Nasa Atmospheric Composition Research: Ken Jucks Program Manager, Nasa Upper Atmosphere Research Program

NASA Atmospheric Composition Research Ken Jucks Program Manager, NASA Upper Atmosphere Research Program Student Airborne Research Program July 13, 2009

What defines “Atmospheric Composition”? ✦

All the “stuff” in the atmosphere that has an impact on human lives. ❑

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The basic gases involved biological and anthropogenic processes (O2, CO2, N2O, CH4, CFCs, hydrocarbons, pollutants (NO, Ozone). The gases that are secondary products from chemistry that involves the above gases (NO2, OH, HO2, O3,……..) Aerosols (condensed gases, dust, organic reactants, sea salt, etc.) Water in ALL it’s forms (gas, liquid, ice)!

The atmospheric constituents that constrain the “radiative balance” of the atmosphere (i.e. climate forcing) ❑ ❑ ❑

Greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, O3, CFCs, etc.) Water in ALL it’s forms Aerosols

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How is atmospheric research done at NASA? ✦

Atmospheric Composition is divided up into 4 programs ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑

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Upper Atmosphere Research Program Tropospheric Chemistry Program Radiation Science Program Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling and Analysis Program

Research is performed along the following lines: ❑ ❑

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Satellite observations of the atmosphere (Much more later) Airborne observations of the atmosphere (what you are here to learn about!) Other “suborbital” observations of the atmosphere (sonde balloones and LARGE high altitude balloons) Ground based observations of the atmosphere. Modeling and data analysis studies using and/or tying together ALL the above observations.

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Upper Atmosphere Research Program ✦

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Concentrates on observations that augment the satellite observations of ozone and the composition of the stratosphere and upper troposphere. High altitude airplane observations of O3, CFCs, water vapor, other source gases that can deplete ozone, and the reactive free radicals that directly react with ozone. Higher altitude large balloon observations making similar measurements. Ground based observations that provide the long term records of ozone, ozone depleting substances, and reactive radicals. Other observations that “validate” the satellite observations from the Aura satellite. Laboratory studies that help to interpret the observations from all of the above….

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Airborne Arctic Ozone Expedition

Winds, P, T Gas can sample

Cloud particles N2O

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ClO, BrO T-profile Condensation nuclei

H 2O Ozone NO, NOy

Ozone and Chlorine ✦In

1974, Richard Stolarski and Ralph Cicerone, then at the University of Michigan, suggest that chlorine could also catalytically destroy ozone in the stratosphere. They had been studying, for NASA, the possible impacts of solid rocket propellants such as used by the Space Shuttle.

Cl + O3 -> ClO +O2 ClO + O -> Cl + O2 Net: O + O3 -> 2O2

Stolarski

Cicerone

AAOE: 8/23/87 & 9/16/87 Data: The “Smoking Gun”

2007 Aircraft Campaign in Costa Rica

Tropical surface to stratosphere profile of ozone-depleting bromine source gases Decreasing levels signify Transport through Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL)

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< 0

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> 20

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Elevated levels above 20 ppb in upper troposphere are a sign of convective transport.

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Tropical surface sources of short-lived organic bromine

From NASA DC-8 and WB-57 15

20 25 T otal O rga nic B ro m in e (pm ol/m o l)

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Probing of a tropical subvisible cirrus layer with two planes during TC4

ER-2 track

WB57 alt

H2O rh%

T (K) O3 supersat

Ice

ER2: Cloud Physics Lidar (upper) WB57: In situ data (lower)

Ice: mg/m3

High Altitude Balloon Flights

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High Altitude Balloon Data

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Examples of photochemistry studies from balloon data

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Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment and Affiliated Networks The AGAGE, and its predecessors (the Atmospheric Lifetime Experiment, ALE, and the Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment, GAGE) have been measuring the composition of the global atmosphere continuously since 1978. AGAGE is distinguished by its capability to measure over the globe at high frequency almost all of the important species in the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer and almost all of the significant non-CO2 gases in the Kyoto Protocol to mitigate climate change. The ALE/GAGE/AGAGE stations occupy coastal & mountain sites around the world chosen to provide accurate measurements of trace gases whose lifetimes are long compared to global atmospheric circulation times.

