Analysis of meteorological conditions during AGASP-IV: March 30-April 23, 1992. Technical memo

Technical Report · Thu Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1993

OSTI ID:6114971

Herbert, G A; Sheridan, P J; Schnell, R C; Bieniulis, M Z; Bodhaine, B A

The fourth Arctic Gas and Aerosol Sampling Program (AGASP-IV) was conducted over Alaska and the Beaufort Sea during March and April 1992. The NOAA WP-3D aircraft made nine flights. On the first eight flights special aerosol and gas sampling instrumentation was installed, and extensive time was spent over the pack ice. Measurements of wind, pressure, temperature, relative humidity, ozone, and condensation nucleus (CN) concentration were used to identify the air mass type, recent origin, and existence of pollution-derived aerosols, i.e., haze. While small patches of elevated CN concentrations and higher aerosol scattering coefficients were observed, significantly large regions, of the type found in previous AGASP missions, were not observed during the series. On most flights the CN concentrations in the troposphere were representative of clean background conditions at this latitude. Significant concentrations of CN (CN>7000 cm-3) found above the tropopause on three flights indicated the presence of volcanic aerosol probably from the Pinatubo volcanic plume at high latitudes. In four instances low ozone concentrations suggest the destruction of ozone in the surface layer.

• Research Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO (United States). Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Lab.
• OSTI ID: 6114971
• Report Number(s): PB-93-190205/XAB; NOAA-TM-ERL-CMDL--5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540150* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Site Resources & Use Studies-- (1990-)
AEROSOLS
AIR POLLUTION
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
AIRCRAFT
ALASKA
ARCTIC OCEAN
ARCTIC REGIONS
BEAUFORT SEA
COLLOIDS
CRYOSPHERE
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DISPERSIONS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS
HUMIDITY
ICE
LATITUDE EFFECT
METEOROLOGY
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
ORIGIN
OZONE
POLAR REGIONS
POLLUTION
SAMPLING
SCATTERING
SEAS
SOLS
SURFACE WATERS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TROPOPAUSE
TROPOSPHERE
US NOAA
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
VARIATIONS
VOLCANISM
WIND