Airborne Geophysics Tool Suite (AGTS)
Year: 2026
Type: software
Abstract: The main tool is a Jupyter notebook for calculating preliminary Arctic and Antarctic low-altitude "survey" ranges for NASA's B777-200ER airborne science laboratory. These estimates account for available fuel based on known (high altitude cruise) and predicted (low altitude survey) B777 fuel burn rates, with preset conservative reserve requirements, basing options, weight-dependent burn rates, and a notional large scientific payload. Low altitude fuel burn rates are difficult to ascertain for commercial passenger jets like the 777 and will be refined when operational data becomes available. The notebook also accounts for Extended-range Twin-engine Performance Standards (ETOPS) for two-engine aircraft that limits the range to within 330 min of a viable divert airport with a single functional engine, which is a substantial concern for remote polar regions where few suitable airports exist. Jupyter: Notebook for B777 range estimates (requires external data files)
Authors: Studinger, Michael, MacGregor, Joe
Institution: Goddard Space Flight Center
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7167090922
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: