From Peter Dalin, at Institutet för rymdfysik (IRF) we have just been notified that they have successfully launched XENON French balloon (Europian balloon infrastructure project HEMERA and CNES balloon campaign KLIMAT 2021) to 32.6 km altitude on the night 16-17 August 2021.
Two images of NLC as seen from the stratosphere from 32.6 km altitude are shown below.
The preliminary results are as follows:
- All three NLC cameras and electronics were completely operational in the stratosphere for more than 10 hours at temperatures minus 30-32 degrees.
- Two wide angle cameras registered NLC in the twilight sky sector from north-west to north-east. NLC were of a moderate brightness and were located at high latitudes to the north of Esrange.
- The NLC instrument has survived and has no damages after the landing of the gondola.
From the ground support side:
- NLC camera located at IRF (Kiruna) has registered the same NLC as seen from the balloon.
- EISCAT (Tromsö) and MAARSY (Andoya) radars have registered PMSE in about the same mesopause volume with NLC seen from the balloon.
- Lidar at Esrange was successfully operational during the whole night but registered no NLC above Esrange.
To summarize, it was a very successful balloon-borne experiment!
The next balloon launch with the NLC instrument is planned in August 2022.