The NASA suborbital research rocket Endurance lifted off from the Andøya Space launch site at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, on Wednesday May 11th, 2022.
Photo: Brian Bonsteel, NASA
The primary mission for Endurance was to investigate and measure Earth’s electrical field in order to establish to what extent the ionosphere leaks water into space. It is already known by the science community that the ionospheres on Mars and Venus do this as well.
Lift-off occurred at 03:31, local time. The principal investigator on Endurance, Glyn Collinson at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Catholic University of America, was very pleased with the initial results. The data returned from the mission will be analyzed further in months and years ahead.
During its flight the Endurance reached an apogee of 767 kilometers altitude.
A suborbital scientific research rocket named GHOST will carry student experiments from nine countries and is set to launch from Andøya Space no earlier than 2024.
University and college students in Norway, Canada, France, Japan, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, or USA are invited to join the GHOST rocket project with their experiments.
GHOST is short for Grand Challenge Mesosphere Student Rocket and is a large research rocket for students to be launched from Andøya Space no earlier than 2024. The rocket is a part of the international project Grand Challenge Initiative Project Mesosphere / Lower Thermosphere (GCI M/LT) which studies the mesosphere (95 – 120 kilometers from the ground) and the lower part of the thermosphere (about 120 kilometers from the ground).
– This project will use experiments lifted onboard several sounding rockets, balloons, and aircraft at the same time all over the globe because this way we get more data from the experiments than if they were to be conducted in isolation, says Kolbjørn Blix, Director of sounding rockets and Andøya Space. He’s leading the project together with scientists such as Douglas Rowland at NASA.
Hands-on experience and useful contacts
Scientists from NASA, the European space agency ESA, the Japanese space agency JAXA as well as Canada, Poland and UK are participating in GCI M/LT.
– Our wish is that students from all those countries, including Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, France, and Germany participates on the GHOST mission, says Kolbjørn.
GHOST will be built in USA by NASA and is scheduled to be launched from Andøya Space during the same launch campaign as another NASA research rocket.
– This way the students will experience a professional launch campaign close-up. But first they need to design and build the experiments the GHOST rocket will carry, document them, test them, integrate them, and comply with all the deadlines and requirements that are common in a rocket project, says Kolbjørn.
– The students will connect with each other and the scientists, which will give them not only a useful experience, but also a network they can use to advance their careers in the space business, say Kolbjørn.
G-CHASER lifts-off from Andøya.
Experience from an earlier student rocket
GHOST is built on the concept of an earlier student rocket named G-CHASER, which carried with it experiments built by a hundred students from Norway, Japan, and USA.
– G-CHASER was a large two-stage research rocket built by NASA as a part of the Grand Challenge Initiative Project Cusp, says Kolbjørn.
The students built and tested their instruments at home, and about half of them joined the final integration and testing at NASA in 2018, and then during the launch campaign at Andøya Space in 2019.
Logo and song
The success of G-CHASER and the Grand Challenge Initiative Project Cusp demonstrated for all that a large student rocket and a large research project was possible and even produced good results.
– We found the perfect logo for the GHOST mission, says Kolbjørn. – A logo with a rocket resembling a ghost, and the owner, Ghost Rocket Music in USA, have given us their permission to use it. They will even try to create a song to promote the project.
Grand Challenge
More information about Grand Challenge can be found on the website www.grandchallenge.no
Want to join?
Information about how to join the GHOST mission will be made public later this year.
The GHOST mission patch
More information
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Earth’s electrical field is to be measured for the first time. It will be done with a NASA research rocket launched from Andøya Space’s launch site on Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard.
Why is there life on Earth but not on Mars or Venus? Our neighbors have a lot in common with Earth. Once they looked even more similar than what they do today, and had liquid water on their surfaces and in their atmospheres. So why today is Earth the only one with life?
One of the culprits may be the electrically charged field in the atmosphere known as the ionosphere. Here, the intense light from the sun converts water in the atmosphere to oxygen and hydrogen, which then dissapears into space. Over time this process removes water from Mars and Venus.
But Earth also have an ionosphere. This is where the northern lights are created when electrically charged particles from the sun collides with Earths magnetic field and is drawn towards the polar regions. Why haven’t Earth’s atmosphere made Earth’s water leak into space?
Photo: Nasa
Is Earth’s water disappearing through the ionosphere?
