ARCTAS Ozonesondes Data

ARCTAS_Ozonesondes_Data contains data collected via ozonesonde launches during the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft & Satellites (ARCTAS) mission. Data collection for this product is complete.

The Arctic is a critical region in understanding climate change. The responses of the Arctic to environmental perturbations such as warming, pollution, and emissions from forest fires in boreal Eurasia and North America include key processes such as the melting of ice sheets and permafrost, a decrease in snow albedo, and the deposition of halogen radical chemistry from sea salt aerosols to ice. ARCTAS was a field campaign that explored environmental processes related to the high degree of climate sensitivity in the Arctic. ARCTAS was part of NASA’s contribution to the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Polar Study using Aircraft, Remote Sensing, Surface Measurements, and Models of Climate, Chemistry, Aerosols, and Transport (POLARCAT) Experiment for the International Polar Year 2007-2008.

ARCTAS had four primary objectives. The first was to understand long-range transport of pollution to the Arctic. Pollution brought to the Arctic from northern mid-latitude continents has environmental consequences, such as modifying regional and global climate and affecting the ozone budget. Prior to ARCTAS, these pathways remained largely uncertain. The second objective was to understand the atmospheric composition and climate implications of boreal forest fires; the smoke emissions from which act as an atmospheric perturbation to the Arctic by impacting the radiation budget and cloud processes and contributing to the production of tropospheric ozone. The third objective was to understand aerosol radiative forcing from climate perturbations, as the Arctic is an important place for understanding radiative forcing due to the rapid pace of climate change in the region and its unique radiative environment. The fourth objective of ARCTAS was to understand chemical processes with a focus on ozone, aerosols, mercury, and halogens. Additionally, ARCTAS sought to develop capabilities for incorporating data from aircraft and satellites related to pollution and related environmental perturbations in the Arctic into earth science models, expanding the potential for those models to predict future environmental change.

ARCTAS consisted of two, three-week aircraft deployments conducted in April and July 2008. The spring deployment sought to explore arctic haze, stratosphere-troposphere exchange, and sunrise photochemistry. April was chosen for the deployment phase due to historically being the peak in the seasonal accumulation of pollution from northern mid-latitude continents in the Arctic. The summer deployment sought to understand boreal forest fires at their most active seasonal phase in addition to stratosphere-troposphere exchange and summertime photochemistry.

During ARCTAS, three NASA aircrafts, the DC-8, P-3B, and BE-200, conducted measurements and were equipped with suites of in-situ and remote sensing instrumentation. Airborne data was used in conjunction with satellite observations from AURA, AQUA, CloudSat, PARASOL, CALIPSO, and MISR.

The ASDC houses ARCTAS aircraft data, along with data related to MISR, a satellite instrument aboard the Terra satellite which provides measurements that provide information about the Earth’s environment and climate.

ARCTAS臭氧探空仪数据集收录了在「基于飞机与卫星的对流层组成北极研究（Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft & Satellites，ARCTAS）」任务期间，通过臭氧探空仪施放获取的观测数据。本数据集的数据采集工作已全部完成。

北极是理解气候变化的关键区域。北极对各类环境扰动的响应——包括气候变暖、污染，以及欧亚大陆北部与北美北方针叶林火灾的排放——涵盖诸多核心过程：冰盖与永久冻土融化、雪反照率降低，以及海盐气溶胶产生的卤素自由基化学物质向冰面沉降。ARCTAS是一项野外考察任务，旨在探究与北极高度气候敏感性相关的环境过程。ARCTAS是美国国家航空航天局（National Aeronautics and Space Administration，NASA）为2007-2008国际极地年开展的「基于飞机、遥感、地面测量以及气候、化学、气溶胶与传输模型的国际全球大气化学（International Global Atmospheric Chemistry, IGAC）极地研究（POLARCAT）实验」所贡献的项目之一。

ARCTAS共有四项核心目标。其一，阐明污染物向北极的长距离传输路径。来自北半球中纬度大陆的污染物输入北极后，会引发一系列环境效应，例如改变区域与全球气候，以及影响臭氧收支。在ARCTAS任务开展前，这类污染物传输路径在很大程度上仍不明确。其二，解析北方针叶林火灾对大气组成及气候的影响：其产生的烟雾排放会通过影响辐射收支与云过程，以及促进对流层臭氧生成，对北极大气环境构成扰动。其三，探究气候扰动下的气溶胶辐射强迫：由于北极地区气候变化速率较快，且拥有独特的辐射环境，该区域是研究辐射强迫的重要场景。其四，聚焦臭氧、气溶胶、汞与卤素，解析相关化学过程。此外，ARCTAS还致力于开发相关技术能力，将北极地区与污染及其他环境扰动相关的飞机与卫星观测数据融入地球科学模型，从而拓展这些模型预测未来环境变化的潜力。

ARCTAS包含两次为期三周的飞机部署任务，分别于2008年4月与7月实施。春季部署旨在探究北极霾、平流层-对流层交换以及日出光化学过程。选择4月开展部署，是因为历史数据显示该月份是北半球中纬度大陆污染物在北极季节性积累的峰值期。夏季部署则旨在解析处于最活跃季节阶段的北方针叶林火灾，同时探究平流层-对流层交换与夏季光化学过程。

ARCTAS任务期间，美国国家航空航天局的3架飞机——DC-8、P-3B与BE-200——开展了观测作业，机上搭载了多套原位（in-situ）与遥感探测仪器。机载观测数据与AURA、AQUA、CloudSat、PARASOL、CALIPSO及MISR等卫星的观测数据结合使用。

大气科学数据中心（ASDC）馆藏ARCTAS的飞机观测数据，以及与MISR相关的数据集。MISR是搭载于Terra卫星的卫星载荷，其获取的观测数据可用于获取地球环境与气候相关的信息。