European Facility For Airborne Research

In the previous EUFAR contract (2008 - 2013), maintaining the capability of a stratospheric research aircraft was indicated as a priority for the development of the European airborne fleet. To this aim, various solutions continue to be explored in the current EUFAR project (2014 - 2018), either investigating how to access existing stratospheric aircraft outside Europe or on ensuring the long-term availability of a full European platform.

One of the tasks of the current EUFAR project is to organise a workshop where scientists involved in the field of stratospheric airborne research would gather to:

1. define future research topics that may be tackled by a stratospheric research aircraft
2. provide suggestions on how to secure the availability of such an aircraft in Europe for the coming decade

Following the recommendations on the opportunity to maintain and foster airborne stratospheric research capabilities, this may result in structuring a proposal at an international or European level to grant access to an existing aircraft or implement a new platform.

The workshop will be held at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) headquarters (Piazzale Aldo Moro 7 - Aula SILVESTRI, Rome, Italy).

DRAFT PROGRAMME

Thursday 4 May

11:00-11:00 Welcome and opening remarks, aim of the workshop
11:00 - 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 - 14:00 Presentations by participants on future research topics that can be addressed by airborne stratospheric observations.
14:00-15:00 Lunch break
15:00-17:00 Open discussion on Stratospheric Science perspectives: What kind of platform? Can we afford to sustain a stratospheric research aircraft for the coming years?
20:00 Group Dinner

Friday 5 May

9:30-10:00 Beyond EUFAR: a sustainable structure as a common European home for airborne research (Phil Brown, or Francesco Cairo)
10:00-10:30 The availability of stratospheric platforms – the European scenario - Francesco Cairo
10:30 - 11:00 The availability of stratospheric platforms – the worldwide scenario - (TBD, someone from NASA or Francesco Cairo or who volunteers)
11:00 - 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 - 1230 Presentations by participants on developments in their home countries in terms of developing stratospheric platforms (e.g. airship, drones, and so on….) for stratospheric observations.
12:30- 13:00 The legal framework for managing research infrastructures in EU
13:00 – 14:00 Open discussion on strategies to secure the availability of a stratospheric research aircraft
14:00-15:00 Lunch break
15:00-17:00 Continued: Open discussion on strategies to secure the availability of a stratospheric research aircraft. Items to report to EUFAR General Assembly in early 2018.

• Future of the Fleet

• CAIRO Francesco
• CORTESI Ugo
• FIERLI Federico
• GARCIA-GALLARDO Ramon
• GRATTON Guy
• HARRIS Neil
• HOEPFNER Michael
• LEGRAS Bernard
• SMITH Paul
• STROH Fred
• VOIGT Christiane