FAAM Airborne Laboratory
The Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM),[1] based on the Cranfield University campus alongside Cranfield Airport in Bedfordshire, England, is an organisation formed by a collaboration between the Met Office and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
Applications
The FAAM was established as part of the National Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (NCAS),[2] which is itself part of NERC, to provide aircraft measurement for use by UK atmospheric research organisations on worldwide campaigns. The main equipment is a modified BAe 146 type 301 aircraft, registration G-LUXE, owned by BAE Systems and operated for them by the company Directflight Limited.[3]
Areas of application include:[4]
- Radiative transfer studies in clear and cloudy air;
- Tropospheric chemistry measurements;
- Cloud physics and dynamic studies;
- Dynamics of mesoscale weather systems;
- Boundary layer and turbulence studies;
- Remote sensing: verification of ground based instruments;
- Satellite ground truth: radiometric measurements and winds;
- Satellite instrument test-bed;
- Campaigns in the UK and abroad.