The ATMOSFER campaign: synergistic observations for the preparation of the ESA FORUM mission
Abstract
The balloon-borne ATMOSFER campaign, supported by CNES, was held in Kiruna in June 2024. This campaign involved lightweight hygrometers (Pico-Light H2O, NOAA GML frost point hygrometer, EN-SCI Cryogenic frost point hygrometer), optical particle counters and ice crystal imager (POPS, LOAC v1.5, LPC and NIXE-B), ozone sondes and the airborne demonstrator of the future ESA FORUM mission developed by CNR-INO (FIRMOS-B instrument). The instruments have been flown aboard Zero Pressure Balloon (ZPB) and small weather balloons (RS) by CNES and the scientific teams. The synergistic observations aboard stratospheric balloons captured the signature of multiple influences which are useful for preparation activities of the ESA FORUM mission. The measurements revealed stratospheric intrusions of sub-tropical air, the presence of upper tropospheric ice cirrus clouds and aerosol layers of small particles potentially originating from volcanic eruption (between 15 and 17 km of altitude) and forest fires (near the polar cold point tropopause), which will influence the vertical profile retrievals from FIRMOS-B radiances and provide interesting features for radiative closure studies. This article aims to give an overview of the observation potential of the campaign for further studies in the frame of the ESA FORUM mission. The datasets are publicly available in the HEMERA datacenter (https://data.hemera-h2020.eu/atmospheric-balloon-experiments/#/).
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BibTeX
@misc{ghysels2026atmosfer,
title = {{The ATMOSFER campaign: synergistic observations for the preparation of the ESA FORUM mission}},
author = {Mélanie Ghysels and Luca Palchetti and Silvia Viciani and Claudio Belotti and Marco Barucci and Gwenaël Berthet and Elizabeth Asher and Emrys Hall and Alex Fritz and Armin Afchine and Christian Rolf and Thomas Kuhn and Chris Stopford and Alain Hauchecorne and Nadir Amarouche and Georges Durry and Jean-Christophe Samake and Lars E Kalnajs and Terry Deshler and Samuele del Bianco and Paolo Pettinari},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.5194/essd-2026-557},
url = {https://insu.hal.science/insu-05750400v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The ATMOSFER campaign: synergistic observations for the preparation of the ESA FORUM mission
AU - Mélanie Ghysels
AU - Luca Palchetti
AU - Silvia Viciani
AU - Claudio Belotti
AU - Marco Barucci
AU - Gwenaël Berthet
AU - Elizabeth Asher
AU - Emrys Hall
AU - Alex Fritz
AU - Armin Afchine
AU - Christian Rolf
AU - Thomas Kuhn
AU - Chris Stopford
AU - Alain Hauchecorne
AU - Nadir Amarouche
AU - Georges Durry
AU - Jean-Christophe Samake
AU - Lars E Kalnajs
AU - Terry Deshler
AU - Samuele del Bianco
AU - Paolo Pettinari
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/10
PB - HAL
DO - 10.5194/essd-2026-557
UR - https://insu.hal.science/insu-05750400v1
AB - The balloon-borne ATMOSFER campaign, supported by CNES, was held in Kiruna in June 2024. This campaign involved lightweight hygrometers (Pico-Light H2O, NOAA GML frost point hygrometer, EN-SCI Cryogenic frost point hygrometer), optical particle counters and ice crystal imager (POPS, LOAC v1.5, LPC and NIXE-B), ozone sondes and the airborne demonstrator of the future ESA FORUM mission developed by CNR-INO (FIRMOS-B instrument). The instruments have been flown aboard Zero Pressure Balloon (ZPB) and small weather balloons (RS) by CNES and the scientific teams. The synergistic observations aboard stratospheric balloons captured the signature of multiple influences which are useful for preparation activities of the ESA FORUM mission. The measurements revealed stratospheric intrusions of sub-tropical air, the presence of upper tropospheric ice cirrus clouds and aerosol layers of small particles potentially originating from volcanic eruption (between 15 and 17 km of altitude) and forest fires (near the polar cold point tropopause), which will influence the vertical profile retrievals from FIRMOS-B radiances and provide interesting features for radiative closure studies. This article aims to give an overview of the observation potential of the campaign for further studies in the frame of the ESA FORUM mission. The datasets are publicly available in the HEMERA datacenter (https://data.hemera-h2020.eu/atmospheric-balloon-experiments/#/).
ER -