HALO SPP 1294 Coordination Proposal

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Joachim Curtius
• Subject Area: Atmospheric Science
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 461450880

The High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO) is a Gulfstream G-550 aircraft specifically equipped with modern, state-of-the-art in-situ and remote sensing instruments. It enables forefront Earth-system research making innovative atmospheric and geophysical measurements with an impressively high ceiling altitude of up to about 15 km above ground within an aerial range of roughly 8000 km corresponding to an endurance of 8-10 flight hours. HALO may carry an instrumental payload of up to about 3 tons. The DFG supports research investigating atmospheric and Earth-system related processes by using HALO through the Priority Program “Atmospheric and Earth system research with HALO” SPP 1294 since 2007. The central coordination project within the HALO SPP 1294 will continue to efficiently manage the HALO SPP 1294, and to steer the collaboration between the HALO mission principle investigators (PIs), the project PIs, and the scientific (Ph.D. students, Post-Docs, senior scientists) and technical/logistic collaborators. Furthermore, the scientific and financial reporting to DFG is realized within the central coordination project. The DFG share of the mission costs and further common funds (such as travel funds and funds for topical workshops) will be administered by the University of Leipzig, together with a respective controlling and contract managing system. Furthermore, the specific coordination activities in the proposed first three years (2022-2024) of Phase III (2022-2028) of the HALO SPP 1294 will also include the organization of status colloquia, the support of topical workshops, the organization of outreach activities, trainees of young scientists, and the realization of gender equality measures. The revision and maintenance of the HALO SPP 1294 website (http://www.halo-spp.de/) will strengthen the visibility of the HALO SPP 1294.

• DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1294: Atmospheric and Earth System Research with the "High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft" (HALO)
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Manfred Wendisch