ARSF News
Latest status for operational data collection
February 2012 - Announcement of Opportunity for 2012 Flying Season
Eligible persons wishing to use the Airborne Research and Survey Facility in the 2012 Flying Season are invited to submit detailed proposals, including a supporting scientific case, by Friday 20 April 2012.
Further details for Ethiopia are available (PDF document)
Further details for the Eastern Mediterranean are available (PDF document)
December 2011
Exploration and adventure
Carl Joseph, Acting Head of Airborne Research and Survey Facility (ARSF) attended a reception hosted by The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh for those involved in exploration and adventure.
The event marked the centenary of Captain Robert Scott's final expedition to the South Pole.
The ARSF is a NERC funded facility providing flexible and cost effective support of high quality research, survey monitoring and training activities, across all seven of NERC's reserach across all science themes.
The ARSF deploys an extensively -modified Dornier 228-101 research aircraft, that provides payload and endurance to enable the flexibility to undertake a variety of science campaigns with different requirements and in different environments.
The ARSF has a wide area of operations and has been deployed in Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard, South America, Africa and Australia in support of NERC consortium grants and research programs.
In April 2010 The ARSF aircraft flew a number of research in relation to the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.
Data collected from these series of flights were instrumental in asssiting the government to consider its policy on determining acceptable levels of ash contamination in the atmosphere for commercial flights.
Retirement
Following the recent retirement of Mr Peter Purcell, the Head of Airborne Facilities at NERC, the ARSF would like to thank Peter for his exceptional support, effort and drive over the years in developing a world class facility. We wish Peter and Dee the very best wishes for their new life in South Africa.
September 2011 - ARSF questionnaire
The Airborne Research & Survey Facility (ARSF) is due to be reviewed by NERC's Services Review Group (SRG) early in 2012. This is a regular process repeated every five years and is achieved through the evaluation of the facilities capabilities and performance in the period since the last review in 2007, and a review of the continued need for the facility by the academic community.
Since 2008 the ARSF has undergone significant changes, both in levels of equipment (such as the Leica airborne laser scanner) and how we operate, including improvements to data quality, delivery and support services. The means by which experience with the ARSF is captured and reported in the renewal document is via a questionnaire.
The questionnaire is online and only takes a small amount of time to complete. The information collected is vital for the ARSF's renewal process and I urge you to complete the questionnaire regardless of whether you are a past, present or potential future user, as, apart from the renewal, the information will guide any future development. Your response will be greatly appreciated and will be needed to ensure the future continuation of the facility as a resource of the research community.
We will need the questionnaire to be completed before the end of October 2011.
Professor Danny Donoghue
Department of Geography, University of Durham
July 2011 - Announcement of Opportunity for 2012 Flying Season
Eligible persons wishing to use the Airborne Research and Survey Facility in the 2012 Flying Season are invited to submit detailed proposals, including a supporting scientific case, by Friday 7 October 2011.
Further details are available (PDF document).
December 2010 - Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society Annual Conference, 2011
13-15 September 2011, Bournemouth University, UK
Earth Observation in a Changing World
An invitation to submit papers to the RSPSoc 2011 Annual Conference "Earth Observation in a Changing World" has been issued. In particular papers are invited related to RSPSoc Special Interest Groups, ISPRS Working Groups, and NERC Earth Observation Technology Cluster themes. For details on the submission process see the conference website.
Further details of the invite (PDF document)
August 2010 - Announcement of Opportunity - Atmospheric Science, 2011 Flying Season
The ARSF invites direct access applications to be flown in the UK and Europe during a three-week period in October 2011. Closing date for receipt of proposals is 5 November 2010.
Further details of the Opportunity for UK and Europe are available (PDF document)
July 2010
During the summer the ARSF are collecting remotely sensed data from the UK, Spain, Portugal, Iceland, Italy and Hungary.
May 2010
The ARSF are deployed on a remote sensing campaign based in the eastern Mediterranean region.
April 2010 - ARSF monitoring
Since the 16th of April, the ARSF have been collecting data from the volcanic ash cloud that resulted from the eruption in the Eyjafjallajoekull area of Iceland. These data are fed to the Met Office for the evaluation of air safety and for forecasting.
More information may be gained from the press release on the NERC website.
April 2010 - Announcement of Opportunity for 2011 Flying Season
Eligible persons wishing to use the Airborne Research and Survey Facility in the 2011 Flying Season are invited to submit detailed proposals, including a supporting scientific case, by Friday 8 October 2010.
Further details for UK and Europe are available (PDF document).
February 2010 - ARSF overseas
On 1 March 2010 the ARSF are due to deploy to the Caribbean to survey the Soufriere Hills volcano and Belham Valley area of Montserrat. Return to the UK will be later in that month (by 21 March), when support of UK projects will resume.