This is the main focus for the research rocket Endurance. It will measure the electrical field in the ionosphere, the strength, size and to what extent it converts water and leaks the remains out to space. It is the first time this experiment have been conducted.
Endurance will launch from Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard sometime between May 9th and May 26th. The launch window goes from 03:00 to 07:00. From Ny-Ålesund the rockets trajectory will be in a southwestern direction, with an expected apogee of about 800 kilometers.
Photo: Nasa
Weaker than a wristwatch battery
– One of the reasons Earth have life is probably due to our electrically weak ionosphere, which is only about 0.3 volt and thus weaker than the battery of a typical wristwatch, and 25 times weaker than the ionosphere of Venus, says Glyn Collinson at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Catholic University of America.
He is in charge of the scientific scope of Endurance in collaboration with NASA, and conducts research on the the electrical fields of Earth, Venus, Mars and other celestial bodies in the solar system.
– With Endurance we will measure one of the basic properties of Earth, directly connected to why there is life and humans here. The scientific reward of this work can therefore be great, says Collinson.
Photo: Nasa
Can only be done from Andøya and Svalbard
– Our launch sites at Andøya and Ny-Ålesund are some of the very few places in the world where it is possible to investigate the ionosphere and its electrical field using research rockets, says Kolbjørn Blix, director of sounding rockets and Andøya Space. – In addition to the launch sites, scientists have access to a well developed science intrastructure and several groundbased instrument sites, in order to monitor the parameters needed to decide when the research rockets should launch.
More information
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For aller første gang skal jordas elektriske felt måles. Det gjøres med en forskningsrakett fra Andøya Space som skal skytes opp fra Ny-Ålesund på Svalbard.
Hvorfor finnes det liv på jorda men ikke på Mars og Venus? Naboplanetene våre har mye til felles med jorda. En gang liknet de enda mer enn de gjør i dag, og hadde store mengder flytende vann på overflaten og i atmosfæren. Så hvorfor er det bare på på den blå planeten det er liv?
En av årsakene kan være det elektrisk ladde feltet, ionosfæren, som både Venus og Mars har. Det intense sollyset spalter her vannet i atmosfæren til oksygen og hydrogen, som så forsvinner ut i rommet. Slik lekker ionosfæren vannet fra atmosfæren og hele planeten over tid.
Men jorda har også en ionosfære. Det er her nordlyset oppstår når elektrisk ladde partikler fra sola treffer jordas magnetfelt og blir dratt ned mot polene. Ionosfæren er også grunnen til at vi kan sende radiosignaler over horisonten, fordi de blir reflektert av dette laget i atmosfæren. Så hvorfor har ikke jordas atmosfære lekket bort alt vannet vårt?
Photo: Nasa
Forsvinner jordas vann fra ionosfæren?
Dette skal forskningsraketten Endurance undersøke ved å måle det elektriske feltet i ionosfæren, dets styrke, størrelse, og i hvilken grad det spalter vann og lekker restene ut i rommet. Det er første gang i historien at dette gjøres.
Endurance skytes opp fra Ny-Ålesund på Svalbard mellom 9. og 26. mai 2022, en gang mellom klokken 03 og 07 på morgenen. Herfra vil raketten fly i sørvestlig retning, utføre målingene sine 800 kilometer over bakken, og lande i Norskehavet mellom Grønland og Svalbard etter cirka 18 minutter.
– En av grunnene til jorda har liv er antakelig fordi ionosfæren vår er elektrisk svak, på bare cirka 0,3 volt. Det er svakere enn batteriet til en klokke, og 25 ganger svakere enn ionosfæren til Venus, sier Glyn Collinson ved NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center og Catholic University of America.
Han leder det vitenskapelige arbeidet med Endurance i samarbeid med NASA, og forsker på det elektriske feltet til jorda, Venus, Mars og andre himmellegemer i solsystemet.
– Med Endurance skal vi måle en av de grunnleggende egenskapene til jorda, som er direkte forbundet med hvorfor det i det hele tatt finnes liv og mennesker her. Den vitenskapelige belønningen av dette arbeidet kan derfor bli stor, sier Collinson.
