NOAA/HATS Atmospheric Trace Gas Profiles and Trends from Long-term and Campaign Sampling: Observations from Ground Sites, Balloons and Aircraft
Abstract
NOAA and CIRES scientists in the Halocarbons and other Atmospheric Trace Species Group (HATS) started measuring vertical profiles and cruise-altitude levels of atmospheric trace species in 1991, first on high-altitude aircraft (NASA ER-2 aircraft, 1991-2000; NASA WB-57F, 1999-2016) and balloons (1996-2003), then civilian aviation altitude aircraft (NASA DC-8, 2001-2018; UND Citation, 2003; NCAR GV (2008-2011), and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS, NASA Altair, 2005-2006, and Global Hawk, 2010-2014). The scope of our observations included many different regional missions and global campaigns (Fig.1a). Earlier studies (1990s through early 2000s) had a stratospheric ozone depletion and long-lived greenhouse gases (GHGs) focus, whereas later work focused included more tropospheric measurements of GHGs and short-lived gases (O3, H2O, PAN, & short-lived halocarbons). Scientific results include the rate of destruction of ozone in the polar stratosphere during airborne missions (AASEII, ASHOE-MAESA, POLARIS, & SOLVE), atmospheric lifetimes of many trace gases including a revised shorter lifetime for SF6, due to a mesospheric sink (Fig.1b) observed in 2000, stratospheric and tropospheric mean age of the air mass, large-scale transport, and satellite validation. This presentation will focus on the long-term trends of select trace gases over time (Fig.1b), and results from the recent airborne missions NSF HIPPO and NASA ATom, where NOAA flasks (PFPs) were included for the first time.
Figure 1(a) Flight paths from airborne missions (color coded to year, 1991-2018), (b) trends of atmospheric SF6 (color coded to ambient pressure), a potent GHG tied to electrical production with strong almost constant growth rate of 0.24 ppt per year (2018: 3% per year) against our ground based remote global and hemispheric atmosphere trends.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.A31I2949E
- Keywords:
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- 0340 Middle atmosphere: composition and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0345 Pollution: urban and regional;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0394 Instruments and techniques;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE