Sustainable collaboration: Using the AWI’s polar aircraft in the Harz

“Once a new system has been installed, there are test flights over the North Sea to ensure that everything works smoothly, since technical problems are often extremely difficult to solve in the remote reaches of the Arctic and can jeopardise the success of an entire campaign,” explains Dr Thomas Krumpen, a sea-ice researcher at the AWI and coordinator of the aerial campaigns. “In addition to the tests, those using the new equipment need to be trained. Using the constantly changing sensors installed in the aircraft can be a complex task, and in the Arctic there’s no room for mistakes. We run separate training flights to familiarize the operators.”

In Germany, the Harz is a region particularly hard hit by climate change: storms, arid conditions and subsequent bark beetle infestations are causing unprecedented damage to the forest. Although the harm done by major bark beetle infestations and resulting loss of spruce trees can be quantified with the aid of automated satellite imagery analyses, the accuracy of this method can only be verified using a combination of high-resolution flyovers and measurements taken on the ground. The equipment used on 13 July, the day of the six-hour aerial survey, included the MACS, a specially designed camera from the DLR that offers high-resolution optical images of the forest’s status. In addition, the AWI’s laser-based systems on board the polar aircraft made it possible to survey the forest three-dimensionally. The data gleaned can be used for forestry inventories, as well as estimates of the biomass and carbon budget. The information gathered during the flight will also serve as the basis for new advances in forestry inventories and tree species identification. According to Wolf Kleinschmit, Head of the Lower Saxony Forestry Planning Office: “The data collected will allow us to identify the tree species and their level of damage, and to verify how reliable the automated analysis of satellite imagery actually is. Together with insights into local soil conditions, the data will show us how successful recent reforestation measures have been, which will help us to establish climate-stable, resilient mixed forests.”