The CARE-C scientific team contributes novel UAV observations to the CHOPIN Campaign on Aerosol-Cloud Interactions
Researchers from The Cyprus Institute’s Climate and Atmosphere Research Center (CARE-C), along with the Center’s Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (USRL), have recently participated in the CleanCloud Helmos Orographic Site Experiment (CHOPIN) campaign, organised within the context of the CleanCloud Horizon Europe project. The campaign took place from October 11 to November 1, 2024, at Mt Helmos, in Greece.
Cloud formation is heavily affected by the presence of aerosol particles in a process called “aerosol-cloud interactions”. Aerosols are solid and liquid substances suspended in the atmosphere, originating from natural and anthropogenic processes: for example, desert dust, smoke from biomass burning, pollution from cities and industries, etc. The CleanCloud project, which CARE-C is a partner of, aims at enhancing our knowledge of aerosol-cloud interactions, and how they will evolve in the transition to the post-fossil regime, i.e. when they will be influenced more by natural sources and less by anthropogenic ones.
Mount Helmos, situated in a rapidly changing climate hotspot, where various air masses converge, offers an attractive natural laboratory. Airmasses influenced by wildfire smoke, urban pollution, sea salt, and Saharan dust are common, making the location ideal for studying aerosol-cloud dynamics under the influence of natural aerosols, as well as anthropogenic ones. The CHOPIN campaign united over 50 participants from more than 10 European research groups, emphasizing the collaborative nature of this ambitious scientific effort. More than 50 UAV flights were held from an altitude of 1,700 m above sea level (Kalavryta Ski Center) up to 3,500 m ASL, with the primary goal of deepening our understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions and contributing novel observations for the refining of remote sensing algorithms and climate models.
During the campaign, the CARE-C research team deployed its unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in order to collect useful data for studying clouds, aerosols and their interactions, offering unique insights through observations conducted both inside and outside cloud formations. In addition, two high-end instruments developed by the Instrumentation and Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) of CyI were deployed on ground observatories for measuring the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations and the hygroscopicity of aerosols. These instruments complemented the vast array of stationary measurements conducted during the campaign in order to probe key aerosol properties, further contributing in deepening our knowledge on aerosol key interactions.
The datasets collected by the Cyprus Institute complement measurements obtained at instrumented stations run by the National Centre For Scientific Research Demokritos and balloon-borne observations by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne, contributing to a very large data collection effort. The insights gained from this campaign are expected to shed light on how cloud characteristics respond to varying particle compositions—providing a window into the atmospheric conditions of a post-fossil future.
CleanCloud has received funding from the Horizon Europe Programme under Grant Agreement No 101137639. The researchers extend their gratitude to all collaborating institutions and funding bodies for their support.
