ECASS - Enhanced Cryosphere Airborne Sensor System; ECASS - Beschaffung Innovativer Wissenschaftlicher Instrumente für die AWI Polar-Flugzeuge (Erweitertes Kryosphären-Flugzeugsensorsystem)

Abstract

The Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) operates two DC3-BT67 research aircraft for scientific and logistical campaigns in the Polar Regions. With support by the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR), AWI enhanced the instrumentation suite for the research airplanes between 2023-2025 to broaden the fields of application in airplane-based polar research, enhance data acquisition quantity and quality, and replace old heavy components with new lightweight components to extend operational range or reduce fuel costs. Within the Enhanced Cryosphere Airborne Sensor System (ECASS) project, new instruments and necessary hardware components were purchased, fitted to the AWI planes, tested, certified for specific campaign configurations, and used for various applications in first demonstration campaigns. The new instruments include a Modular Aerial Camera System (MACS Polar-23) built by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) Institute for Optical Sensor Systems, a Riegl VQ-880-GII topo-bathymetric laserscanner, an iCORUS-02 strapdown inertia gravimeter, and components for the renewal of power amplifiers for the existing Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) radar instrument as well as components for the technical integration of a CryoSAR dual-band radar antenna (Ku- and L-band). We here provide the final project report with background, instrument specifications, and insights from the first campaigns. As the AWI polar research airplanes are a major research infrastructure managed by AWI for the German Polar Research community, the new ECASS suite is now available also for broader use by the research community.