The goal of the second flight today was mostly to test the instrument operations in clouds, including the sampling of cloud drops and ice particles with an instrument called Counterflow Virtual Impactor, or CVI. The CVI inlet is one of the many probes and intakes that are mounted on top of the aircraft. You can see the probes on the picture to the left, which was taken during fueling of HALO. The CVI and some other inlets can be seen in more detail on the pictures below. For more information on these inlets see http://www.enviscope.de/engineering/inlet-systems/
The flight took off 1240Z (1440 local time) and followed the tracks shown at right. Unfortunately, by now all the high ice clouds had vanished, and only cumulus clouds could be sampled at 8000' over southern Germany. Nevertheless, the science team was able to successfully test the operation of the instruments, including switching back and forth between the different inlets.
HALO landed again at 1450Z in Oberpfaffen-hofen. This was the last of the test flights, and the next flight will be the transfer flight to Manaus in the Brazilian Amazon!
HALO landed again at 1450Z in Oberpfaffen-hofen. This was the last of the test flights, and the next flight will be the transfer flight to Manaus in the Brazilian Amazon!