The NASA atmospheric tomography (ATom) mission: Imaging the chemistry of the global atmosphere

Authors

Chelsea R. Thompson, University of Colorado
Steven C. Wofsy, Harvard University
Michael J. Prather, University of California
Paul A. Newman, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Thomas F. Hanisco, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Thomas B. Ryerson, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
David W. Fahey, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Eric C. Apel, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Charles A. Brock, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
William H. Brune, Pennsylvania State University
Karl Froyd, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Joseph M. Katich, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Julie M. Nicely, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Jeff Peischl, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Eric Ray, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Patrick R. Veres, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Siyuan Wang, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Hannah M. Allen, California Institute of Technology
Elizabeth C. Asher, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Huisheng Bian, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Donald Blake, University of California
Ilann Bourgeois, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
John Budney, Harvard University
T. Paul Bui, NASA Ames Research Center
Amy Butler, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Pedro Campuzano-Jost, University of Colorado Boulder
Cecilia Change, NASA Ames Research Center
Mian Chin, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Roisin Commane, Harvard University
Gus Correa, Columbia University
John D. Crounse, California Institute of Technology
Bruce Daube, Harvard University
Jack E. Dibb, University of New HampshireFollow
Joshua P. DiGangi, NASA Langley Research Center
Glenn S. Diskin, NASA Langley Research Center
Maximilian Dollner, University of Vienna
James W. Elkins, NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory
Arlene M. Fiore, Columbia University
Clare M. Flynn, University of California
Hao Guo, University of California
Samuel R. Hall, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Reem A. Hannun, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Alan Hills, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Eric J. Hintsa, University of Colorado Boulder
Alma Hodzic, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Rebecca S. Hornbrook, National Center for Atmospheric Research
L. Greg Huey, Georgia Institute of Technology
Jose L. Jimenez, University of Colorado Boulder
Ralph F. Keeling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Michelle J. Kim, California Institute of Technology
Agnieszka Kupc, University of Vienna
Forrest Lacey, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Leslie R. Lait, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Jean-Francois Lamarque, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Junhua Liu, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Kathryn McKain, University of Colorado Boulder
Simone Meinardi, University of California, Irvine
David O. Miller, The Pennsylvania State University
Stephen A. Montzka, NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory
Fred L. Moore, University of Colorado Boulder
Eric J. Morgan, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Daniel M. Murphy, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Lee T. Murray, University of Rochester
Benjamin A. Nault, University of Colorado Boulder
J. Andrew Neuman, University of Colorado Boulder
Louis Nguyen, NASA Langley Research Center
Yenny Gonzalez, Harvard University
Andrew Rollins, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Karen Rosenlof, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Maryann Sargent, Harvard University
Gregory Schill, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Joshua P. Schwarz, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Jason M. St. Clair, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Stephen D. Steenrod, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Britton B. Stephens, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Susan E. Strahan, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Sarah A. Strode, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Colm Sweeney, NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory
Alexander B. Thames, The Pennsylvania State University
Kirk Ullmann, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Nicholas Wagner, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Rodney Weber, Georgia Institute of Technology
Bernadett Weinzierl, University of Vienna
Paul O. Wennberg, California Institute of Technology
Christina J. Williamson, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory
Glenn M. Wolfe, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Linghan Zeng, Georgia Institute of Technology

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission and a summary of selected scientific findings to date. ATom was an airborne measurements and modeling campaign aimed at characterizing the composition and chemistry of the troposphere over the most remote regions of the Pacific, Southern, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans, and examining the impact of anthropogenic and natural emissions on a global scale. These remote regions dominate global chemical reactivity and are exceptionally important for global air quality and climate. ATom data provide the in situ measurements needed to understand the range of chemical species and their reactions, and to test satellite remote sensing observations and global models over large regions of the remote atmosphere. Lack of data in these regions, particularly over the oceans, has limited our understanding of how atmospheric composition is changing in response to shifting anthropogenic emissions and physical climate change. ATom was designed as a global-scale tomographic sampling mission with extensive geographic and seasonal coverage, tropospheric vertical profiling, and detailed speciation of reactive compounds and pollution tracers. ATom flew the NASA DC-8 research aircraft over four seasons to collect a comprehensive suite of measurements of gases, aerosols, and radical species from the remote troposphere and lower stratosphere on four global circuits from 2016 to 2018. Flights maintained near-continuous vertical profiling of 0.15–13-km altitudes on long meridional transects of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. Analysis and modeling of ATom data have led to the significant early findings highlighted here.

Department

Earth Systems Research Center

Publication Date

3-10-2022

Journal Title

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

Publisher

American Meteorological Society

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://dx.doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0315.1

Document Type

Article

Recommended Citation

Thompson, C. R., S. C. Wofsy, M. J. Prather, P. A. Newman, T. F. Hanisco, T. B. Ryerson, D. W. Fahey, E. C. Apel, C. A. Brock, W. H. Brune, K. Froyd, J. M. Katich, J. M. Nicely, J. Peischl, E. Ray, P. R. Veres, S. Wang, H. M. Allen, E. Asher, H. Bian, D. Blake, I. Bourgeois, J. Budney, T. P. Bui, A. Butler, P. Campuzano-Jost, C. Chang, M. Chin, R. Commane, G. Correa, J. D. Crounse, B. Daube, J. E. Dibb, J. P. DiGangi, G. S. Diskin, M. Dollner, J. W. Elkins, A. M. Fiore, C. M. Flynn, H. Guo, S. R. Hall, R. A. Hannun, A. Hills, E. J. Hintsa, A. Hodzic, R. S. Hornbrook, L. G. Huey, J. L. Jimenez, R. F. Keeling, M. J. Kim, A. Kupc, F. Lacey, L. R. Lait, J.-F. Lamarque, J. Liu, K. McKain, S. Meinardi, D. O. Miller, S. A. Montzka, F. L. Moore, E. J. Morgan, D. M. Murphy, L. T. Murray, B. A. Nault, J. A. Neuman, L. Nguyen, Y. G. Ramos, A. Rollins, K. Rosenlof, M. Sargent, G. Schill, J. P. Schwarz, J. M. St. Clair, S. T. Steenrod, B. B. Stephens, S. E. Strahan, S. A. Strode, C. Sweeney, A. B. Thames, K. Ullman, N. Wagner, R. Weber, B. Weinzierl, P. O. Wennberg, C. J. Williamson, G. M. Wolfe, and L. Zeng (2021), The NASA atmospheric tomography (ATom) mission: Imaging the chemistry of the global atmosphere, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0315.1.