Endurance kan hjelpe oss med å forstå hvorfor det i det hele tatt finnes liv på jorda. Foto: Nasa
Kan bare gjøres fra Andøya og Svalbard
– Oppskytingsbasene på Andøya og Ny-Ålesund er noen av de få stedene i verden hvor det er mulig å forske på ionosfæren og dens elektriske felt med raketter, fordi her er det både tilgang på oppskytingsramper, samt en godt utviklet infrastruktur for forskning og flere bakkebaserte instrumenter til å overvåke noen av de parameterne som forskerne bruker til å avgjøre når det perfekte oppskytningstidspunktet er inne, sier Kolbjørn Blix, leder for rakettaktiviteten ved Andøya Space.
Alle foto: NASA
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I mai planlegger Andøya Space og NASA å gjennomføre et forskningsoppdrag i den arktiske atmosfæren sørvest for Svalbard.
Unngår nordlyset
– I de siste årene har vi hatt mye fokus på nordlysforskning, sier Kolbjørn Blix, sjef for forskningsrakettavdelingen ved Andøya Space. – Men denne gangen ønsker forskerne faktisk å unngå nordlyset.
Som en del av det internasjonale forskningsprosjektet Grand Challenge Initiative, ble det fra 2018 til 2021 sendt mange forskningsraketter opp fra Andøya og Svalbard for å fly igjennom nordlyset.
– Det viser seg at det er mye rundt atmosfæren og jordens magnetfelt som vi enda ikke helt forstår. Og nettopp våre oppskytningsbaser på Andenes og Ny-Ålesund er to av få steder i verden det er mulig å gjennomføre mye av denne forskningen fra, sier Kolbjørn. – Det handler ikke bare om tilgangen på oppskytningsramper, men også om den velutviklede forskningsinfrastrukturen i nordområdene med mange bakkebaserte forskningsinstrumenter.
Oppskytning av en Grand Challenge-forskningsrakett fra Svalbard i november 2021.
«Endurance»
– I mai planlegger vi å sende en forskningsrakett opp i atmosfæren over Svalbard sammen med NASA, sier Kolbjørn. – Den vil fly i sørvestlig retning ut fra oppskytningsbasen vår på Ny-Ålesund. Raketten vil utføre målingene sine 800 kilometer over bakken for så å lande nordvest i Norskehavet, mellom Grønland og Svalbard, etter knappe 18 minutter.
– Den seksten meter lange raketten skal forske på det elektriske feltet som oppstår i ionosfæren, men da i områder hvor det ikke er nordlys, sier Kolbjørn.
Sjefsforskeren for prosjektet er Dr. Glyn Collinson fra The Catholic University of America, og forskningen skjer sammen med NASA som også har bygget forskningsraketten.
Forskningsraketten vil ende sin ferd nordvest i Norskehavet, mellom Grønland og Svalbard, etter knappe 18 minutter.
Gode varslingsrutiner
– Vi har en lang og stolt fartstid når det gjelder sivile forskningsraketter, sier Ketil Olsen, administrerende direktør ved Andøya Space. – Og NASA er en av våre fremste samarbeidspartnere. Både vi og NASA har sikkerheten i høysetet, og vi følger strenge varslingsrutiner for å unngå mulige misforståelser og overraskelser i forbindelse med oppskytninger.
– «Endurance» har vært planlagt i flere år, og vil bli varslet både nasjonalt og internasjonalt, sier Ketil. – Før vi sender opp en forskningsrakett, informerer vi alltid Utenriksdepartementet, som så varsler internasjonalt via diplomatiske kanaler. De varsler også Russland direkte med en såkalt bilateral varsling, hvor vi får en skriftlig bekreftelse tilbake fra den russiske ambassaden om at de har blitt informert. I tillegg har både Avinor og Forsvarets operative hovedkvarter (FOH) direktelinje til Murmansk, så informasjonsflyten er god, og sannsynligheten for misforståelser minimal.
– Denne forskningsraketten er planlagt å fly i sørvestlig retning ut fra Ny-Ålesund, noe som er helt vanlig når vi skyter opp fra Svalbard, sier Ketil. – God dialog i kombinasjon med det faktum at raketten flyr vekk fra Russland vil gjøre det tydelig at dette kun handler om fredelig utforskning av atmosfæren.
– Vi har en lang og stolt fartstid når det gjelder sivile forskningsraketter, sier Ketil Olsen, administrerende direktør ved Andøya Space.
Oppskytning i mai
– Raketten vil bli skutt opp i morgentimene mellom klokken 03 og 07 en gang mellom 9. og 26. mai, forklarer Kolbjørn Blix.
