Earth's Radiation Budget

Stratospheric Aerosol processes, Budget and Radiative Effects (SABRE) is the first major field campaign funded by NOAA's ERB Program, and one of the most technologically advanced stratospheric research missions to date. SABRE continues the long, fruitful scientific relationship between NOAA and NASA. NASA's WB-57 airborne platform carries 17 sensitive instruments installed by NOAA scientists on long-duration, high-altitude flights to obtain the most detailed measurements of the composition of the stratosphere. The goal of SABRE is to develop a better understanding of the chemistry, composition, and processes (both aerosol and trace gases) occurring in the stratosphere impacting our climate today. These include wildfire smoke, volcanic eruptions, rocket exhaust, and satellite ablation. The first science flights occurred in 2023 in Texas and Alaska. Additional flights are planned for 2025. Read more about SABRE

Publications

• Murphy, D.M., M. Abou-Ghanem, D.J. Cziczo, K.D. Froyd, J. Jacquot, M.J. Lawler, C. Maloney, J.M.C. Plane, M.N. Ross, G.P. Schill, and X. Shen, Metals from spacecraft reentry in stratospheric aerosol particles, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi:10.1073/pnas.2313374120, 2023.
• Ray, E.A., F.L. Moore, H. Garny, E.J. Hintsa, B.D. Hall, G.S. Dutton, D. Nance, J.W. Elkins, S.C. Wofsy, J. Pittman, B. Daube, B.C. Baier, J. Li, and C. Sweeney, Age of air from in situ trace gas measurements: Insights from a new technique, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, doi:10.5194/acp-24-12425-2024, 2024.

Balloon Baseline Stratospheric Aerosol Profiles (B²SAP) launches instrumented balloons every three weeks at Boulder (40°N), and quarterly at Hilo, Hawaii (20°N), Réunion Island (20°S) and Lauder, New Zealand (45°S), measuring vertical profiles of water vapor, ozone, and aerosol number and size distribution from the surface to the middle stratosphere (~28 km). The measurements collectively provided by these balloon soundings provide a unique dataset that documents the background state of Earth's stratosphere and provides insight into variability in the stratospheric aerosol size distribution that is difficult to constrain from satellite observations. Read more about B²SAP

Publications

• Todt, M.A., E. Asher, E. Hall, P. Cullis, A. Jordan, K. Xiong, D. Hurst, and T. Thornberry, Baseline Balloon Stratospheric Aerosol Profiles (B²SAP) - Systematic measurements of aerosol number density and size, Journal of Geophysical Research, doi:10.1029/2022JD038041, 2023.
• Asher, E., A. Baron, P. Yu, M. Todt, P. Smale, B. Liley, R. Querel, T. Sakai, I. Morino, Y. Jin, T. Nagai, O. Uchino, E. Hall, P. Cullis, B. Johnson, and T.D. Thornberry, Balloon Baseline Stratospheric Aerosol Profiles (B²SAP) - Perturbations in the southern hemisphere 2019-2022, Journal of Geophysical Research, doi:10.1029/2024JD041581, 2024.
• Evan, S., J. Brioude, K.H. Rosenlof, R.-S. Gao, R.W. Portmann, Y. Zhu, R. Volkamer, C.F. Lee, J.-M. Metzger, K. Lamy, P. Walter, S.L. Alvarez, J.H. Flynn, E. Asher, Michael Todt, S.M. Davis, T. Thornberry, H. Vömel, F.G. Wienhold, R.M. Stauffer, L. Millán, M.L. Santee, L. Froidevaux, and W.G. Read, Rapid ozone depletion after humidification of the stratosphere by the Hunga Tonga Eruption, Science, doi:10.1126/science.adg2551, 2023.
• Asher, E., M. Todt, K. Rosenlof, T. Thornberry, R. Gao, G. Taha, P. Walter, S. Alvarez, J. Flynn, S. Davis, S. Evan, J. Brioude, J.-M. Metzger, D.F. Hurst, E. Hall, and K. Xiong, Unexpectedly rapid aerosol formation in the Hunga Tonga plume, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi:10.1073/pnas.2219547120, 2023.

