) to constrain the regional chemistry-transport models for assessing the contributions of forest boreal fires to the atmospheric composition (requires modeling groups)

Lac Leman

Lac Baïkal

Leman-Baikal project

In the area along the trajectory, the atmosphere is poorly documented from measurements at such spatial resolution. Only satellite observations are available.

Flight plans as previously defined18

Route

betwee

n the

lakes

Collaboration with Russian and French partners:

• EPFL scientists are invited to participate in the overland flight and the work around Lake Baikal.

• Russian partners have defined areas of collaboration and prepared project proposals.

13/17

ULM project

13/17

13/17

ULM project

Collaboration with Russian and French partners in the

Lake Baikal area:

• Specific study areas (hot spots) are being defined.

13/17

ULM project; Lake Baikal: Selenga delta

.

13/17

Can be a “hot spot” for studies on:• Lake Baikal• Interaction lake-river• River sediment dynamics • Forest fire and vegetation• Aerosol dynamics over land and over lake

13/17

ULM project