European Community Airborne Laboratory Presentation 29/10/2008 COPAL Community heavy-payload Long Endurance Instrumented Aircraft for Tropospheric Research in Environmental and Geo-Sciences

The Origin of COPAL As part of the EUFAR FP6 activity on the Future of the Fleet, a survey of the scientific demand was completed by the European Science Foundation in 2006 : Among the 6 options that were suggested by ESF, the majority of the 203 responses supported as the first priority for the development of the fleet : “A European medium-altitude / heavy -payload / long-endurance research aircraft, for atmosphere / low-troposphere campaigns (in multi-disciplinary / multi-national settings): a turboprop aircraft (Lockheed C130, Airbus A400M)” A proposal was thus submitted to ESFRI for the construction of a heavy-payload and long endurance research aircraft for tropospheric research, indicating that two options had to be considered : a Lockheed C130 and an Airbus A400M After selection of the proposal by ESFRI in October 2006, a proposal was submitted to the Commission at the first FP7 call for Infrastructures in May 2007 for the construction of a heavy-payload and long endurance research aircraft for tropospheric research, indicating that three options had to be considered : a Lockheed C130 and an Airbus A400M, and a CASA-295 The proposal was selected by the EU Commission and started on 1 st November 2007

COPAL Objectives  To acquire, modify and equip for research a heavy-payload (6 Tons) and long endurance (10 hours) aircraft for research in the lower and middle troposphere.  Propose a legal structure for joint management of the COPAL aircraft  Quantify the costs for procurement, refurbishing, modification for research, certification, and operation of the COPALO aircraft  Designate the aircraft operator and scientific operator of the COPAL aircraft  Constitute a network of academic laboratories and SME for development, maintenance and operation of research instrumentation  Define the governance model for access proposals evaluation and allocation of flight time

COPAL Partners

The endurance is the main limitation of the European fleet With and endurance of 5.5 hours, the Bae-146 (UK) is limited to a few hours of scientific activities in remote areas such as the ocean, polar regions or underdeveloped countries (Sahel))

The concept of Community Airborne Laboratory (NCAR/C130) During international experiments, 15 to 20 research laboratories contribute to the multidisciplinary instrumental setup (dynamics, chemistry, aerosol, radiation, remote sensing) that is necessary to address crucial issues such as climate and general circulation.

The concept of Distributed Infrastructure Because of its limitations in term of available space and weight, a research aircraft is generally a tighly integrated measurement platform, that shall be managed by a single operator. When space and weight are no longer a constraint, the instrumented aircraft can be managed following a different approach: One operator shall still be designated to act as the aircraft responsible for aviation authorities and registration. He is in charge of the operations and of the maintenance of a basic measurement system, that includes standard atmospheric parameters, positioning, and time. He also manages the central acquisition system and defines standards for integration and certification of innovative instruments developed by other laboratories.

The concept of Community Airborne Laboratory This concept of distributed infrastructure is particularly interesting at the present stage of integration of European Research Infrastructures. It allows all countries in Europe to contribute to the overall system, at their possible level of investment. It will have a strong integrating impact on the « measurement and instrumentation » scientific community, because field campaigns on an aircraft always create durable links between groups of different origin working towards a common objective It allows to mobilize the best teams in Europe over the very broad range of expertise that is required for today research on the Earth System.

The concept of Community Airborne Laboratory Benefits : With an endurance of 10 to 12 hours, the COPAL aircraft will be able to reach any area of the globe, and still perform a significant amount of scientific time on site. With a scientific payload of 6 T, a comprehensive multidisciplinary set of instruments will be installed on the COPAL aircraft, without severe constraints of miniaturization A turboprop, limited to an altitude of 9 km, is two times cheaper than a jet, with a lower payload and similar endurance, but a much higher ceiling of 15 km. Contraints : For optimal operation (600 hours/year), the COPAL aircraft shall be open to a broad community of scientific users, like the NCAR in the US, which operates the C130 turboprop and G-V jet.

Estimated COPAL Construction Costs (ref NCAR-C ) Construction costs : The procurement, refurbishing, modifications for research and civil certification amount to 30 M$ for a C130K with a potential of hours). Operation Fixed costs : The fixed costs, including indirect costs (60% of direct costs), insurance, training, navigation service, maintenance and provision for inspection, plus salaries and overheads (53.4%) for 3 pilots, 2 navigators, 2 flight engineers et 3 mechanists, amount to 3,5 M$. Operation Variable costs : The variable costs, on the basis of 600 flight hours per year, including fuel, spare parts, maintenance for engines, propellers and APU, amount to 3,6 M$, i.e. $6000 per flight hours.

Financing Scheme for Construction & Operation Construction costs : 30 M$ Operation costs : 3,5 M$/year The variable additional costs ($6000/hour) is comparable to the one of the existing large pay-load EUFAR aircraft UK-BAe146 or FR-ATR42 The European Commission develops new tools for the financing of research infrastructure of pan-European interest. The European Investment Bank is ready to support the COPAL project with a long term (25 years) loan of 30 M€ over 25 ans. Reimbursement of the debt: 2 M€/ year. Cumulating operation costs and reimbursement of the debt, the COPAL annual budget will be less than 5 M€.

Airborne Research in Geo-science Which aircraft model ? Cost (flight hour, excluding depreciation, EU cost model) DE UK FR NL ES FI IT COPAL Full Cost Subsidized Cost

Financing Scheme for Instrumentation Instrumentation costs : 20 M€ Half of this instrumentation already exists and can be integrated in the COPAL aircraft as soon as it is operational (WP5 : building the network of instrumentation providers) Half is to be developed by European laboratories over the 25 years of the project

Long Term Commitments for COPAL Participation in COPAL is a strategic decision for countries, which have not yet invested in airborne research infrastructures An investment of 5 M€ is just sufficient for procurement, modification and instrumentation of a medium size tropospheric aircraft (Merlin-IV), with less than 1 ton of payload and 3 hours of endurance It is difficult to develop rapidly all fields of expertise necessary to operate a research airborne infrastructure (dynamics, radiaiton, chemistry, microphysics,…) At the national level, the facility will therefore be focused to address some specific fields, for a limited user community. The aircraft will therefore be used well below its optimum potential (600 flight hours /year). An initial budget of 5 M€ is difficult to obtain from research funding institutions

Long Term Commitments for COPAL Participating in COPAL is how such countries will benefit of the European integration: Initial support of 30 M€ from the European Bank of Investment. Costs are spread over 25 years, i.e. annually, 2 M€ for reimbursement debt and 3 M€ for the operation Access to one of the two largest infrastructures in Europe Efficient exchange of expertise by jointly contributing to field projects An aircraft is flying ! Unlike other research infrastructures in ESFRI, COPAL is not located in one of the participating countries. Being a shareholder in COPAL implies, being an operator in EUFAR. Priority access to the aircraft of the EUFAR fleet open to trans-national access Scientific involvement in the development of new instrumentation can be progressive since research instrumentation is already available in the Consortium