GCMD Project Keyword Description Update Request

[ASDC - gmojica]

Hello, through preparation for WebU, the ASDC is requesting the following Project Keyword Descriptions be updated in GCMD. The requested new descriptions are as follows:

Project: FIREX-AQ
New Description: Fire emissions in the US are approximately half from Northwestern wildfires and half from prescribed fires that burn mostly in the Southeast US. Wildfires burn slightly more fuel and therefore have overall larger emissions, but prescribed fires dominate the area burned and the number of fires. FIREX-AQ investigated both sild and prescribed fires. Wildfires generally result in exposures with larger pollution concentrations over larger areas, and cause both local and regional air quality impacts.

Project: LISTOS:
New Description: To investigate the evolving nature of ozone formation and transport in the NYC region and downwind, NESCAUM has launched the Long Island Sound Tropospheric Ozone Study (LISTOS). LISTOS involved a large group of researchers with state and federal agencies and academia that bring a diverse set of resources, expertise, and instrumentation skills. These encompass satellite, aircraft, balloon (ozone sondes), marine, and ground-based data collection and analysis methods to probe the New York City pollution plume and its evolution over and around Long Island Sound. The primary measurement observations took place between June and September 2018 and included in-situ and remote sensing instrumentation.

Project: LMOS
New Description: The Lake Michigan Ozone Study (LMOS) was a multi-year cooperative interstate and federal effort that aimed to seek a regional solution to the ozone nonattainment problem in the Lake Michigan area, which includes portions of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A key objective of LMOS was to provide the Lake Michigan States with a technically credible photochemical modeling system that can be used in developing a regional emissions control strategy. Initial efforts involved the conduct of a field program during the summer of 1991, analyses of the data collected in the field study, the development of gridded, day-specific emissions estimates for four ozone episodes, application of a prognostic model to provide meteorological inputs, adaptation of the Urban Airshed Model (UAM-V) to the study area, evaluation of model performance, and the conduct of model sensitivity studies. The EPA approved usage of the LMOS modeling system for developing revisions to the SIPs for the four Lake Michigan States. The Lack Michigan Ozone Control Program (LMOP) was also a cooperative interstate and federal effort that represents the regulatory continuation of LMOS. The goal of LMOP was to develop an effective regional control strategy that provided attainment of the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) by the statutory dates, and to submit individual State Implementation Plans that reflect the regional strategies. The long-term goal was to provide a mechanism for the Lake Michigan States to work together to ensure successful implementation of the regional strategy, and if appropriate, revision of the regional strategy to achieve attainment (and maintenance) of the NAAQS.

Project: NAAMES
New Description: The North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) was a five-year investigation to resolve key processes controlling ocean system function, their influences on atmospheric aerosols and clouds and their implications for climate. Observations obtained during four, targeted ship and aircraft measurement campaigns, combined with the continuous satellite and in situ ocean sensor records, enabled improved predictive capabilities of Earth system processes and will inform ocean management and assessment of ecosystem change.

Project: ORACLES
New Description: Over the southeast Atlantic Ocean, a 2,000-mile-long plume of smoke from African agricultural fires meets a near-permanent cloud bank offshore. Their meeting makes a natural laboratory for studying the interactions between cloud droplets and the tiny airborne smoke particles. Over a five-year study period (August 19, 2016 – October 27, 2016; August 1, 2017 – September 4, 2017; September 21, 2018 – October 27, 2018), the ObseRvations of Aerosols and CLouds and their intEractionS) ORACLES campaign launched the NASA P-3B research aircraft to gather data on how aerosols such as smoke affect clouds in in turn Earth’s climate.