Laboratory studies focused on either limestone or dimethyl sulfate in order to enable climate models to establish the impacts of CaCO₃ as a SRM material.

Publications

• Marshall, P., and J.B. Burkholder, Computational study of the gas-phase reactions of sulfuric acid with OH(²Π_J), O(³P_J), Cl(²P_J) and O(¹D₂) radicals, Chemical Physical Letters, doi:10.1016/j.cplett.2021.139203, 2021.
• Assaf, E., Z. Finewax, P. Marshall, P.R. Veres, J.A. Neuman, and J.B. Burkholder, Measurement of the intramolecular hydrogen-shift rate coefficient for the CH₃SCH₂OO radical between 314 and 433 K, Journal of Physical Chemistry A, doi:10.1021/acs.jpca.2c09095, 2023.

Conduct quarterly StratoCore flights in Boulder, CO as well as interpret routine multispecies StratoCore profiles collected to monitor and detect trends and potential changes in baseline stratospheric composition and dynamics.

Publications

• Li, J., B. C. Baier, F. Moore, T. Newberger, S. Wolter, J. Higgs, G. Dutton, E. Hintsa, B. Hall, and C. Sweeney, A novel, cost-effective analytical method for measuring high-resolution vertical profiles of stratospheric trace gases using a gas chromatograph coupled with an electron capture detector, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, doi:10.5194/amt-16-2851-2023, 2023.
• Ray, E.A., F.L. Moore, H. Garny, E.J. Hintsa, B.D. Hall, G.S. Dutton, D. Nance, J.W. Elkins, S.C. Wofsy, J. Pittman, B. Daube, B.C. Baier, J. Li, and C. Sweeney, Age of air from in situ trace gas measurements: Insights from a new technique, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, doi:10.5194/acp-24-12425-2024, 2024.

Perform UAS flights for the measurement of vertical profiles of aerosol and cloud properties in the marine boundary layer to help develop a dataset of aerosol and cloud properties that can be used by the ERB modeling community.

Publications

• Quinn, P.K., T.S. Bates, D.J. Coffman, J.E. Johnson, and L.M. Upchurch, Use of an uncrewed aerial system to investigate aerosol direct and indirect radiative forcing effects in the marine atmosphere, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, doi:10.5194/amt-17-3157-2024, 2024.

The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Reference Upper Air Network (GRUAN) was established in 2008 to be an international network of sites making reference-quality measurements of essential climate variables above Earth's surface, designed to fill an important gap in the current global observing system. GRUAN measurements are providing long-term, high-quality climate data records from the upper troposphere into the lower stratosphere. This project supports the three US GRUAN sites in Boulder, CO; Beltsville, MD; and Barrow, AK; as well as the GRUAN station in Lauder, New Zealand. Read more about GRUAN

Five competitive grant awards to demonstrate the value of satellite observations in improving our understanding of cloud and aerosol properties. Grants were awarded to project teams at Colorado State University, Florida State University, Purdue University, Science Systems and Applications Inc., University of Colorado Boulder, University of Iowa, University of Maryland Baltimore County, and University of Maryland College Park. Read more about the grant projects

Publications

• Tilmes, S., K. Rosenlof, D. Visioni, E.M. Bednarz, T. Felgenhauer, W. Smith, C. Lennard, M. Diamond, M. Henry, C. Harrison, and C. Thompson, Research criteria towards an interdisciplinary stratospheric aerosol intervention assessment, Oxford Open Climate Change, doi:10.1093/oxfclm/kgae010, 2024.
• Gettelman, A., M. W. Christensen, M. S. Diamond, E. Gryspeerdt, P. Manshausen, P. Stier, D. Watson-Parris, M. Yang, M. Yoshioka, and T. Yuan, Has reducing ship emissions brought forward global warming?, Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2024GL109077, 2024.
• Diamond, M.S., J.J. Gristey, and G. Feingold, Testing cloud adjustment hypotheses for the maintenance of Earth's hemispheric albedo symmetry with observed trends and natural experiments, Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2024GL111733, 2024.
• Lee, W.R., M.S. Diamond, P. Irvine, J.L. Reynolds, and D. Visioni, Informative risk analyses of radiative forcing geoengineering require proper counterfactuals, Communications Earth & Environment, doi:10.1038/s43247-024-01881-y, 2024.

