IAGOS is committed to providing data and services that support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and help society to address the environmental grand challenges of our time.
Climate Action through long-term climate monitoring is the core purpose of IAGOS. Thanks to the partner airlines the IAGOS fleet is contributing to the long-term monitoring of atmospheric composition and climate change. IAGOS provides essential information on long-term changes in the upper troposphere and throughout the troposphere. This is essential for assessing the impact of emission protocols to inform policy makers across a range of strategies including mitigation and emissions protocols.
Good Heath and well-being though air quality monitoring and forecasts: Each IAGOS aircraft provides vertical profiles on ascent and descent over world airports. These data are used in validating regional air quality models to improve pollution forecasts through the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
Better Air-Quality in Cities: IAGOS profiles over European airports are contributing to the EU Green Deal projects for more sustainable cities.
Supporting research and innovation: IAGOS combines the expertise of scientific institutions with the infrastructure of civil aviation working together for a more sustainable future.
Applications in the aviation industry: The IAGOS humidity sensor provides data input to improve weather services for aviation operations. IAGOS works with the aviation industry to reduce the climate impact of aviation. In particular, IAGOS is able to idenitify regions of Ice Supersaturation where contrails may form. The accurate predicition of Ice supersaturates regions by weather services is essential for planning routes to avoid the formation of contrails and reduce the non-CO2 impact of aviation. IAGOS sensors also allow us to identify the routes where high ice concentrations pose the greatest risk to aviation. We work on projects that aim to improve engine performance, and on issues relevant to aviation safety such as icing, sand and dust storms and volcanic ash.
Teaching and research are core activities in all the instutites of the IAGOS research infrastructure. They are dedicated to providing eductation and training at Ph.D. and Masters level. Training how to use the the research infrastructure facilities is also at the core of our activities with the aim of making the research infrastructure accessible to all.