NASA’s DC8 makes final sweep of Chiang Mai sky
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) took its McDonnell Douglas DC-8 plane up in the skies over Chiang Mai for a final sweep as part of the project studying the atmosphere condition and air pollution in the Asian region.
National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) said that the 55-year-old plane flew at low altitude, also known as a ‘missed approach’ manoeuvre, over the province on Monday at 10.30am as part of the Airborne and Satellite Investigation of NASA’s Asian Air Quality (ASIA-AQ) project.
The project aims to study the spreading of air pollution particles in different layers of the atmosphere by using in-situ measurements to create a vertical profile of each area, NARIT said, adding that NASA’s DC-8 plane is one of the few aircraft in the world capable of such in-depth data collection and analysis.
The challenge in creating a detailed vertical profile is that the plane must fly at extremely low altitudes, from 11,000 to 50 feet (3,300 metres to 15 m.) to collect the air samples.
The DC-8’s last mission comprised five flights between March 16 and 26, with the flight on Monday the second in the series. Taking off from U-Tapao airport in Rayong province, each flight takes around 8 hours and covers several areas over Thailand. After finishing the mission, the DC-8 plane will be permanently decommissioned, said NARIT.
NARIT and Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) are Thailand’s representatives in the ASIA-AQ project launched by the US government in collaboration with government agencies of South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand.
Under the project, NASA also uses the Gulfstream III plane to collect air samples to create a horizontal profile. The plane also takes off from U-Tapao Airport, but has a smaller operational radius of around 60 km.
