AirCore
The AirCore is an atmospheric sampler flying under stratospheric balloons. It allows the measurement of the vertical profiles (from the surface up to 30 km of altitude) of atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and CO).
The main scientific objectives of the AirCore are:
- Understanding of carbon exchanges along the atmospheric column;
- Cal/val activities for greenhouse gas space missions;
- Evaluation of atmospheric chemistry and transport models.
Since 2013, several versions of AirCore have been developped by LMD (CNRS / Ecole Polytechnique / ENS Paris / Sorbonne University) and have been deployed in partnership with CNES (the French Space Agency), LSCE (CNRS / CEA / University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en -Yvelines), GSMA (CNRS / Université de Reims) and OPGC (CNRS, Blaise Pascal University), in various places around the globe.
Regular launches are organized since 2016 at several stations that form the French AirCore program: Aire-sur-l’Adour (ASA), Trainou (TRN), Reims (MDH) and Puy-de-Dôme (PDD). Additional launches are organized during MAGIC large-scale field campaigns.
This dataset comprises all vertical profiles acquired by the French AirCore program.
The development and deployment of AirCores are carried out in the framework of projects funded by the CNRS, CNES, CEA, Ecole polytechnique, IPSL, the European Union and the University from Reims Champagne-Ardenne.