– De forskjellige teamene er allerede i gang med forberedelsene, selv om personellet ikke reiser opp til Svalbard på enda en stund. Den sivile oppskytningsbasen på Ny-Ålesund er ikke bemannet utenom forskningsoppdragene, avslutter Kolbjørn.
Mer informasjon
Kontakt Andøya Space Sub-Orbital for ytterligere informasjon og spørsmål.
The CREX-2 sounding rocket mission was successfully launched from Andøya Space December 1st, 2021.
NASA’s Cusp Region Experiment-2, also known as CREX-2, is the final research rocket to launch in the international project Grand Challenge Initiative Project Cusp.
– The project consisted of 12 rockets from three nations, says Kolbjørn Blix, Director of Sounding rockets at Andøya Space. – USA, Norway, and Japan. The Japanese mission successfully launched about a month ago from our launch facilities at Svalbard.
The main objective of the project is to investigate the polar cusp region, a region formed by Earth’s magnetic field.
– The magnetic field forms a kind of a funnel stretching from our atmosphere down towards Earth’s core, and inside this funnel the air is noticeable denser than elsewhere, says Kolbjørn. – This affects polar orbiting satellites, as they hit a kind of speed bump when they pass through this area.
Visualization of Earth and its magnetic field in the correct scale.
The participants in the Grand Challenge-project share all their research data with each other, making it possible to achieve greater insight into this highly interesting cusp region.
CREX-2 is led by Professor Mark Conde from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the vehicle was built at NASA Wallops.
– The rocket carried 20 canisters of vapor tracers which was released into the atmosphere, says Kolbjørn. – Each of these canisters created a small cloud which was then observed by two ground stations at Svalbard and by an airplane flying out from Iceland.
– The movement of these tiny clouds observed from multiple angles will help scientists understand more about the physics in the cusp area, says Kolbjørn.
The sounding rocket was launched from Andøya on December 1st, at 0925 UTC, and reached an apogee at about 634 kilometers.
– The flight was nominal, and they launched into perfect scientific conditions, says Kolbjørn. – The scientists are very, very happy today.
The Japanese research rocket SS-520-3 was launched from Ny-Ålesund November 4th, 2021, to investigate the cusp region as a part of the Grand Challenge Initiative Project Cusp.
The cusp region is a funnel created by Earth’s magnetic field, and the region is the focus of a project spanning several research teams with twelve sounding rockets. The Grand Challenge Initiative Project Cusp is designed to advance the common understanding of the space physics in the cusp region.
The Japanese rocket’s specific purpose was to investigate the microscopic mechanism of the ion acceleration/heating in the cusp region by carrying out high time resolution in-situ measurements of the plasma particles and plasma waves.
Video of the SS-520-3 liftoff from the Andøya Space launch site at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. Video by Thomas Gansmoe, used with permission.
The two-stage sounding rocket had a nominal, suborbital flight and was able to successfully make in-situ measurements of the cusp region. Telemetry antennas at Ny-Ålesund, Longyearbyen and Andøya participated in the mission.
The rocket reached an apogee of about 750 km.
Principal investigator for this mission was Professor Yoshifumi Saito from JAXA.
More to read
Read more about the Grand Challenge Initiative here:
Sounding rockets are used to investigate the atmosphere and the Earth’s magnetic field and have been launched from Andøya since 1962. Sounding rockets are cheap compared to satellite missions, but they still come with a price tag. So how can the amount of scientific data be increased and the yield from such missions maximized?
– The answer is to launch several sounding rockets at the same time, along with doing measurements by instruments on other platforms, from the ground, from balloons, and from satellites in orbit, says Kolbjørn Blix at Andøya Space.
This is what the Grand Challenge Initiative is doing in two projects. The Initiative is a large-scale, international collaboration targeting advancement in specific, fundamental issues in space and Earth science.
– By taking these independently initiated missions and coordinating them we saw a tremendous increase in scientific return, says Blix.
Science data from all platforms involved is shared amongst the participants, giving researchers access to a larger data set than what they otherwise would be able to obtain individually.
The cusp is the part of the Earth’s magnetic field that funnels down into the polar regions.
Project Cusp
The first project, called Project Cusp, investigates the physics of the heating and the charged particles in the cusp region of the ionosphere.
