Central Otago scientists will compare notes with their friends from Nasa as they swoop overhead in a flying laboratory next week.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's DC-8 flying laboratory is scheduled to dip over the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) station at Lauder early on Monday afternoon while measuring gases in the atmosphere.
Niwa atmospheric scientist Dave Pollard said the flight would allow the research centre to compare its instruments against data from the plane and calibrate them accordingly.
"The aircraft can ... get a really accurate idea of what the amounts of certain gases are ...
"These missions are like gold to us and we will be very pleased to get their information. We'll be measuring everything we can.''
The lab could descend to about 150m over the site, he said.
"We're hoping it will pass over the top of us. For the science it doesn't really matter if it's here or 10km away, but it will be pretty nice to actually get a picture of the plane.''
The aircraft, based in California, is on its 26-day Atmospheric Tomography Mission. It is the first study of its kind to survey the atmosphere over the oceans, measuring pollution and assessing how the environment has changed as a result.
The plane will land in Christchurch before passing over Lauder which is part of the worldwide Total Carbon Column Observing Network.