January 2010 - Update
Data collection is due to resume on 15 February. Prior to that date the operations crew are conducting planning meetings, fitting and being trained in the operation of new instruments and generally preparing aircraft and instruments for the 2010 flying season.
August 2009 - NERC ARSF workshop
The NERC ARSF (in conjunction with RSPSoc 2009) will be hosting a workshop on the 7th and 8th of September 2009 at the University of Leicester. This bi-annually held workshop has no attendance charge and will contain presentations of research conducted using ARSF collected data and will provide information as to how to access ARSF data, opportunities for advice on aspects of data processing, information concerning the provision of spectral field data and new developments in the ARSF. For information concerning this workshop please contact Gary Llewellyn. To register for the ARSF workshop please contact RSPSoc 2009.
The NERC Airborne Remote Sensing Facility (ARSF) will be holding a dedicated workshop immediately prior to the RSPSoc 2009 Annual Conference in Leicester.
June 2009 - Instrument operator/data manager vacancy - now filled
ARSF is looking to appoint an instrument operator/data manager (PDF document). This role is driven by a growing requirement for acquisition and management of high quality airborne remotely-sensed and in-situ data.
May 2009 - Announcement of Opportunity for 2010 Flying Season
Eligible persons wishing to use the Airborne Research and Survey Facility in the 2010 Flying Season are invited to submit detailed proposals, including a supporting scientific case, by Friday 9 October 2009.
Further details for UK and Europe are available (PDF document).
Further details for Greece and Eastern Mediterranean are available (PDF document).
January 2009 - Relocation of ARSF Operations Office
From Monday 12 January, the Airborne Research & Survey Facility will operate from Gloucester Airport (also known as Staverton).
This move is partly due to the inability to secure an acceptable continuation of the lease at Oxford in terms of long-term security of occupation and costs; however the new base will also be more cost-effective, with efficiency gains by means of providing an improved working environment and better operational facilities.
User access and communication procedures remain unchanged.
The new address is:
NERC-ARSF Operations Centre
Firfax House
Meteor Business Park
Cheltenham Road East
Gloucester
GL2 9QL
Tel: 01452 859945 (but for some time the current ARSF phone number will be maintained via automatic transfer).
Fax: TBA
Mobile: (Sci/Ops Coordinator - unchanged) 07919 697851
Email: (all unchanged)
Chief Pilot/Ops Manager cjos@nerc.ac.uk;
Science/Operations Coordinator gaew@nerc.ac.uk;
Copilot/Electronics Officer davd@nerc.ac.uk;
Instrument Specialist pagoy@nerc.ac.uk.
October 2008 - Future Commitments
The ARSF are due to be deployed in Ethiopia during the late October and early November period of 2009. During this period the ARSF will be unable to collect data over the UK.
October 2008 - VOCALS Campaign
Between the 14th October and the 24th of November (2008) the ARSF will be deployed in Arica, Chile, in support of the VOCAL International atmospheric science campaign. On return to the UK the Dornier will undergo a period of end of season maintenance.
May 2008 - Announcement of Opportunity for 2009 Flying Season
Eligible persons wishing to use the Airborne Research and Survey Facility in the 2009 Flying Season are invited to submit detailed proposals, including a supporting scientific case, by Friday 10 October 2008.
Further details are available (PDF document).
July 2007
Remote Sensing Scientists / Software Engineers - Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) is seeking to recruit two enthusiastic and highly motivated individuals to develop, manage and operate the ARSF data analysis facility.
September 2007
The Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society will be holding its Annual Conference in Newcastle Upon Tyne, hosted by the University of Newcastle and organised by the School of Civil Engineering & Geoscience. The conference will take place 12 to 14 September 2007.
September 2007
The NERC Airborne Research & Survey Facility (ARSF) will be holding a dedicated workshop prior to the main RSPSOC conference, on Tuesday 11 Sept. The workshop will provide an opportunity for projects using ARSF collected data to present their findings and ongoing results.
May 2007
Appointment Opportunities for NERC's Science and Innovation Strategy Board (SISB) - to commence from September 2007. Nomination forms to be returned no later than 04 June 2007.
May 2007 - Announcement of Opportunity 2008
Eligible persons wishing to use the Airborne Research and Survey Facility in the 2008 Season are invited to submit detailed proposals, including a supporting scientific case, by Monday 22 October 2007. Further details are available (PDF document).
May 2007 - Announcement of Opportunity - Ethiopian deployment 2008
Receipt of applications: 2 July 2007 (full details available).
October 2006
ARSF successfully procured the Do-228, which was previously under lease for 5 years.