NASA Studies Low Arctic Atmospheric Composition
02.04.2008 - Logistics, Other
The first stage of the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) field campaign is being launched this week in Fairbanks, Alaska. Carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the idea is to investigate how air pollution contributes to climate change in the Arctic.
Over three weeks, NASA aircrafts will be used as airborne laboratories, equipped with instruments that will measure air pollution gases and aerosols as well as solar radiation in the Arctic's lower atmosphere. Data collected will allow scientists to shed light on the springtime "Arctic haze" phenomenon, a chemical reaction of pollutants stimulated by the return of springtime sunlight in the Arctic, which will serve to improve computer models that study global atmospheric chemistry and climate and help researchers interpret data collected by NASA satellites orbiting over the Arctic.
ARCTAS is NASA's contribution to the international Arctic field experiments taking part within the International Polar Year. The second phase of the campaign, to be carried out this summer in Alberta, Canada, will compare the impact of naturally-occurring fires with that of human-induced pollution in the lower latitudes. The ultimate goal of this global campaign is to better predict the Arctic's future climate.
