August 22, 2013

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Arctic Methane: Flight Friday 16th PM

We followed exactly the same flight path as this morning’s flight. Credit to the amazing  (auto) pilots! Like the earlier flight, we also saw gradual changes in the methane concentration as we traversed east to went and north to south.

By Michelle Cain

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We followed exactly the same flight path as this morning’s flight. Credit to the amazing (auto) pilots! Like the earlier flight, we also saw gradual changes in the methane concentration as we traversed east to went and north to south. With the low wind speeds we were in, we should be able to get a good picture of how much methane was coming out from the ground in the region we flew over.

This morning, I and the rest of the red team (Keith Bower and John Pyle) are planning tomorrow’s flights, and checking up on the current weather for the blue (or azure to some) team, who are flying right now! They have seen some high methane concentrations, which is great, but they have a few people on board feeling unwell, who won’t be able to fly this afternoon. Such is our dedication to getting good measurements that we will fly low and bumpy (and so the seatbelt signs are on and we can’t get up) without any comfort breaks if the methane demands it! I’ll definitely be taking a pre-emptive Kwells this afternoon…

Previously in this series:

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Arctic Methane: Hello and welcome to the MAMM blog

Arctic methane: What’s the story?

Methane and Mosquitoes – Blogging Bogs

Arctic Methane: Mr Blue Sky

Arctic Methane: And in the blue corner…

Arctic Methane: Transiting to Kiruna

Arctic Methane: First science flight

Arctic Methane: A night in Stordalen wetland, Abisko

Arctic Methane: Flight Friday 16th AM

Michelle Cain is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Atmospheric Science in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, UK, and a Natural Environment Research Council policy placement fellow at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK. She completed her doctorate at the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading, where she used both computer models and measurement data to study the transport of pollutants in the atmosphere. She is currently using these techniques to study pollutants in the atmosphere globally, including methane emissions in the Arctic. Posts will come from both Michelle and her colleagues working on the Arctic field work.

More by Michelle Cain

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