BIRA-IASB houses a large number of experts in aeronomy, atmosphere science. These scientists study the atmosphere of the Earth and other celestial bodies by means of many different methods, ranging from purely theoretical to fully experimental.
The Engineering team of BIRA-IASB support colleague-scientists that want to develop instrumentation for atmospheric research. Instruments that can be ground-based (measuring at any location on the surface of the Earth) but also airborne (measuring from drones, airplanes, balloons, rockets, etc) or space borne (measuring from satellites).
The BIRA-IASB engineering team is involved in the different phases of the instrument development, from the idea until a fully operational instrument:
- writing of instrument proposal
- performing of early feasibility assessments
- designing, manufacturing and assembling of the instrument (sometimes in collaboration with Belgian or foreign) industrial partners
- performing system engineering tasks during instrument development
- integrating the instrument on location or on its carrier platform
- operating the instrument
- assuring technical support to the scientists during operation
Read also "Measurement instruments used for atmospheres, necessary skills".
The development of a space instrument and its different development phases is explained in the Seminar "Engineering a science instrument for space" (.pdf)
(Download original .pptx powerpoint file version for best viewing in presentation mode).
