Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment (INTEX-B)

The Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment (INTEX-B) is the second of a two-phase project that aims to understand the transport and transformation of gases and aerosols on intercontinental scales and to assess their impact on air quality and climate. The first phase of INTEX-B will be performed in March 2006 to focus on Mexico City pollution outflow; the second phase will be completed in April 2006 when Asian pollution transport to North America is at its peak.

Both high-flying (NASA DC-8 and DLR Falcon-20) and low-flying (NSF/NCAR C-130) airborne platforms will be employed to provide a comprehensive suite of radiation, chemical, physical, and optical measurements involving gases and aerosols. INTEX-B will also closely coordinate its activities with satellite platforms, especially Aura, Aqua, Terra, and Envisat.

Central to achieving INTEX-B objectives is the ability to relate space-based observations with those from airborne and surface platforms. The overall experiment will be supported by forecasts from meteorological and chemical models, satellite observations, surface networks, and enhanced ozone-sonde releases.

In addition to understanding the life-cycle of pollutants downwind of large source regions, INTEX-B will allow researchers to test and improve the present capability of chemical transport models and help advance their integration with space-based, airborne, and surface-based observing systems. Both phases of INTEX will allow investigation of the seasonal variation in the surface fluxes of important biogenic species such as carbon dioxide and oxygenated organic compounds. Joining resources, the field experiments will greatly add to our ability to quantify pollution transport and its evolution from local to intercontinental scales.

INTEX is sponsored by the NASA Office of Earth Science Tropospheric Chemistry Program.

Contacts:

Michael Guance
Project Manager
NASA Ames Research Center
mgaunce@arc.nasa.gov

Hanwant Singh
Lead Mission Scientist
NASA Ames Research Center
hsingh@mail.arc.nasa.gov

Science Goals:

• Quantify the transpacific transport and evolution of Asian pollution to North America and assess its implications for regional air quality and climate.
• Quantify the outflow and evolution of gases and aerosols from Mexico City.
• Investigate the transport of Asian and North America pollution to the eastern Atlantic and assess its implications for European air quality.
• Validate and refine satellite observations of tropospheric composition.
• Map emissions of trace gases and aerosols and relate atmospheric composition to sources and sinks.

Partners:

NASA scientists will collaborate with researchers from other government agencies, research institutions, and universities, including NOAA, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the National Science Foundation (NSF), Germany's Aerospace Research Center and Space Agency (DLR), Pennsylvania State University, Harvard University, University of Hawaii, University of Miami, University of Colorado, Florida State University, University of San Diego, University of Virginia, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, University of California-Berkeley, University of New Hampshire, and several others.

When:

March 1 - April 30, 2006

Where:

While research will be performed over wide areas in both Asia and North America, the principal operational sites will be Houston, Texas (March); Mexico City (March); Hilo, Hawaii (April); Anchorage, Alaska (April); Seattle, Washington (April); and Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany (April).

Links:

NASA's INTEX-B Campaign Site:

http://www.espo.nasa.gov/intex-b/index.html

NASA's DC-8 Research Aircraft:

http://trc.dfrc.nasa.gov/Newsroom/FactSheets/FS-050-DFRC.html

NASA's Terra Satellite:

http://terra.nasa.gov/

NASAs Aqua Satellite:

http://aqua.nasa.gov/

NASAs Aura Satellite:

http://aura.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Envisat:

http://envisat.esa.int/

NASAs Earth Science Enterprise:

http://www.earth.nasa.gov/

NASAs Earth Science Enterprise:

http://www.earth.nasa.gov/

NASAs Atmospheric Sciences Data Center:

http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov