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SUNPHOTOMETER-SATELLITE TEAM

Deputy Leader: Kirk Knobelspiesse
     
Scientists:     Engineers:
Bob Bergstrom     Stephen Dunagan
Meloe Kacenelenbogen     Roy Johnson
Samuel LeBlanc     Cecilia Chang
John Livingston    
Philip Russell     Data Analyst:
Michal Segal-Rosenheimer     Qin Zhang
Yohei Shinozuka
 
Collaborators:
Beat Schmid
Connor Flynn
S. Ramachandran    

 

QUICK LINKS


Experiments
+ ARCTAS
+ INTEX-B / MILAGRO
+ ALIVE
+ INTEX - ITCT - ICARTT
+ EVE
+ ARM Aerosol IOP
+ ADAM 2003
+ SOLVE II
+ CLAMS
+ ACE-Asia
+ SAFARI 2000
+ PRiDE
+ ACE-2
+ TARFOX

+ AATS Publications, 1986-present
+ Data Archive
+ Group Publications, 1997-present
+ Photos from Experiments
+ Presentations & Proposals

+ New Instrument Development: 4STAR

 

RELATED LINKS


+ NASA Ames Earth Science Division
+ NASA Ames homepage
+ NASA homepage

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FIELD EXPERIMENTS

TCAP

TCAP
The Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting the Two Column Aerosol Project (TCAP) with several contributions from NASA. TCAP is designed to provide measurements of aerosol composition, size, and optical properties within two columns of air off the coast of North America. The field campaign will deploy ground-based instruments on Cape Cod, Massachusetts for a 12-month period starting in the summer of 2012, supplemented with intensive aircraft observation periods in summer and winter using the ARM Aerial Facility’s Gulfstream-1(G-1) research aircraft. Our new airborne Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (4STAR) has been selected for flight on the G-1 in TCAP.

4STAR will directly yield atmospheric direct-beam transmittance, leading to aerosol optical depth and extinction between the G-1 stair-step segments. In addition, 4STAR's full spectral measurements are expected to provide improved retrieval of trace gases, and 4STAR's sky-scanning measurements will enable retrievals of size distribution, complex refractive index, and shape, analogous to retrievals from the ground-based AERONET sun-sky photometers.

+ Read more

   
COAST

COAST
In Fall 2011 NASA is conducting the flight phase of the Coastal and Ocean Airborne Science Testbed (COAST) project. COAST is part of NASA's Hands On Project Experience (HOPE) program. COAST objectives include:
- Develop a flight-tested instrument suite suitable for remote sensing of optical properties in the coastal zone
- Collect measurements of optical properties in the coastal zone enabling Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry science

The COAST payload includes AATS-14, which will measure solar direct-beam transmission through the atmosphere at 14 wavelengths and provide data products on Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and water vapor column content. AATS data will be used to correct atmospheric effects on COAST ocean imagery.

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ARCTAS
In Spring and Summer 2008 NASA will conduct a campaign called Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS). The spring deployment will target arctic haze, anthropogenic pollution in general, stratosphere-troposphere exchange, and sunrise photochemistry. The summer deployment will target boreal forest fires, stratosphere-troposphere exchange, and summertime photochemistry. ARCTAS will be part of the international IPY/POLARCAT arctic field program for atmospheric composition.

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INTEX-B / MILAGRO
In March 2006 several coordinated experiments studied gaseous and aerosol pollutants originating primarily in Mexico City. The March phase of INTEX-B (the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment) was closely coordinated with MILAGRO (Megacity Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations). Our airborne sunphotometer, AATS-14, flew on the J31 aircraft based in Veracruz, Mexico, measuring aerosols and water vapor in outflow from Mexico City and biomass burning regions of Mexico and Central America.

+ Read more

 

 

ALIVE
Set for September 2005, ALIVE (Aerosol LIdar Validation Experiment) IOP will conduct further validation studies of the Raman and a Micro Pulse Lidars at the DOE ARM's Souther Great Plains Site in Oklahoma. The AATS-14 will fly onboard SkyResearch's J31 aircraft along with the NASA RSP instrument.

+ Read more

 

INTEX-ITCT-ICARTT logo

INTEX - ITCT - ICARTT
In Summer 2004 several coordinated experiments studied air quality, intercontinental transport, and radiation balance in air masses carried across the US and over the Atlantic to Europe. NASA organized INTEX-NA. NOAA organized NEAQS - ITCT 2004.  And Europeans organized ITOP. ICARTT was formed to enhance the synergy between ITCT, INTEX, and ITOP.

AATS-14 participated in INTEX and ITCT by flying on a twin turboprop Jetstream-31, based at Portsmouth, NH in July and August 2004.  Its goal was to help characterize aerosol radiative properties and effects in flights that sample polluted and clean air masses in coordination with measurements by other INTEX-ITCT platforms, including aircraft and a ship.

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EVE logo

EVE
The primary purpose of this experiment is to validate the over-ocean MODIS aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements at 1.6 and 2.1mm aboard the Terra and Aqua platform. The primary tool for validating the MODIS AOD is the 14-channel NASA Ames Airborne Tracking Sunphotometer, AATS-14, which will fly aboard the CIRPAS Twin-Otter aircraft out of Monterey, CA. The timing of the experiment is chosen to coincide with the maximum transport of Asian dust to the US West coast, one of the few aerosol species with considerable AOD in the near-IR.

+ Read more

 

ARM Aerosol IOP logo
ARM Aerosol IOP

ARM Aerosol IOP
To gain improved understanding and model-based representation of aerosol radiative influences an IOP was conducted at the Department of Energy's ARM Southern Great Plains Site in north central Oklahoma, in May 2003. The IOP carried out a variety of closure experiments on aerosol optical properties and their radiative influence. Additionally, measurements of the aerosol chemical composition size distribution will allow testing of the ability to reconstruct optical properties from these measurements.

+ Read more

 

ADAM 2003 logo

ADAM 2003
The Asian Dust Above Monterey-2003 (ADAM-2003) project is a surface and airborne observational field study to investigate the properties and effects of the natural and anthropogenic Asian aerosols transported to the west coast of the United States in the springtime. ADAM-2003 took place from April 1-30, 2003 based out of the Monterey, CA. AATS-14 operated onboard the CIRPAS Twin Otter.

+ Read more

 

SOLVE II logo
SOLVE II
The SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE II) examined the processes controlling ozone levels at mid- to high latitudes. Measurements were made in the Arctic high-latitude region in winter using the NASA DC-8 aircraft, as well as balloon platforms and ground-based instruments. The mission acquired correlative data needed to validate the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III satellite measurements which are used to quantitatively assess high-latitude ozone loss.

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CLAMS logo
CLAMS
The CLAMS aircraft field campaign ran from July 10 through August 3, 2001. It wais a shortwave closure experiment targeting clear (cloud-free) sky conditions. Our AATS-14 instrument was integrated on the CV-580.

+ Read more

ACE-Asia logo
ACE-Asia
The first major airborne/shipborne campaign of ACE-Asia took place in March-April 2001. Both of our instruments, AATS-14 and AATS-6, were involved in the experiment. AATS-14 was integrated on the CIRPAS Twin Otter. AATS-6 flew on the NCAR C-130. Both planes were flown out of Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station, Japan.

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3rd ARM Water Vapor IOP logo
3rd ARM Water Vapor IOP
3rd ARM Water Vapor IOP
The ARM water vapor IOP was conducted to study lower tropospheric water vapor profiles at the Southern Great Plains site in Oklahoma. The emphasis was on the intercomparison of lower atmosphere water vapor measurements. Our AATS-6 took ground-based measurements of water vapor and aerosols.

Other website to visit:
ARM site for the Fall 2000 Water Vapor IOP

 

SAFARI 2000 logo
SAFARI 2000
The SAFARI-2000 dry season campaign took place in August-September 2000 in South Africa, Zambia, Namibia and nearby countries. AATS-14 flew on the UW CV-580 and measured aerosols and water vapor.

+ Read more

 

PRiDE logo
PRiDE
The PRiDE experiment was conducted in June-July 2000 in Puerto Rico. Our AATS-6 instrument on the SPAWAR Navajo was used to measure African dust, other aerosols, and water vapor.

+ Read more

 

2nd ARM Water Vapor IOP logo
2nd ARM Water Vapor IOP

2nd ARM Water Vapor IOP
The ARM water vapor IOP was conducted to study lower tropospheric water vapor profiles at the Southern Great Plains site in Oklahoma. The emphasis was on the intercomparison of lower atmosphere water vapor measurements. Our AATS-6 took ground-based measurements of water vapor and aerosols.

Other website to visit:
ARM site for Fall 1997 Water Vapor IOP

 

ACE-2 logo
ACE-2
ACE-2 studied European and African aerosols in Summer 1997 near the Canary Islands and Southwest Portugal. The AATS-14 instrument flew on the CIRPAS Pelican, and the AATS-6 instrument took surface measurements from the R/V Vodyanitskiy. Please see a list of our ACE-2 publications on the website.

+ Read more

 

TARFOX logo
TARFOX
The TARFOX experiment included AATS-6 on the UW C-131A and the first flights of AATS-14 on the CIRPAS Pelican. TARFOX was designed to measure and analyze aerosol properties and effects in the US eastern seaboard, where one of the world's major plumes of industrial haze moves from the continent over the Atlantic Ocean. It included coordinated measurements from four satellites, four aircraft, land sites, and ships. The website has a list of our publications from the TARFOX program.

+ Read more

 

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