SOGE: System for Observation of Halogenated Greenhouse Gases in Europe NIES: National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan SNU: Seoul National University, Korea. AGAGE WEB SITE at http://agage.eas.gatech.edu

Tropospheric Organic Chlorine

Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change

Cl Time Series for 55 km, Column and Surface Satellite Measurements: HALOE derived Cl. The solid black line is the UNEP baseline scenario lagged 5.3 years.

Ground-based Remote Sensing: Jungfraujoch Station Cl derived from the summation of column HCl, ClONO2, and modeled background ClO.

Ground-based In Situ: AGAGE data

Russell and Anderson, 2005)

Radiation Sciences Program Understanding Electromagnetic Radiation in the Earth System

Scientific Foci: •

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Aerosols; optical properties (microphysical and chemistry), sources, transport, sinks, distribution Clouds; optical properties (cirrus particle shape), distribution, cloud meteorology Aerosol – Cloud Interactions; aerosol impact on clouds and cloud properties Radiative Transfer; emphasize 3D RT as it relates to the effect of clouds on radiative flux and remote sensing

RSP funded tasks… Projects typically funded in RSP: •

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Analysis and modeling of satellite remote sensing and other data (e.g., MODIS, MISR, OMI, CALIPSO, CloudSAT, Glory, …) Network measurements of radiation, aerosols and clouds for scientific investigations and satellite calibration and validation Field campaigns to measure aerosols, clouds and radiation (e.g., TC-4, ARCTAS, MACPEX, …) Laboratory studies to refine understanding of aerosol and cloud properties and the processes controlling them

Reflectance enhancement at cloud-free areas near clouds

Observations: Clear-sky reflectance systematically increases near clouds Need to understand the increase for: •a correct interpretation of observations •improving our knowledge of aerosol-cloud interactions; which are a significant part of the largest uncertainty in climate models Possible contributors: •More/larger aerosol (e.g., swelling) •Undetected cloud particles •Instrument limitations •3D radiative processes

3D enhancement

AERONET-An Internationally Federated Network

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Aerosol Optical Properties Research & Enabling Project – Program of long term systematic network measurements – Homepage access http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/

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Mission Objectives – Validation of satellite aerosol retrievals – Characterization of aerosol optical properties – Synergism with satellite observations and climate models

The Dynamic Atmosphere: AERONET-Defining Aerosol Optical Properties

C o o li n g H e a ti n g

H a n s e n e t a l. 1 9 9 7

Objective: Long-term, local - regional - worldwide aerosol and cloud profile observations using common instrument & data processing in a federated network

Status: 12 6 6 12 1

active sites planned sites (in preparation) proposed sites (funding dependent) short-term field campaigns ocean cruise (two cruises pre-dating MPLNET are available)

Accomplishments: • MPLNET has generated and contributed to over 30 peer reviewed publications since 2000. • Validation & algorithm development for ICESat & TOMS. CALIPSO pending. • Cooperation with AERONET, modeling, and satellite groups led to formulation of new Synergy Tool (online aerosol database)

Goddard team + 13 Partners compose MPLNET: NASA LaRC NOAA ESRL Naval Research Lab - Monterey Japan’s National Institute of Polar Research Spain’s Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial - INTA 4 US Universities 2 Korean Universities 1 Taiwan University 1 Chinese University other partners pending

active sites field campaigns planned sites proposed sites former campaign, permanent site planned former campaign, permanent site proposed

* Most sites are co-located with AERONET * Campaigns utilize SMART-COMMIT and/or MAARCO platforms * line denotes research cruise

http://mplnet.gsfc.nasa.gov

Observations of Saharan Dust Transport Reid et al., JGR, 2003: Puerto Rico Dust Experiment (PRIDE) in 2000

MPLNET Level 3 Data Cabras Island Site

Aerosol & Cloud Extinction Profiles km-1

Pink dots indicate Marine Boundary Layer heights from nearby radiosonde

Aerosol Source Plume Physical Characteristics from MISR Space-based Multi-angle Imaging 5

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MISR nadir view

Oregon wildfire Sept 04 2003

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Smoke & bkgd aerosol amount

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~Particle Size

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Smoke Plume Height

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MISR Stereo­Derived Smoke Plume Height histograms for five patches, plus model­derived atmospheric stability profile

From: R. Kahn et al. JGR 2007 • Wildfire smoke plumes tend to concentrate in layers of high relative atmospheric stability. 

layers of high relative atmospheric stability • With buoyancy from a fire or volcano, they can reach stable layers  above the boundary layer. fire or volcano above the boundary layer • The MISR plume height measurements can be used in models that predict aerosol transport. in models that predict aerosol transport • The GEOS­CHEM Modeling group at Harvard (J. Logan et al) is investigating this application.  GEOS­CHEM Modeling

CALIPSO Observations – All 3 Lidar Channels 9 June 2006

Altitude, km

Desert dust

Cirrus

Biomass smoke

Altitude, km

Altitude, km

Fire locations in southern Africa from MODIS 10 June 2006

56.71 32.16

47.85 28.57

39.92 25.78

31.94 23.46

23.93 21.42

15.90 19.55

7.81 17.77

-0.23 16.05

-8.28 14.23

-16.31 12.56

-24.33 10.69

-32.32 8.64

-40.27 6.30

MODIS Aerosol Products View the Global Aerosol System in an Entirely New Way • Quantitatively calculate intercontinental transport of dust (Kaufman et al., 2005) or pollution (Yu et al. in preparation) • Observationally-based estimate of aerosol direct radiative effect (Remer and Kaufman, 2006; Yu et al., 2006; Bellouin et al.2005; Chung et al., 2005) • Observationally-based estimate of oceanic aerosol anthropogenic component or direct forcing (Kaufman et al. 2006) • Tool for operational air quality forecasts (Al Saadi et al. 2005)

Glory Instruments Measure Important Parameters for Understanding Climate Understanding climate variability and change requires measuring: • Aerosol Properties - optical thickness (±/2), size (explicit), shape (new), and refractive index (new) • Total Solar Irradiance APS Provides: Determination of the global distribution of natural and anthropogenic aerosols and clouds with accuracy and coverage sufficient for significantly improved quantification of direct and indirect aerosol climate effects:  Uncertainty in the effect of aerosols on global warming accounts for roughly 40 percent of the uncertainty in the radiative forcing function.  Retrieval of aerosol particle microphysical properties by inverting multi-angle and multi-spectral radiance and polarization measurements will significantly extend the information content concerning aerosols from multi-spectral instruments such as MODIS and MISR. TIM Provides:

Continued measurement of the Total Solar Irradiance to determine the Sun’s direct and indirect effect on the Earth’s climate. 

Total Solar Irradiance with precision of 10 ppm and accuracy of 100 ppm are needed to understand the role of the sun in climate change and to understand the astrophysics of the nearest star to the Earth.

Glory Will Increase Our Understanding of the Earth’s Energy Budget

Direct/Indirect Aerosol Effects Are Large and Uncertain

Hansen et al., Science 308, 1431–1435 (2005)

cooling

warming

Effective climate forcings (W/m2) (1880–2003)

Overlap of TIM Measurements Enables Long-term Record

ARCTAS measurements enable fundamentally improved prediction of Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) in biomass burning smoke plumes Before:

10-X underprediction of CCN indicates large fraction of organics are water soluble

Analysis of ARCTAS measurements is showing that organic carbon contributes significantly to the CCN activity of fresh biomass burning plumes and that quantifying the water soluble (organic/inorganic) carbon fraction is fundamental to improved prediction of CCN. Such improvement in CCN closure theory is critical to reducing uncertainty in prediction of aerosol indirect effects on climate, particularly given expected changes in biomass burning.

Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling and Analysis Program

Modeling studies using NASA satellite data. Modeling and analysis of NASA ground, airborne, and balloon data sets. Model development to improve atmosphere and climate change prediction. All of these studies are to advance the knowledge of the fundamental processes of the atmosphere and it’s interaction with the rest of the Earth Climate system.

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GMI Reproduces Ozone Observations in both the Stratosphere and Troposphere

GMI simulated ozone reproduces daily features seen by Aura’s Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) in the Lower Stratosphere.

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The seasonal cycle variability of Aura MLS O3 (shaded) is nearly matched by GMI (red cross-hatched) for 2005. Mean O3 values track each other faithfully (black, MLS; red GMI).

GMI zonal mean column of Tropospheric ozone nearly matches the Aura Tropospheric column, (i.e., the difference between the OMI total ozone column and the stratospheric ozone column from MLS).

Ozone Hole Recovery ✦

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Antarctic ozone depletion (the “ozone hole”) is caused by human-produced chlorine and bromine gases. International regulation of these gases should lead to ozone recovery. A parametric model of the ozone hole area has been developed based on satellite, ground, and aircraft observations of ozone and chlorine and bromine species.

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This model suggests that the ozone hole area will begin to decrease in 2023 and will be fully recovered to 1980’s levels by 2070.

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Recent occurrences of particularly small (2002) or large (2006) ozone holes are not indicative of a long-term trend.

Sep. 2006

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Sep. 2002

Polar chlorine and ozone chemistry  Recent laboratory measurements have raised questions about one of the crucial steps in the chlorine-catalyzed loss of ozone in the polar stratosphere (new Pope et al. measured ClO dimer photolysis cross sections)  When the newly-measured values are used chemistry transport models, abundances of reactive chlorine (ClO) and depletion of ozone are severely underestimated compared to observations by MLS  Simulated chlorine deactivation is delayed, with modeled HCl much lower than observed at the end of winter  MLS data are a key observation component of SPARC initiative on polar ozone loss

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[Santee et al., 2008, JGR]

HIRDLS Cloud Extinction April 2007 cloud occurrence

HIRDLS, Steve Massie NCAR 35

Northern Winter 2006 cloud extinction

Thin clouds are difficult to detect from space. The first comprehensive climatology of thin clouds has been developed with the HIRDLS limb viewing IR radiometer. • Tropical thin cirrus are important in controlling climate change and water vapor in the the stratosphere. • Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs) are key players in spring polar ozone depletion. • Comparisons with MLS relative humidity (RHI) and CALIPSO backscatter show good agreement.

Combining OMI and MODIS allows for: - better estimates of aerosol height - better estimates of aerosol absorption - ability to characterize aerosol absorption.

The combination of OMI/MODIS data enables the determination of single scattering albedo at 388 nm over 3 dust regions during Jan 2006 with less certainty than before combining sensors

0.89 0.86 0.92

Satheesh et al., (2009) JGR

Davidi et al., (submitted to ACP)

AOD=0.2

All data Aerosol optical depth

AIRS Temperature

Cloud fraction

Koren et al. (2008) Science

1000 mb 925 mb 850 mb 700 mb 0 0.6

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MODIS AOD

Combining MODIS aerosol and cloud data with AIRS temperature profiles leads to a semi-quantitative understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions At low AOD, increasing aerosol increases cloud fraction via a microphysical pathway At high AOD, increasing aerosol decreases cloud fraction via a radiative pathway.

In upper boundary layer (850 mb) increasing aerosol increases temp (absorption) At surface (1000 mb) increasing aerosol decreases temperature (mostly from increasing cloudiness through microphysical pathway.)

Note turning point at AOD =

HIRDLS Cloud Extinction April 2007 cloud occurrence

HIRDLS, Steve Massie NCAR 38

Northern Winter 2006 cloud extinction

Thin clouds are difficult to detect from space. The first comprehensive climatology of thin clouds has been developed with the HIRDLS limb viewing IR radiometer. • Tropical thin cirrus are important in controlling climate change and water vapor in the the stratosphere. • Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs) are key players in spring polar ozone depletion. • Comparisons with MLS relative humidity (RHI) and CALIPSO backscatter show good agreement.