International conference on airborne research
Climate change and environmental pollution are global issues that attract considerable attention from economists, policymakers, politicians and the general public. The first International Conference on Airborne Research for the Environment (ICARE-2010) was organised in 2010 for all scientists involved in airborne research to exchange experiences. The goal of the 'International conference on airborne research for the environment' (ICARE-2010) project was to connect geo-scientists with engineers, policymakers and the public. Project members organised the meeting, converted hangars to set up stands, arranged for meeting rooms, aircrafts and instruments, and then installed the aircraft static exhibition on the airport tarmac. They also arranged inter-calibration flights with the regional Air Traffic Control (ATC) authorities to normalise geo-science equipment. The team established real-time video and data links between the aircraft and the airport to display real-time data from the geo-science experiment. This meeting proved particularly useful for visitors from countries with no research aircraft in geo-science. The aircraft operators benefited for the first time from a unique opportunity to inter-calibrate their systems. Academic experts in airborne measurements had an ideal opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences for good practice in the organisation of their expert workshops. The conference could also be beneficial to the general public visiting instrumented aircraft on the ground and observing real research flights to get a better understanding of the cutting-edge research in geo-science.