Romania has become one of just five European countries to have a dedicated flying laboratory for research purposes following a significant investment by the EU’s European Regional Development Fund.
- 01 March 2013
The investment has allowed Romania’s National Institute for Aerospace Research (INCAS) in Bucharest to purchase a King Air C90 GTx twin-engine turboprop aircraft and to install specialist sensors capable of detecting and scanning small atmospheric particles down to half a micron in size. The aircraft is equipped with a range of specialist technologies, including optical remote sensing equipment that has applications in seismology and atmospheric physics.
The flying laboratory is expected to play a vital role in carrying out investigative missions for academic research into, for example, the particle emissions of volcanic eruptions, environmental analysis and atmospheric physics. Together with industrial partners, the aircraft will also be used to research fields such as opto-electronics, aeronautics and new radar systems as well as various green technologies.
Project manager Mihai Floriean said that in the first nine months of the flying laboratory’s existence it had already helped obtain useful meteorological data as well as data for a research project on aircraft safety looking into the formation of ice crystals on aircraft at high altitude.
Boost for young scientists in the region
Mr Floriean added that the project had led to the creation of five full-time jobs. Many of the staff are young scientists engaged in doctoral research programmes associated with the project. This is important as one of the aims of the project is to provide and promote the use of research infrastructure, especially for young scientists from countries where such facilities are lacking.
The new aircraft is one of just five such aircraft in the European Union and INCAS hopes that the investment will allow it to become a regional leader in the field of atmospheric and environment research.
Efforts to buy the airborne laboratory date back to 2008, when it was soon realised that financing the project with the help of EU Structural Funds was likely to be the only solution.
Total and EU funding
The “Laborator Aeropurtat pentru Cercetari Atmosferice de Mediu / Airborne Laboratory for Environmental Atmospheric Research (ATMOSLAB)” project had a total eligible budget of EUR 3 987 911 of which the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributed EUR 3 526 293 for the 2007 to 2013 programming period. The project was funded through the “Increase for Economic Competitiveness” Operational Programme.