The cusp is the part of the Earth’s magnetic field that funnels down into the polar regions. The ionosphere is the upper part of the atmosphere. Here particles from the solar wind, trapped in the cusp, cause the aurora borealis.
–Project Cusp includes twelve sounding rockets from three nations; Japan, Norway, and the US, says Blix. He is one of the founders and organizers of The Grand Challenge Initiative.
The first of these sounding rockets were launched from Andøya and from Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, on a trajectory through the Arctic cusp. At the same time ground-based instruments in Finland, Iceland and Norway observed the same region by remote sensing.
The two remaining sounding rockets in the project will be launched in the fall of 2021.
The mesosphere and the lower thermosphere are layers of the middle atmosphere.
Project Mesosphere / Lower Thermosphere
The success of Project Cusp paved the way for Project Mesosphere / Lower Thermosphere, the second project of the initiative. The mesosphere and the lower thermosphere are layers of the middle atmosphere.
– Project Mesosphere / Lower Thermosphere will study this part of the atmosphere using a multitude of platforms and instruments, says Blix.
This project involves several teams of scientists and students from nine countries: Canada, Germany, Japan, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, the UK, and the US.
Measurements from more parts of the world
– This project will be looking at the middle atmosphere and investigations can be done not just in the Arctic but in other parts of the world as well, by combining measurements from sounding rockets with data taken from balloon, airplane, satellite and the ground, says Blix.
All these investigations must be coordinated and grouped together so that they best complement each other and maximize the scientific return.
– This also gives us a redundancy in instrumentation, which is another advantage of doing things this way, Blix says.
As in Project Cusp, Project Mesosphere / Lower Thermosphere will have a common database for adding and sharing data as easily and as efficiently as possible.
Launches planned for 2023
Although it has been difficult for the scientists and students in the Project Mesosphere / Lower Thermosphere to meet due to corona restrictions, the project had successful preparatory workshops both in the summer of 2020 and 2021.
– These workshops were parts of the virtual scientific conferences CEDAR 2020 and 2021, and eighty researchers from our nine participating countries met on video where we had presentations and status updates about the individual projects involved, Blix says.
He hopes it will be possible for the participants to meet in person at a conference in New Orleans in December 2021.
The first sounding rockets in the Project Mesosphere / Lower Thermosphere will be launched from Andøya Space in 2023.
Operating drones in sub-zero temperatures can cause both damage and lead to loss of vehicle. How can we make flights safer for drones and small piloted aircraft during winter and at higher latitude?
Commercial drones and small aircraft are utilized more and more the world over, for a wide range of applications, such as agriculture, construction, communication, surveillance and transportation of goods. The use of drones is expected to increase greatly in the years ahead.
However, drones risk icing while flying in sub-zero temperatures and have no way of de-icing. Thus, operating drones in sub-zero conditions introduces the risk of rotor failure and crashing to the ground, which can result in damage to or loss of the airborne platform, the freight, or in the worst case scenario, damage or injury to third parties’ health or property.
How can flight safety in sub-zero temperatures be increased to enable drones and small aircraft to operate during winter and at higher latitudes? This is the aim of the IceSafari project.
The IceSafari project is a cooperation between Andøya Space with partners in Norway and Romania. The project aims to increase flight safety for drones and small aircraft by avoiding icing conditions, which occur at temperatures below 0ºC and high humidity, like in supercooled fog and clouds.
A key project
– For Andøya Space, IceSafari is an important project, because we make use of our expertise on rocket payloads to serve a new scientific community. The research focus is the lower part of the atmosphere using research aircrafts and drones. In addition, our own increasing drone and aircraft activities will gain safety, since icing conditions are common at our latitudes, says Michael Gausa, Director of Research and Development.
The project aims to obtain data in three flight campaigns, planned to take place in Norway, Poland and Romania. The sensor and instrument development through IceSafari is expected to be a door opener for future participation in international satellite validation campaigns and in further activities related to research and applied science.
– Flight campaigns for scientific research is a new but growing sector for us here at Andøya Space, which we are very excited to do, Gausa says.
Unmanned aircraft may avoid bad weather with the IceWarn sensor.
The IceWarn sensor
The IceSafari project will develop a cluster of sensors called IceWarn, an early warning system of icing conditions for commercial drones, enabling them to avoid areas with such conditions.
In order to develop this early warning system, the IceSafari team first needs to advance the understanding of mixed-phase clouds. These are clouds that consist of super cooled liquid droplets and ice particles and pose the greatest threat to drones and aircraft due to icing.
