Planning, implementation, and scientific goals of the studies of emissions and atmospheric composition, clouds and climate coupling by regional surveys (SEAC4RS) field mission

  • Owen B. Toon
  • , Hal Maring
  • , Jack Dibb
  • , Richard Ferrare
  • , Daniel J. Jacob
  • , Eric J. Jensen
  • , Z. Johnny Luo
  • , Gerald G. Mace
  • , Laura L. Pan
  • , Lenny Pfister
  • , Karen H. Rosenlof
  • , Jens Redemann
  • , Jeffrey S. Reid
  • , Hanwant B. Singh
  • , Anne M. Thompson
  • , Robert Yokelson
  • , Patrick Minnis
  • , Gao Chen
  • , Kenneth W. Jucks
  • , Alex Pszenny

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

158 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) fieldmission based at Ellington Field, Texas, during August and September 2013 employed the most comprehensive airborne payload to date to investigate atmospheric composition over North America. The NASA ER-2, DC-8, and SPEC Inc. Learjet flew 57 science flights fromthe surface to 20 km. The ER-2 employed seven remote sensing instruments as a satellite surrogate and eight in situ instruments. The DC-8 employed 23 in situ and five remote sensing instruments for radiation, chemistry, and microphysics. The Learjet used 11 instruments to explore cloud microphysics. SEAC4RS launched numerous balloons, augmented AErosol RObotic NETwork, and collaborated with many existing ground measurement sites. Flights investigating convection included close coordination of all three aircraft. Coordinated DC-8 and ER-2 flights investigated the optical properties of aerosols, the influence of aerosols on clouds, and the performance of new instruments for satellite measurements of clouds and aerosols. ER-2 sorties sampled stratospheric injections of water vapor and other chemicals by local and distant convection. DC-8 flights studied seasonally evolving chemistry in the Southeastern U.S., atmospheric chemistry with lower emissions of NOx and SO2 than in previous decades, isoprene chemistry under high and low NOx conditions at different locations, organic aerosols, air pollution near Houston and in petroleum fields, smoke from wildfires in western forests and from agricultural fires in the Mississippi Valley, and the ways in which the chemistry in the boundary layer and the upper troposphere were influenced by vertical transport in convective clouds.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4967-5009
Number of pages43
JournalJournal of Geophysical Research
Volume121
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016

Funding

SEAC4RS was organized and funded by the NASA Earth Science Program and the Naval Research Laboratory. We thank the aircraft managers, engineers, and ground crews of all the aircraft that participated in SEAC4RS. We particularly thank the pilots of the ER-2 Tim Williams, Denis Steele, Dan Neely, and Stuart Broce; mobile pilot Jan Nystrom; and the DC-8 pilots Frank Batteas, Wayne Ringelberg, Manny Puerta, Denis Steele, Troy Asher, Nils Larson, and Bill Brockett. The DC-8 navigators, Carl Magnusson, Alan Rabb, Keith Schilawski, Ben Williams, Jeff Wilson, and Jeff Texcell were essential to flight planning and to helping adjust flight patterns in real time. NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Airborne Science Directorate provided excellent support for the aircraft. We thank Bruce Tagg, the Airborne Science Program manager; ER-2 aircraft mission managers, Tim Moes and Chris Miller; the DC-8 mission manager, Frank Cutler, as well as Rick Shetter. The NASA Ames Earth Science Project Office made tremendous contributions to the operations and overall success of SEAC4RS. Our special thanks go to Kent Shiffer, Jhony Zavaleta, Mike Craig, David Jordan, Sue Tolley, Quincy Allison, Dan Chirica, Erin Czech, Erin Justice, and Katja Drdla. We are grateful for the support of the NASA Langley Clouds Group, especially Rabi Palikonda, Louis Nguyen, Kris Bedka, Bill Smith, Jr., Kirk Ayers, Chris Yost, Doug Spangenberg, Michele Nordeen, Dave Duda, Robyn Boeke, Thad Chee, and Ben Scarino. We appreciated Kathy Thompson for her dedication and effort throughout the planning and postmission analysis of SEAC4RS. The airport personnel at NASA’s Johnson spaceflight center and Ellington Field were very helpful to the mission. We especially thank Dick Clark, Chief of the Aircraft Operations Division; Gary Ash, Chief of Aircraft Maintenance; Arne Aamodt and Kevin Lasenski from the Aircraft Operations Division; Noreen McLeroy for IT support; Lisa Buswell, Administrative Officer; Rose Garder, International Visits Coordinator; and, Frank Newman for laboratory and building support in Building 994. Jim Crawford, at NASA’s Langley Research Center, played a key role in planning the SEAC4RS field mission. The SEAC4RS data are now in the public domain and can be accessed at http://www-air. larc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ArcView/seac4rs. Alternatively one can locate the data at www.doi.org using doi:10.5067/Aircraft/ SEAC4RS/Aerosol-TraceGas-Cloud. O. B. Toon was supported by NASA awards NNX12AC64G and NNX14AR56G.

FundersFunder number
National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNNX14AR56G, NNX12AC64G

    UN SDGs

    This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

    1. SDG 13 - Climate Action
      SDG 13 Climate Action

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