IGF



Research & Organizational Project

COPAL - COmmunity heavy-PAyload Long endurance Instrumented Aircraft for Tropospheric Research in Environmental and Geo-sciences

Principal investigator:
prof. dr hab. Hanna Pawłowska
Funding institution:
European Commission, 6th Framework Programme
Realization period:
Oct. 11, 2008 - Oct. 11, 2010
prof. dr hab. Hanna Pawłowska Principal investigator
dr hab. Iwona S. Stachlewska Investigator

COPAL   has   the  objective   of   providing   the  European   scientific   community   with   an   unique research aircraft platform, capable of reaching and operating in any remote area in the world and offering a heavy-payload for integration of large panoply of instruments for research in environmental and Geo-sciences. It will offer an unprecedented opportunity to countries that are   not   yet   operating   research   aircraft   to   develop   expertise   in   airborne   measurements   and participate to international multidisciplinary experiments.
The   Consortium   includes   10   national   research   funding   institutions,   a   SME   and,   a   pan-European   law   firm.   Among   the   national   institutions,   6   are   research   councils,   3   are meteorological   services   supporting   research,   and   one   is   a   national   aerospace   research institution. 7 participants are members of the EUFAR network of European aircraft operators for research in Geo-sciences.
User requirements will be refined and translated into specifications for aircraft performance and modifications for research. The acquisition, modification, and maintenance costs will be precisely quoted. Procedures will be defined for the selection of the aircraft and data management operators. A network of academic centers of excellence and SMEs will be constituted for the development and airborne certification of innovative instruments for the community aircraft. New governance schemes will be elaborated for evaluation of access proposals and allocation of time slots, which reconcile the Pan-European use of the aircraft, with national authority in term of scientific programming.
These activities will be coordinated with EUFAR, with the operator of community research aircraft in the USA, and with the other Preparatory Phase studies, especially those with points of similarity with COPAL, such as the research vessels. They will supply with technical and logistic solutions the research institutions which will develop a new organizational model for the COPAL European distributed infrastructure.

Polska strona COPAL - http://copal.igf.fuw.edu.pl/pl/index/


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