Picture galery

December 2004:

The new CARIBIC container (phase II) is loaded the first time into the cargo bay of the Lufthansa Airbus A340-600 "Leverkusen".

The installed CARIBIC Container in the cargo bay. 

Scientific instruments and infrastructure are designed and tested acc. to the strict safety regulations of the aviation safety authorities (German LBA). All measured species and instrumentation are presented here.

Outside air enters the CARIBIC container through an inlet system and several tubes for trace gases, water vapor and aerosol particles in the fuselage of the aircraft. A camera for monitoring clouds and three small telescopes for observing the atmosphere with a DOAS system is mounted on the inlet system. Integrated heating foils prevent icing of the inlet tubes.

The CARIBIC container in an EMI laboratory.

After each modification of the container the equipment is tested intensively acc. to DO-160 G specifications.

On the airport apron the CARIBIC container is transported to the aircraft with a high loader.

For monthly operations the container is carried over from KIT (Karlsruhe) to the airport of Munich.

A view to the container connection bracket (CCB) on the bottom of the cargo bay.

Five inlet tubes, an exhaust tube and glass fibres for the DOAS system are connected to the container. The container is plugged to the electrical power and the avionic data bus of the aircraft.

Maintenance work on the CARIBIC infrastructure in the fuselage of the aircraft and the inlet system at Lufthansa Technik center on Malta.

Every two years the Airbus A340 has to be grounded for several days for maintenance reasons. During these maintenance intervals the entire CARIBIC infrastructure within the aircraft is checked. The CARIBIC engineers are supported by technicians of Lufthansa.