The IceWarn sensor will warn the pilot of icing conditions.
The IceWarn sensor system will monitor the ambient conditions of the air and evaluate the risk of icing. If icing conditions are imminent, the system will alert the pilot of the impending danger.
The engineering team at Andøya Space will first select sensors that can endure condensation and precipitation at low temperatures. They will conduct both field and laboratory studies to identify which sensors are best suited for such work.
IceWarn must also be extremely lightweight and energy efficient in order to be suitable for drone platforms.
The HoloScenecloud probe
However, measuring the correct temperature and humidity is not sufficient alone to determine icing conditions, and the amount of super cooled liquid in mixed-phase clouds depends on complex microphysics at the micrometer scale.
Calculations of super cooled liquid droplets have been a challenge in both numerical weather predictions and climate simulations for years.
The development of IceWarn needs comprehensive knowledge of the microphysics of mixed-phase clouds in temperatures between -38 and 0 °C. This will require an extensive dataset of airborne in-situ measurements of the properties of mixed-phase clouds.
Therefore, the IceSafari team at Andøya Space will, together with their partners, develop an aircraft certified holographic cloud probe called HoloScene. The probe is based on earlier models, originally used on tethered balloons, gondolas etc. HoloScene will measure the cloud droplet, ice crystal size and number concentration, as well as the spatial distribution of cloud particles, in order to develop the numerical models that IceWarn needs.
Partnership with Romania
The cooperation in IceSafari will establish a long-term partnership between Norwegian and Romanian research institutions. These are Andøya Space, the National Institute for Aerospace Research “Elie Carafoli” (INCAS) in Romania, the University of Oslo in Norway and the University of Bucharest in Romania (UBFF).
This collaboration will strengthen the capabilities of the partners to conduct airborne cloud research and related numerical modeling in order to advance the frontier of research on climate change, severe weather and icing phenomena.
The partnership will train master and PhD students in a broad specter of scientific and engineering fields to ensure a complete cycle of knowledge and transfer between the participants, and to support the effort of Romanian organizations to increase their participation in European and international research and development programs.
The IceSafari project is funded by UEFISCDI under the research programme associated with Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2012 – Norway Grants. Project code RO-NO-2019-0423.
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Kontakt Andøya Space Sub-Orbital for ytterligere informasjon og spørsmål.
The research project ISLAS studies the water cycle in the Norwegian Sea, and where the precipitation in Norway comes from during different weather events. This spring, the ISLAS scientists made simultaneous measurements at Andøya and other locations.
Isotopic Links to Atmospheric Water’s Sources (ISLAS) is a research project funded by the European Research Council that investigates the water cycle, including its processes during evaporation, transport and mixing, cloud formation and precipitation.
– The hydrological cycle, with its feedbacks related to water vapor and clouds, is a large source of uncertainty in weather prediction and climate models, says Harald Sodemann, professor in meteorology at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Bergen and member of the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research.
This uncertainty is linked to several of the current major challenges in meteorology and climate research. These challenges include the forecasting of extreme weather events, preparing for the impacts of man-made climate change, but also the understanding of the paleoclimate record from the past.
However, using precise measurements of stable isotopes in water vapor, rain and snow, the scientists can find out where the water in precipitation comes from, and how it changes from liquid to solid or vapor, and back to liquid again, during its journey through the water cycle in the atmosphere.
The ISLAS project sampled the local water cycle in the Nordic Seas region at Andenes with stable isotope instrumentation. Image: Harald Sodemann
A natural laboratory
-Because the Arctic, the Norwegian Sea and the coast of Norway together create distinct evaporation events, shallow transport processes of water, and swift formation of precipitation, the entire water cycle can be studied here, says Sodemann.
This is why the ISLAS team visited Andøya Space and its atmospheric observatory Alomar. Together with colleagues from other universities, the ISLAS scientists used Alomar’s lidar and radar systems to investigate ice crystals in clouds and precipitation, and how they change from ice to rain.
The team also used their own instruments to measure the size and number of raindrops, the stable isotopes in water vapor, and other aspects of the water cycle.
– We brought a lot of instruments to Andøya in order to do many types of measurements at the same time in the same location, so that we can gain a detailed understanding of the processes of the water cycle here, says Sodemann.
Simultaneous measurements
The ISLAS instruments were located both at Alomar, at 380 meters height, and near sea level below the mountain where Alomar is located. In this way the scientists hoped to gain information about how much water raindrops absorb as they fall through the lower atmosphere, as well as data about other precipitation processes that take place on the way from cloud to ground.
In addition, the scientists had similar sensors in Tromsø, in order to detect the horizontal gradient between Andøya and Tromsø.
– Even though these locations are not that far apart, we nevertheless expect clear differences between them, for example the time when a storm arrives at both places, Sodemann says.
Other sensors are placed in Bergen on the west coast of Norway and at Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard in the high Arctic.
Improve weather forecasting
This year’s research campaign for ISLAS was intense, but short. Already on the 1st of April 2021 the scientists completed their measurements and returned home.
– We nevertheless expect to obtain the data we need, because the highly variable weather here at Andøya gives us many different meteorological events within a short period of time, says Sodemann.
He and the ISLAS team plan to return to Andøya next spring for more data from the same locations, while hoping to add measurements by plane and ship.
The results from ISLAS will be used to improve mathematical models of weather and climate, including short-term and high-resolution weather forecasting.
In addition to the participants from Norway, the ISLAS campaign involves scientists from universities and research institutions both in Europe and in North America.
– We see that close collaboration with scientists at other research institutions and in other parts of the world is very important to achieve our research goals. For us, it seems essential that what we do creates shared knowledge that benefits society as a whole, Sodemann says.
A service provider for science
– We are very pleased to welcome the ISLAS scientists to Andøya, says Michael Gausa, Director of Research and Development at Andøya Space.
Andøya Space aims to offer operational drone and aircraft services for scientists. Commercial drone operations, as well as training and certification services for these, are already well established. The drone services have a wide range of applications, from maritime surveillance and resource management to search and rescue operations, construction inspection and many more.
– The ISLAS campaign is an important step to complete our portfolio for scientific airborne operations. It enables us to listen closely to our guests in order to improve our infrastructure and knowledge, and to better reach the international research community and inform them of our drone services for scientific purposes, Gausa says.
Andøya Space has recently acquired an airplane, which in the future can perform in-situ and remote sensing measurements from the air, in the air, and of the air. This will open new doors for Andøya Space, which has a decades-long experience in sub-orbital launches of sounding rockets and research balloons and is building a launch site for small satellites.
Andøya and its location well above the Arctic circle, on the coast of the Norwegian Sea, is especially well suited for space, atmospheric and climate research.
– With our newly acquired plane we will soon have the capacity to be a full-service provider for scientific research that is dependent on measurements by drone or by plane, Gausa says.
More information?
Please contact Michael Gausa, Director of Research and Development at Andøya Space.
The main scientific instruments were the two Andøya Space/University of Oslo (UiO) 4DSpace modules, each containing ejectable 6 sub-payloads.
These 12 “daughters” were to be ejected 4 by 4 as the rocket passed 196km (last ejection at 204 km) altitude on its way up into space, and immediately start communicating their “UiO Multi-Needle Langmuir Probe (mNLP) measurements of electron densities to the main module onboard the sounding rocket payload. This way, the 4DSpace experiment would enable the Grand Challenge Initiative Cusp (GCI Cusp) scientists to find out whether GPS signal disturbances are created by auroral electron beams or by some other instability mechanism. This is critical knowledge in order to develop a space weather model to forecast GPS positioning problems in the arctic.
In addition to the 4DSpace experiments, the ICI-5 payload also brought these instruments:
Bifocal Sensor electron spectrometer – Universitu of Iowa (U Iowa), Electric Field and Wave experiment – UiO, Miniaturized Fluxgate Magnetometer – U Iowa, Sounding Rocket Attitude Detection System (SRADS) – UiO and Distribution of Energetic Electrons and Protons (DEEP) – University of Bergen (UiB).
Following the launch, it was quickly reported that science team picked a prime science event. All payload events were reported as nominal and a solid track was provided by both the Norwegian and NASA ground assets. Then the team experienced the occasional roller coaster ride that is sounding rockets.
Unfortunately, after data review, it was apparent that a roll rate anomaly was experienced, precluding the instruments from functioning as intended.
ICI-5 had a maximum altitude of 252 km and was the Norwegian participation in the major international sounding rocket project – Grand Challenge Initiative Cusp. Currently, there are two more GCI Cusp rockets on the rails awaiting launch from Andøya and Ny-Ålesund.
