'The seats on the plane are few and far between and passengers are handpicked'. Christian drives through Manaus to the airport – even at 02:00 – to start all the measurement sensors and prepare the recording before HALO takes off without him. The start and end of the working day in Brazil is determined by the flight plan of the research aircraft. At HALO, this is done primarily through the BAHAMAS system (Basic Halo Measurement and Sensor System), which brings together all the group's measurement sensors and instruments. 'In the measurement and sensor technology department, we turn a normal aircraft into a research aircraft,' explains Christian.

This data is indispensable for evaluating the measurements taken by the research instruments and ensuring that the subsequent research results take the conditions of the measurement flights into account.Ĭhristian Mallaun prepares the equipment on board for the flight. Christian works in the Measurement and Sensor Technology group and provides the scientific team with key environmental parameters such as pressure, temperature, humidity, aircraft position and wind strength while on site during the campaign. 'Our measurement technology and products are needed by all scientists, whether they are travelling for climate research or to improve weather forecasts,' says the 46-year-old. They are located primarily in the nose of the aircraft and continuously record data during flights. Christian, a meteorologist from DLR's Flight Experiments facility, also has measuring sensors on board.

A straight line runs north from the city, tracking the current flight path of DLR’s HALO research aircraft, which has set off to circle over this northern region while air flows through the instruments of the CAFE-Brazil climate campaign team of scientists. On Christian Mallaun's screen is a map of the Amazon rainforest, with Manaus right in the centre. The sensors Christian Mallaun uses to record data during flight are located in the nose of research aircraft HALO.

Measuring first defense nasal screens