The ERB Program provided support for the Atmospheric Emissions and Reactions Observed from Megacities to Marine Areas (AEROMMA) field campaign. AEROMMA was a comprehensive study led by NOAA CSL investigating anthropogenic and marine emissions that alter tropospheric composition and impact air quality and climate over North America. The AEROMMA campaign brought together airborne, ground, and satellite observing systems, and state-of-the-art air quality and climate models, to investigate emerging research needs in urban air quality, atmospheric interactions at the marine-urban interface, marine emissions, satellite-based observations of atmospheric composition, and climate change. Read more about AEROMMA

Resampling and analyses of six ozonesonde records to assess the spatial and temporal variability in the long wave radiative effects that quantifies the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere greenhouse effect and its impact on changes in surface temperature.

Publications

• Millán, L.F., G.L. Manney, H. Boenisch, M.I. Hegglin, P. Hoor, D. Kunkel, T. Leblanc, I. Petropavlovskikh, K. Walker, K. Wargan, and A. Zahn, Multi-parameter dynamical diagnostics for upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric studies, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, doi:10.5194/amt-16-2957-2023, 2023.
• Millán, L. F., P. Hoor, M.I. Hegglin, G.L. Manney, H. Boenisch, P. Jeffery, D. Kunkel, I. Petropavlovskikh, H. Ye, T. Leblanc, and K. Walker, Exploring ozone variability in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere using dynamical coordinates, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, doi:10.5194/acp-24-7927-2024, 2024.

Worked with World View to make the first particle size distribution measurements onboard the Stratollite, World View's remotely navigated, long-endurance stratospheric platform for remote-sensing and in situ observations that operates between 15 - 23 km, primarily over the tropics and subtropics. Read more about POPS Stratollite Mission

Used detailed chemical and aerosol microphysical observations from the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the NASA/NOAA FIREX-AQ experiment to greatly constrain stratospheric sulfur chemistry and microphysics.

The ERB Program has supported the development of new or modified instruments for use in SABRE and/or other field campaigns, including:

• (FY23) Operating system and software upgrades for the Unmanned aerial system Chromatograph for Atmospheric Trace Species (UCATS) instrument suite to support SABRE.
• (FY22) Several instrument upgrades to the UAS Ozone Photometer (UASO3) for measurements in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere.
• (FY22) Software support for continued modifications and refinements on multiple instruments used in the ACCLIP and SABRE campaigns.
• (FY21-22) Support for integration and operation of theSpectrometers for Optical Aerosol Properties (SOAP) Instrument on the WB57 to measure aerosol extinction and absorption.
• (FY21-22) Development of new instrumentation for in situ measurements of nitrogen oxides in the stratosphere.
• (FY21-22) Supported a single-particle soot photometer operator/analyst focused on black carbon aerosol relevant to ERB-relevant science, including the ACCLIP and SABRE efforts.
• (FY20-22) Improvements to the Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry (PALMS) instrument, which measures the composition of single aerosol particles, for stratospheric deployment.
• (FY20-22) Adapted commercial instrument suite for measuring a wide range of stratospheric aerosol size distributions to withstand flights in the stratosphere.
• (FY20-22) Developed a capability for in situ stratospheric measurements of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and carbon monoxide (CO) from aircraft.
• (FY20-22) Developed a new CIMS instrument for in situ stratospheric aircraft measurements to measure trace gases that react with particulates.
• (FY21) Built upon an existing airborne doppler LIDAR measurement capability, adding upward measurement capability to support marine cloud brightening studies.
• (FY21) Dedicated set of pallets to hold instrumentation on the NASA WB-57, allowing for straightforward installation and quick deployment of the aircraft in case of rapidly evolving experiments of opportunity like a major volcanic eruption.
• Publication: Breitenlechner, M., G.A. Novak, J.A. Neuman, A.W. Rollins, and P.R. Veres, A versatile vacuum ultraviolet ion source for reduced pressure bipolar chemical ionization mass spectrometry, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, doi:10.5194/amt-15-1159-2022, 2022.