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June 28, 2004
NASA Helps Track Global Air
Quality
NASA and other agencies will measure the
movements of pollution around the globe this
summer. NASA is participating with U.S. and
international agencies as part of a combined air
quality and climate study.
The first phase of the two-part experiment
kicks off today through August 19. NASA and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) are leading a team of scientists.
Researchers will conduct observations, as part of
the New England Air Quality Study, to track the
path of polluting gases and aerosols traveling
from North America to Europe. The University of
New Hampshire, Durham, is a partner on a broader
experiment, called the Intercontinental Chemical
Transport Experiment-North America
(INTEX-NA).
INTEX-NA objectives include identifying the
quantity of gas and aerosols that flow from North
America to the Atlantic Ocean, understanding the
transport and chemical changes of the gases over
the ocean, and assessing the global impact of
this flow on air quality and climate. The
detailed observations made possible by INTEX-NA
will support the enhanced validation of data from
NASA’s Terra and Aqua and the European
Space Agency’s Envisat satellites.
The experiment will quantify the North
American import and export of ozone and
associated pollutant gases, aerosols and
long-lived greenhouse gases. Scientists will make
sensitive measurements from airplanes,
satellites, balloons, and ground-based networks.
Researchers will use sophisticated models to
analyze data to propose a big picture view of
pollutant transport, transformation, and impact
on air quality and climate.
“This effort is important, because it is
the first time a coordinated worldwide campaign
has been launched to establish a benchmark
reading from which global atmospheric policies
can be developed,” said lead scientist Dr.
Hanwant Singh of NASA’s Ames Research
Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
The NASA DC-8 long-range aircraft is equipped
as a flying laboratory carrying a suite of highly
sensitive instruments. Other agencies’
aircraft will fly over North America and the
Atlantic to gather data. NASA’s satellites
will provide large-scale context for the airborne
observations. Observations of carbon monoxide
made from the Measurement of Pollution in the
Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument aboard
NASA’s Terra spacecraft and the Atmospheric
Infrared Sounder (AIRS) onboard the Aqua
spacecraft, will show the locations of polluted
air from fossil fuel combustion and biomass
burning.
Observations of aerosols from the Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectoradiometer (MODIS) and
Multi-Angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) will
allow scientists to observe the distribution and
transport of particulate matter over the North
Atlantic.
“Understanding the transport and
transformation of gases and aerosols on
transcontinental and intercontinental scales is
essential for the scientific understanding of air
quality and its relationship to climate
change,” said Dr. Jim Gleason, INTEX-NA
program manager.
Scientists will conduct a second field
experiment in spring 2006 to study pollution
movements from Asia towards North America, to
determine implications for North American air
quality. The timing of the two phases will allow
scientists to look for seasonal variations in the
global flow of pollution.
The INTEX-NA mission is coordinated under the
International Consortium for Atmospheric Research
on Transport and Transformation (ICARTT). The
United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and France will
conduct concurrent airborne campaigns. Harvard
University, Cambridge, Mass.; the U.S. Department
of Energy, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton,
N.Y.; California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, Calif.; and the Meteorological Service
of Canada, round out the INTEX-NA North
American partners.
NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise is
dedicated to understanding the Earth as an
integrated system and applying Earth System
Science to improve prediction of climate,
weather, and natural hazards using the unique
vantage point of space.
For information and images about this research
on the Internet, visit: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2004/ 0621intex.html
En Español: http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov/spanish/2004/ 04_63AR_span.html
For information about the INTEX-NA campaign on
the Internet, visit: http://cloud1.arc.nasa.gov/intex-na/
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Contacts:
Renee Juhans
Headquarters, Washington
Phone: 202/358-1712
Beth Hagenauer
Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards,
Calif.
Phone: 661/276-7960
Jana Goldman
NOAA, Silver Spring, Md.
Phone: 301/713-2483
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The INTEX Mission Flight
Tracks
Several aircraft will fly during INTEX,
including the DC-8 and the WP-3. Their flight
paths are depicted by the thin red line and the
thick black lines over the U.S. and out into the
North Atlantic Ocean. CREDIT: NASA Ames
Key Elements of the INTEX
Mission
In Summer, 2004 several coordinated experiments
will study air quality, intercontinental
transport, the carbon cycle, climate change and
radiation balance in air masses carried across
the US, over the Atlantic, and onward to Europe.
It will involve satellites, airplanes, ships and
3-D computer models. INTEX will also serve to
make sure satellite data is correct. CREDIT: NASA
Ames
Viewing Air Quality in New
England
NOAA / University of New Hampshire, AIRMAP
program is part of the INTEX mission. AIRMAP maps
New England Ãs changing climate and air quality.
Above is a photograph of the White Mountains,
from the Mount Washington Observatory in New
Hampshire, one of the monitoring stations.
CREDIT: NOAA
Mapping Emissions
These images were created from computer
modeling, to show 3-dimensional emissions of
Formaldehyde (HCHO) which is a precursor of
carbon monoxide. These computer model outputs
enable scientists to see how much HCHO lingers
from the surface to the upper atmosphere. The
darker areas on the top map indicate higher
concentrations. The bottom image maps isoprene.
It is emitted from plants and trees, has been
detected in tobacco smoke and automobile exhaust,
and was identified in human breath. Isoprene is a
cancer-causing agent. Yellow and red in this
image, indicate higher levels. CREDIT:
Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group, Harvard
University
How Instruments Work
Together
These images show how satellites, planes and
data gathered on the ground all work together to
provide the most accurate information during the
ICARTT portion of the INTEX mission. ICARTT is a
coordinated atmospheric chemistry campaign over
eastern North America and the North Atlantic in
summer 2004. CREDIT: Atmospheric Chemistry
Modeling Group, Harvard University
NASA’s DC-8 Aircraft
NASA’s DC-8 aircraft will be used during
INTEX. NASA’s large Airborne Science
research aircraft, a modified DC-8 airliner,
displayed new colors in a check flight Feb. 24,
2004, over its home base, the NASA Dryden Flight
Research Center at Edwards AFB, California.
CREDIT: NASA Dryden
High-Resolution
Image
NOAA’s Ronald H. Brown Vessel
Samples Air Quality
NOAA’s Ronald H. Brown vessel is using
state-of-the-art instrumentation to collect
samples as part of a New England Air Quality
Study. The vessel is shown here at the NOAA site
is Docking in Portsmouth, NH. CREDIT: NOAA
The INTEX Mission Logo
The Intercontinental Chemical Transport
Experiment (INTEX-NA) is a major NASA science
campaign to understand the transport and
transformation of gases and aerosols on
transcontinental and intercontinental scales and
their impact on air quality and climate. A
particular focus in this study is to quantify and
characterize the inflow and outflow of pollution
over North America. The experiment will be
supported by forecasts from meteorological and
chemical models, surface and satellite
observations, and ozone probe releases. CREDIT:
NASA Ames
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