Safer flights for UAVs and small aircraft; better understanding of icing conditions in clouds (IceSAFARI) project is funded by UEFISCDI under the Research Programme associated with Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 – Norwegian Grants – being implemented by the National Institute for Aerospace Research (INCAS) and the partners mentioned above.
Since September 1, 2020, the project “The Safer flights for UAVs and small aircrafts; better understanding of icing conditions in clouds (IceSAFARI)„ started.
The IceSAFARI project has the general aim of reducing the risk of technical failures caused by frost conditions in cold season on drones and small aircraft through a better understanding of the microphysical processes of water particles and ice present in mixed phase clouds.
The objectives of the project are:
a) Development of a group of sensors called “IceWarn”, through an interdisciplinary approach, to contribute to the safe operation of commercial drones, by avoiding freezing conditions;
b) To advance the understanding of mixed phase clouds through extensive measurements using small aircraft and the HoloScene instrument developed by Andøya Space and UiO;c) Building a sustainable cooperation between Romanian and Norwegian institutions.
In terms of scientific and technical progress, the project is expected to develop a functional prototype of the IceWarn sensor and its testing on drones during various measurement campaigns, as well as the certification of the HoloScene instrument for its use for small aircraft. Comparisons will be made between simulated and observed cloud phases, refining the model and re-evaluating the risks of frosting, as well as the climate impact of mixed-phase clouds by cloud modeling and global climate simulations. The aim of the measurement campaigns is to obtain an extensive set of data with the properties of the clouds to be stored in a database. IceSafari will ensure the development, through a wide range of training opportunities and active involvement, of young researchers and students (master’s and doctoral students). Experienced researchers in atmospheric physics will contribute to this development and will work with young researchers in this project. IceSafari is based on a partnership between prestigious institutes and universities in Norway and Romania. The project consortium includes:- National Institute for Aerospace Research (INCAS) will be involved in the development, ground testing, validation, certification and integration of HoloScene on the Atmoslab airborne research platform. The ATMOSLAB – Airborne Laboratory for Environmental Atmospheric Research, is a unique research infrastructure that includes a research fleet of two airborne platforms fully equipped with the latest generation of instruments for atmospheric measurements, and several UAVs.
Andøya Space is a research centre and service provider for national and international universities and institutes in the field of atmospheric science. Andøya Space has almost 60 years of experience in the development of payloads and sensor technologies for sounding rockets, ground based instrumentation and unmanned aircrafts.
University of Oslo (UiO) is the highest ranking and largest Norwegian public institution of research and higher education in Norway. UiO will be involved in IceSafari through the Meteorology and Oceanography section of the Department of Geoscience.
Faculty of Physics of the University of Bucharest (UBFF) The University of Bucharest, in its over 150 years of existence, has achieved national and international prestige. At UBFF the group of Atmospheric and Earth Physics has expertise in education and training up to the doctoral and postdoctoral level. This group specializes on research in key areas such as cloud physics, air pollution, radiative and energy budget, dynamic meteorology, climate change and scientific database development. The group was involved in organizing training schools, including co-partnership with the present project promoter PP-INCAS.