ICI-5 mission highlights:
In a cooperative effort between Andøya Space and University of Oslo, researchers and engineers have developed the 4DSpace measurement technology. A unique concept.
The team was able to effectively pinpoint and launch a sounding rocket through a thin northern auroral arc, which have a 10-min lifespan and move in space. This is expertise the teams from UiO, The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), UiB and Andøya Space have built up together. This expertise is in high demand in the GCI Cusp and similar projects.
Potentially, 3 new instruments were space tested: BIFOCAL electron spectrometer from Iowa, Flux Gate Magnetometer from Iowa, and a high energy particle detector from UiB. Later, data will show whether these have been lifted from TRL 1-2 to level 5-6 (for satellites). If so, this is worth millions of dollars.
ICI-5 is the Norwegian share in GCI Cusp Initiative. ICI-5 PI is also project scientist for GCI Cusp and Norwegian scientists are also involved in ten other rocket missions.
With GCI Cusp, an “international Cusp observation system” for SIOS is under construction, which will later be filled with data from both rockets, satellites and ground data. This is important for the international space community.
More information
For more information, please contact Andøya Space Sub-Orbital
It’s the only student flight in the Grand Challenge, flying several student experiments on one rocket, each one a different mission that is unique to their team.
With seven different experiments flying on the same rocket, work on G-CHASER has been an exercise in coordination since it’s early beginnings in 2016. However, today at 09:13:00 UT, the two stage rocket ascended into the skies above Andøya, reaching its calculated altitude of 174 km. So far, all experiments seem to have worked as they were supposed to.
More information
For more information, please contact Andøya Space Sub-Orbital
CAPER-2 is the fifth sounding rocket to launch in the Grand Challenge Initiative.
CAPER is an abbreviation for “Cups Alfvèn and Plasma Electrodynamics Rocket” and is a mission to investigate dayside magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. The vehicle flew through the cusp region of the Earth’s magnetic field, reaching an altitude of 774 kilometers.
CAPER-2 is the fifth sounding rocket to launch in the Grand Challenge Initiative – CUSP project, an international research project between Norway, USA, Canada and Japan, involving 12 sounding rockets launched from Andøya and Ny-Ålesund between 2018 and 2020 which will study the Earth’s cusp region in unprecedented detail. The basic idea behind the project is to gather scientists with individually funded sounding rocket projects investigating phenomena related to the magnetosphere and Earth’s cusp regions. All participants share the collected research data between them.
Principal investigator for CAPER-2 is professor James LaBelle from Dartmouth College.
More information
For more information, please contact Andøya Space Sub-Orbital
GCI CUSP is an international research project between Norway, USA, Canada, and Japan involving 12 sounding rockets launched from Andøya and Ny-Ålesund between 2018 and 2020.
The basic idea behind the project is to gather scientists investigating phenomena related to the magnetosphere and Earth’s cusp regions. All participants share the collected research data between them.
The four sounding rockets were two Black Brant XIIA from Andøya in the NASA TRICE-2 mission and two Black Brant X from Ny-Ålesund in the NASA VISIONS-2 mission. The rockets were launched in pairs 120 seconds apart, reason being that one wish to measure any changes in the ionosphere between the first and second launch. In addition the rockets flew in different altitudes. VISIONS-2 and TRICE-2 didn’t carry identical payloads but both missions measured parameters related to the cusp region.
All four flights was deemed a success and hopefully marks the beginning of a fruitful GCI CUSP for scientists, engineers, data modellers as well as for the launch sites and ground based instrumentation supporting the project.
Launch Details
VISIONS-2 vehicle 1 was launched Dec 7th, 2018, 11:06 UTC from Ny-Ålesund, reached an apogee of 805 kilometers and the second followed at 11:08 UTC reaching an apogee of 600 kilometers. VISIONS-2 used Black Brant X vehicles.
The principal investigator for VISIONS-2 was Douglas Rowland from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
TRICE-2 vehicle 1 was launched Dec 8th, 2018, 08:26 UTC from Andøya, reached an apogee of 1 042 kilometers and the second followed at 08:28 UTC reaching an apogee of 756 kilometers. TRICE-2 used Black Brant XIIA vehicles.
Principal investigator for the TRICE-2 mission was professor Craig Kletzing from the University of Iowa.
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