Follow ESA CIMR Airborne Arctic Campaign

FMI-SPACE scientist Juha Lemmetyinen and Sampo Salo (Harp Technologies Ltd) report that the European Space Agency CIMRex 2019 flight campaign (2-9 March 2019) successfully arrived in Svalbard, via Greenland. Follow updates on the ESA CIMRex 2019 flight campaign and CIMR mission: https://cimr.eu/cimrex #CIMREU

The purpose of the ESA CIMR Airborne Arctic Campaign is to carry out an experiment using a multi-channel microwave radiometer system HUTRAD 2.0 that simulates the Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR) instrument. The airborne activity supports the planned EU Copernicus High Priority Candidate Mission.

The EU Copernicus CIMR satellite mission aims at collecting data in the Arctic region that will help develop new algorithms for sea-ice concentration and sea-surface temperature. They will ensure full sub-daily coverage of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas, to support the Integrated EU Arctic Policy.

The ESA CIMRex 2019 flight campaign started in Iceland, Akureyri. The first tasks included mounting the instruments, such as a system called HUTRAD 2.0, to measure the brightness temperatures of different ice regimes and open water, on the Norlandair Twin Otter. After the successful test flight in Akureyri, the CIMREx team transferred to Svalbard via Greenland East coast, sampling various sea ice types along the route. The long transfer required a short landing to refuel at Constable Point in Greenland, and an overnight stay at the Danmarkshavn weather station.

CIMRex campaign is a team effort involving ESA, DTU Space, Aalto University, Harp Technologies, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, University of Bremen, the Danish Meteorological Institute and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. The CIMR mission is developed by the European Space Agency for EU Copernicus. FMI-SPACE participates to the airborne campaign, Aalto University supplied the old HUTRAD system and Harp Technologies made effort to refurbish the system in time for the campaign.

More information:

• Juha Lemmetyinen, Finnish Meteorological Institute, juha.lemmetyinen@fmi.fi
• Tânia Casal, ESA Scientific Campaign Coordinator: twitter.com/TaniaGDCasal
• ESA campaign blog: http://blogs.esa.int/campaignearth/2019/03/04/cimrex-heading-out-to-the-arctic-for-new-mission-concept/