Atmospheric Composition & Chemical Processes: Measurements

Atmospheric composition and chemical processes research relies on measurements of trace gases and particles with instruments designed, developed, and deployed aboard research aircraft.

NOAA WP-3D

The NOAA WP-3D and NOAA Twin Otter have been used in our field campaigns. Data archived from our major NOAA field campaigns are available with the Tropospheric Chemistry research group (Collaborative Field Campaigns):

Campaign Season Platform Location Purpose
FIREX-AQ 2019 Summer NOAA Twin Otter western US Understand impact of North American fire emissions on air quality.
FIREX FireLab 2016 Fall USDA Fire Lab western US Understand impact of North American fire emissions on air quality.
TOPDOWN 2014 Spring, Fall NOAA Twin Otter ND, CO, NM Understand the atmospheric impact of rapidly expanding oil and gas operations.
SENEX 2013 Summer NOAA WP-3D Nashville, TN Study interactions between natural and anthropogenic emissions and affects on climate change and air quality.
Gulf 2010 Summer NOAA WP-3D Gulf of Mexico Survey Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
CalNex 2010 Spring - Summer NOAA WP-3D Ontario, CA Study air quality and climate change.
ARCPAC 2008 Spring NOAA WP-3D Fairbanks, AK Study aerosols in the Arctic.
NSF/NCAR GV

Field Campaign Data archived by NCAR/UCAR

Instruments have also flown on the NSF / NCAR GV. Data from multiagency field campaigns led by NCAR/UCAR are available in the NCAR/UCAR EOL Data Archive:

Campaign Dates Platform Location Study
DC3 May - Jun 2012 NASA DC-8 Salina, KS Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry project
HIPPO 2009 - 2011 NSF / NCAR GV Broomfield, CO - Anchorage, AK - Kona, HI - Rarotonga, Cook Islands - Christchurch, New Zealand HIAPER (High-performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research) Pole-to-Pole Observations of carbon cycle and greenhouse gases study

Additional Data Sets

Kara D. Lamb, A. E. Perring, J. R. Spackman, L. A. Watts, R. S. Gao, D. W. Fahey, and J. P. Schwarz, NOAA SP2 Light Absorbing Metallic (LAM) Dataset from HIPPO, 2020.

NASA WB-57

Field Campaign Data archived by NASA

Instruments have flown extensively on the NASA DC-8, NASA WB-57 and NASA ER-2, and the NASA Global Hawk. Data from multiagency field campaigns led or co-sponsored by NASA are available in the NASA ESPO Data Archive:

Campaign Dates Platform Location Study
SABRE Feb 2022 test flights
Winter 2023,
Summer 2024,
Summer 2025		 NASA WB-57 global Stratospheric Aerosol processes, Budget and Radiative Effects
ACCLIP Aug 2021 test flights
Summer 2022		 NASA WB-57 South Korea Asian Summer Monsoon Chemical & CLimate Impact Project
FIREX-AQ Summer 2019 NASA DC-8 western US Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality
EPOCH Aug 2017 NASA Global Hawk NASA Armstrong FRC East Pacific Origins and Characteristics of Hurricanes project
POSIDON Oct 2016 NASA WB-57 Guam Pacific Oxidants, Sulfur, Ice, Dehydration, and cONvection experiment
ATom Summer 2016,
Winter 2017,
Fall 2017,
Spring 2018		 NASA DC-8 global Atmospheric Tomography Mission
KORUS-AQ Spring 2016 NASA DC-8 Korea An International Cooperative Air Quality Field Study in Korea
VIRGAS Oct 2015 NASA WB-57 Houston, TX Volcano-plume Investigation Readiness and Gas-phase and Aerosol Sulfur
SEAC4RS Aug - Sept 2013 NASA DC-8 Houston, TX Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys
ATTREX Oct 2011 - Mar 2014 NASA Global Hawk NASA Armstrong FRC and Guam Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment
MACPEX Mar - Apr 2011 NASA WB-57 Houston, TX Mid-latitude Airborne Cirrus Properties Experiment
GloPac NASA Global Hawk NASA Dryden FRC Global Hawk Pacific
TC4 Jun - Aug 2007 NASA DC-8 Costa Rica and Panama Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling
CRAVE Dec 2005 - Mar 2006 NASA WB-57 Costa Rica Costa Rica Aura Validation Experiment
AVE (WIIF) Jun - Jul 2005 NASA WB-57 Houston, TX Aura Validation Experiment - Water Isotope Intercomparison Flights
AVE (2005) Jun 2005 NASA WB-57 Houston, TX Aura Validation Experiment
AVE (2004) Oct - Nov 2004 NASA WB-57 Houston, TX Aura Validation Experiment
Pre-AVE Jan - Feb 2004 NASA WB-57 Houston, TX and Costa Rica Pre Aura Validation Experiment
CRYSTAL-FACE May - Aug 2002 NASA WB-57 Key West, FL Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers - Florida Area Cirrus Experiment
SOLVE Nov 1998 - Mar 2000 NASA ER-2 Kiruna, Sweden SAGE (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment) III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment

Supporting Data

The following supporting data are associated with these journal articles:

Beeler, P., J. Kumar, J.P. Schwarz, J.M. Katich, K. Adachi, L. Fierce, and R.K. Chakrabarty, Light absorption enhancement by black carbon in a pyrocumulonimbus cloud, Nature Communications, doi:10.1038/s41467-024-50070-0, 2024. supporting data

Berberich, J., S.A. Jacoby, G. Michailoudi, J.P. Schwarz, S. Viciani, F. D’Amato, T. Campos, J.R. Podolske, C. Gurganus, W.P. Smith, R. Ueyama, S.B. Honomichl, L.L. Pan, and A.E. Perring, Black carbon reflects extremely efficient aerosol wet removal in monsoonal shedding events, Journal of Geophysical Research, 2024. supporting data

Gurganus, C., A. Rollins, E. Waxman, L. Pan, W.P. Smith, R. Ueyama, W. Feng, M.P. Chipperfield, J.P. Schwarz, and T. Thornberry, Highlighting the impact of anthropogenic OCS emissions on the stratospheric sulfur budget with in-situ observations, Journal of Geophysical Research, 2024. supporting data

Katich, J.M., E.C. Apel, I. Bourgeois, C. Brock, T.P. Bui, P. Campuzano-Jost, R. Commane, B. Daube, M. Dollner, M. Fromm, K.D. Froyd, A.J. Hills, R.S. Hornbrook, J. Jimenez, A. Kupc, K.D. Lamb, K. McKain, F. Moore, D.M. Murphy, B.A. Nault, J. Peischl, A.E. Perring, D.A. Peterson, E.A. Ray, K.H. Rosenlof, T. Ryerson, G.P. Schill, J.C. Schroder, B. Weinzierl, C. Thompson, C.J. Williamson, S.J. Wofsy, P. Yu, and J.P. Schwarz, Pyrocumulonimbus significantly impact the stratospheric aerosol budget, Science, doi:10.1126/science.add3101, 2022. supporting data