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Equipment on the PIRRENE site
 General
description of the experimental area
Equipment
in permanent operation on the site
Equipment
available for specific one-off campaigns
Equipment
and facilities being prepared and/or developed
General
description of the experimental area
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The experimental site is located
at the Fauga-Mauzac centre at ONERA (43° 23' 02'' N, 01° 17'
28'' E, 188 m in altitude). The area reserved for PIRRENE
activities is a rectangle about 0.7 km wide and 1.2 km long.
It has two water reservoirs and two 3m high buildings (called
X1 and X2) with terrace roofs. X1 and X2 constitute the laser
base. X1 and X2 are separated by a field of short grass, 1
km in length and each has a picture window facing the other
building.
A drawing of the experimental
site is shown opposite.
A large range of surface types
is available on the site: woods, bushes, short grass or fallow
land. In time the site will also include farmed land, sandy
areas and ponds. Moreover a radiometric surface project is
currently being planned: the FERMAT
(Fond pour l'Expérimentation Radiométrique des MATériaux or
background for radiometric experiments on materials) base
is an artificial surface of 30m x 110m.
Various aerial photographs in the Photos Gallery
feature give a clearer idea of what the site looks like.
The site is fitted with different
types of instruments, either permanently installed for monitoring
the site over time or in a particular one-off configuration
for specific campaigns. Equipment which is either already
on the site or available for campaigns is listed below.
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Equipment
in permanent operation on the site
 Scintec scintillometer:
the source (a laser diode) and receiver are placed 1m above the
ground and about 1 km apart (they are installed respectively in
X1 and X2); this installation is used to measure local turbulence
above the ground;
VAISALA meteorological
stations: several of these are
installed at different places on the site; they measure wind speed
and direction, air temperature and humidity and ascending and descending
radiative fluxes;
Sunphotometer: it has
been registered in the AERONET
network, (AErosol RObotic NETwork), which collects data from inter-calibrated
sunphotometers located at various places around the world. The goal
is to determine the optical properties of aerosols for the whole
planet;
Temperature and humidity measurement station:
the stations consist of temperature and humidity sensors buried
at different depths;
Concrete block: a 1 m3 concrete cube,
fitted with temperature sensors;
FERMAT (Fond pour l'Expérimentation
Radiométrique des MATériaux) base (background for radiometric
experimenting of materials): this artificial surface built in
november 2002 is 30m wide and 110 m long; the main objectives of
this surface is to be used, on the one hand, as a radiometric background
for work on measurement methodology and on the other hand, as a
radiometric test pattern substrate and resolution test pattern for
in-flight qualification of imaging instruments flown on aircraft
and satellites.
Equipment
available for specific one-off campaigns
Transmissometer: This is installed between X1
and X2 and is used to measure horizontal visibility; it provides
an absolute direct transmission value on the measurement base, at
0.632 µm at a rate of one measurement per second;
GER 3700 spectroradiometer: field instrument
operating from 0.4 to 2.5 µm;
SC1000 camera: infrared camera operating
in the 3-5 µm band;
Inframetrics 760 camera:infrared camera operating
in the 8-12 µm band;
KT19 radiometers: infrared (8-12 µm) field radiometers;
Visible calibration panels: in particular, a spectralon
panel;
Directional measurement bench:
this bench was developed for a PhD thesis by a student at ONERA;
the objective is to analyse aggregation and heterogeneity phenomena
in angular effects in the thermal infrared range; the bench is fitted
with one or two infrared cameras (at about 2 m above ground level)
whose observation angles can be adjusted between -80 and +80°;
CHAMO directional bench
("CHAriot de Mesures Orientable"): this bench is mainly
devoted to the measurement of the bidirectional reflectance of ground
surfaces; it is able to support radiometer or spectro-radiometer
with an adjustable orientation going from -80 to +80°; in association
with the GER3700 (for which it was mainly designed), it allows to
measure spectral bidirectional reflectances from 0.4 to 2.5 µm.
Equipment
and facilities being prepared and/or developed
Infrared field spectroradiometer (MISTERE):
This will be designed at ONERA before 2004;
Aerosol lidar: a request for financing this equipment
has been submitted to the Midi-Pyrenees Regional Council; it will
be developed jointly with the LOA (Laboratoire d'Optique Atmosphérique
de Lille - Lille atmospheric optics laboratory), the LMD (Laboratoire
de Météorologie Dynamique de Palaiseau - Palaiseau dynamic meteorology
laboratory) and CESBIO and should provide continuous aerosol profiles
on the site.
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