Mobile Flux Platform successfully tested
Published: 27 Nov 2012
The Mobile Flux Platform, an integrated airborne measurement suite developed by coseno, cosine's Italian subsidiary, was successfully bench tested.
coseno, established in December 2011, develops measurement and observation systems for space and aerospace missions in the visible and infrared wavelength ranges, and supports its customers in measurement campaigns and data analysis.
Less than a year after being established, coseno together with its subcontractor Terrasystems s.r.l., and in collaboration with the CNR Institute for Biometereology (Florence, Italy) and the NOAA Atmospheric Turbulence Diffusion Division (Tennesse, USA), successfully integrated and bench tested its Mobile Flux Platform. The Platform includes a set of airborne remote and in-situ sensing instruments that can be mounted in the nose of a SkyArrow aircraft. The SkyArrow, manufactured by Magnaghi Aeronautica (Naples, Italy), is a low-cost aerial work platform, designed for environmental research. Equipped with the Mobile Flux Platform the SkyArrow becomes an effective tool to measure fluxes of energy, mass (for instance dust), and greenhouse gases (CO2, H2O) in the atmosphere. These measurements help understanding climate change and how humans affect the carbon cycle.