Project: PISTON
New Description: The Propagation of Intra-Seasonal Tropical OscillatioNs (PISTON) field campaign, sponsored by Office of Naval Research, completed two shipboard deployments in the western Pacific north of Palau from early August to mid-October 2018 and September 2019. There were two research vessels involved in PISTON: R/V Thomas G.Thompson in 2018 and R/V Sally Ride in 2019. The second deployment coincided with the CAMP2Ex airborne deployment. The overarching PISTON science objective is to gain understanding and enhance the prediction capability of multi-scale tropical convection and air-sea interaction in this region. PISTON targeted the Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation (BSISO), which defines the northward and eastward movement of convection associated with equatorial waves, the MJO, tropical cyclones, and the Maritime Continent monsoon during northern-hemispheric (boreal) summertime. The PISTON shipboard instrument payload includes dual-polarization Doppler radar and multiple vertically-pointing radars and lidars for characterization of cloud and precipitation. Radiosondes were launched for atmospheric profiling. Instruments were also deployed on the ship and towed from the ship to document surface meteorological conditions, air-sea fluxes, and upper-ocean variability. Two specialized moorings were deployed north of Palau from August 2018 to Oct 2019 to document ocean characteristics beneath typhoons and other tropical weather disturbances. A set of profiling ocean floats were also deployed ahead of typhoons in 2018. A forecast team analyzed and predicted conditions of the weather and ocean throughout the experiment, which were archived for future modeling and observational analysis studies.

Project: SEAC4RS
New Description: Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) airborne field study was conducted in August and September of 2013. The field operation was based in Houston, Texas. The primary SEAC4RS science objectives are: to determine how pollutant emissions are redistributed via deep convection throughout the troposphere; to determine the evolution of gases and aerosols in deep convective outflow and the implications for UT/LS chemistry; to identify the influences and feedbacks of aerosol particles from anthropogenic pollution and biomass burning on meteorology and climate through changes in the atmospheric heat budget (i.e., semi-direct effect) or through microphysical changes in clouds (i.e., indirect effects); and lastly, to serve as a calibration and validation test bed for future satellite instruments and missions. The airborne observational data were collected from three aircraft platforms: the NASA DC-8, ER-2, and SPEC LearJet. Both the NASA DC-8 and ER-2 aircraft were instrumented for comprehensive in-situ and remote sensing measurements of the trace gas, aerosol properties, and cloud properties. In addition, radiative fluxes and meteorological parameters were also recorded. The NASA DC-8 was mostly responsible for tropospheric sampling, while the NASA ER-2 was operating in the lower stratospheric regime. The SPEC LearJet was dedicated to in-situ cloud characterizations. To accomplish the science objectives, the flight plans were designed to investigate the influence of biomass burning and pollution, their temporal evolution, and ultimately, impacts on meteorological processes which can, in turn, feedback on regional air quality. With respect to meteorological feedbacks, the opportunity to examine the impact of polluting aerosols on cloud properties and dynamics was of particular interest. For more information regarding the Airborne Multi-angle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) data collected during SEAC4RS, please refer to: AirMSPI SEAC4RS Ellipsoid Data (https://asdc.larc.nasa.gov/project/AIRMSPI/AirMSPI_SEAC4RS_Ellipsoid-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_5), and AirMSPI SEAC4RS Terrain Data (https://asdc.larc.nasa.gov/project/AIRMSPI/AirMSPI_SEAC4RS_Terrain-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_5).

Project: SOLVE
New Description: The SAGE III (Stratospheric and Atmospheric Gas Experiment III) Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE) was an experimental field campaign sponsored by NASA. The SOLVE campaign was designed to examine the processes which control polar to mid-latitude stratospheric ozone levels. The mission was staged during the 1999-2000 northing winter from Kiruna, Sweden. The SOLVE campaign employed the NASA ER-2, NASA DC-8, the OMS in situ and remote sensing payloads, ground station observations, and an extensive theory team. The results of SOLVE both expanded understanding of polar ozone processes, and provided greater confidence in current ozone monitoring capabilities. This knowledge provided the basis for setting sound public policies which help to preserve the Earth’s ozone layer. Final data was archived in July 2000. THESEO-2000 operates in collaboration with NASA SOLVE.

Thank you and let me know if you have any questions!