Two air-quality and climate-change research projects in Europe are joining forces, with the aims of securing long-term funding and expanding their data gathering to global coverage. MOZAIC (Measurements of Ozone and Water Vapour by Airbus In-service Aircraft) and CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the Atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container) fly instruments on commercial jets to collect air samples and perform in-flight measurements.
Starting in September, the two projects will share management, funding, and data. And while they will maintain separate research thrusts, they will also take on a monitoring role for climate forecasting. A third research effort along the same lines is run out of Japan.
Since the mid-1990s MOZAIC and CARIBIC—and the predecessor to the current Japanese project, CONTRAIL (Comprehensive Observation Network for Trace Gases by Airliner)—have been hitching rides for their instruments in the cargoes of commercial jets. NASA ran a similar project in...
