An Air Canada Airbus A330 aircraft has been fitted with what the flag carrier said are “special diagnostics sensors” to collect “valuable worldwide data on climate parameters”.
The technology will help In-Service Aircraft for a Global Observing System (IAGOS) to gather the information, which Air Canada said “will be used by the international scientific community as well as forecasting services like the Atmosphere Service of Copernicus, for essential research on climate change and air quality on a global scale”.
IAGOS is, Air Canada said, “an international non-profit organisation” that works with airlines to create “global observation platforms of climate change and air quality”.
“The information gathered will also help provide more accurate weather data crucial for airline operations, and will enable a more in-depth understanding of changing weather dynamics,” said Valerie Durand, head of investor relations and corporate sustainability at Air Canada.
“Air Canada will provide important new data to understand climate change issues in northern regions which are warming more than twice as fast as elsewhere, along with new data for tracking wildfire smoke plumes across the continent to improve forecasts of air-quality,” said Jean-Marie Flaud, president of IAGOS
