WEATHER: German HALO research flight in Cyprus

The Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry in cooperation and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) will embark on a unique research mission from Paphos on Wednesday, July 22, that will include a flight path of 100,000 kilometres and 120 flight hours.

The ‘OMO’ research mission will analyse the changes of self-purification in the atmosphere with regard to the influence of Asian monsoons with the aim of getting better forecasts of the air quality and the climate change in the future.
Heading the project is Professor Dr. Jos Lelieveld, scientist at the Max-Planck-Institute and since 2008 professor at the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia and his 65-strong team of atmospheric researchers.
The special research aircraft HALO (High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft) will start its analysis flights from Cyprus and head on to above the Arab peninsula and the Arab sea. The airplane and the team will then head to Male on the Maldives to analyse the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean and the Bay of the Bengal before returning to Germany, stopping over in Cyprus for a few days in August.
The measurements which are mainly taken in the troposphere and the lower stratosphere, allow the team to analyse the ozone chemistry and the exchange of air pollutants.
http://www.mpic.de/en/news/press-information/news/100000-flugkilometer-durch-den-monsun.html   http://www.halo.dlr.de/  http://www.cyi.ac.cy