FIRMOS-B spectrum measured during the ATMOSFER flight

FIRMOS-Balloon early results from the ATMOSFER flight

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The ATMOSFER flight took off from the ESRANGE space centre on June 26 at 23:02 UTC (01:02 local time on June 27) the flight lasted 11 hours. The trajectory and the profile were as planned, the ascent was towards east, then the balloon reached the first ceiling at about 30 km of altitude veering west, successively the balloon descended to the second ceiling of 20 km turning east again.

The landing site was not far from ESRANGE and FIRMOS-B was back to ESRANGE in very good conditions in the early afternoon.

During the flight FIRMOS-B acquired more than 300 spectra looking at the atmosphere underneath the balloon (nadir views), the sky conditions were mainly cloudy with some clear sections. The team is now busy catheterizing and analysing the acquired data as well as all the possible auxiliary measurements.

The spectrum at the top of this post is an early result from the analysis of the data and was acquired on June 27 at 8 a.m. UTC, it shows the radiance emitted by the surface and the atmosphere. Water vapour, carbon dioxide and ozone are the main contributors to the atmospheric emission in these wavelengths and their emission bands are indicated.

This post will be updated while the analysis work will advance.