Celebrates 20 Years Of Partnership Gathering Atmospheric Data

Airbus on Monday marked the 20th anniversary of the first MOZAIC (Measurement of Ozone by Airbus in-service Aircraft) flight together with partners, users and the worldwide scientific community, highlighting the strong commitment of the aircraft manufacturer to advancing scientific knowledge on climate research.

20 years after the launch of MOZAIC, seven Airbus widebody aircraft (six A340-300s and an A330) equipped with measurement devices are flying daily and internationally, with the support of the program’s associated airlines: Lufthansa, China Airlines, Air France, Iberia, Cathay Pacific and Air Namibia.

“There is today no atmospheric or climate model which does not use the huge MOZAIC and IAGOS databases to adjust results” said Rainer Von Wrede, Airbus’ Head of Environment for Engineering and Research & Technology. “Thanks to our participation and the strong partnerships with airlines, laboratories and institutes the scientific community has a much better understanding of the atmosphere and climate change.”

The scientific data collected, including near real-time data provision for weather prediction, climate and air quality forecasting, are verified and added to the MOZAIC/IAGOS database with free access given to international scientific and policy-making communities. The measurement devices capture key information needed for research, such as aircraft parameters (date/hour, geo-localisation, wind direction & speed, temperature, pressure) and atmospheric data such as concentrations in ozone, water vapour and carbon monoxide.

To date, the measurements captured on more than 41,000 commercial flights have been added to the MOZAIC/IAGOS database since the first data obtained on an Air France A340 flight from Caracas to Bogota in August 1994.

FMI: www.iagos.fr/web