Tomlinson to Lead National Research Aircraft Committee

Published: 26 November 2008

In October, Jason Tomlinson, operations lead for the ARM Aerial Vehicles Program, was appointed the new leader for the Interagency Coordinating Committee for Airborne Geosciences Research and Application (ICCAGRA). Since 1997, this group of agencies has worked to increase the effective use of the federal airborne fleet in national and international field campaigns for geoscience research. Agencies on the committee include the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Office of Naval Research, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

In succeeding Colonel Andrew Roberts, NASA’s director of airborne science, as committee chair, Jason looks forward to working with the group on unmanned aerial research vehicles and making stronger connections with a similar organization in Europe. His first role will be to coordinate and plan a joint meeting with the European equivalent of ICCAGRA, the European Fleet for Airborne Research, at the 33rd International Symposium of Remote Sensing of Environment in Lago Maggiore, Italy, May 4-8, 2009.

This appointment recognizes DOE’s capabilities in conducting suborbital or aerial platform (both piloted and unpiloted) measurements of atmospheric properties related to climate science and improving remote sensing retrievals of climate-related parameters. Additionally, it builds on the Memorandum of Understanding between the NASA, NOAA, and DOE, addressing Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Global Observing System Science Research, signed in October 2007. The DOE Office of Biological and Environmental Research supports Tomlinson, a scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in his role as committee chair.