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By NASA
9 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The Atmospheric Aerosols group, from the 2024 Student Airborne Research Program (SARP) West Coast cohort, poses in front of the natural sciences building at UC Irvine, during their final presentations on August 12, 2024. NASA Ames/Milan Loiacono Faculty Advisors: Dr. Andreas Beyersdorf, California State University, San Bernardino & Dr. Ann Marie Carlton, University of California
Graduate Mentor: Madison Landi, University of California, Irvine
Madison Landi, Graduate Mentor
Madison Landi, graduate student mentor for the 2024 SARP Aerosols group, provides an introduction for each of the group members and shares behind-the scenes moments from the internship.
Maya Niyogi
A Comparative Analysis of Tropospheric NO2: Evaluating TEMPO Satellite Data Against Airborne Measurements
Maya Niyogi, Johns Hopkins University
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) plays a major role in atmospheric chemical reactions; the inorganic compound both contributes to tropospheric ozone production and reacts with volatile organic compounds to create health-hazardous particulate matter. The presence of NO2 in the atmosphere is largely due to anthropogenic activity, making NO2 at the forefront of policy decisions and scientific monitoring. The Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite launched in 2023 with the goal of monitoring pollution across North America. The publicly-accessible data became available for use in May 2024, however parts of the data remain unvalidated and in beta, creating a need for an in situ validation of its data products. Here we analyze TEMPO’s tropospheric NO2 measurements and compare them to aloft NO2 measurements collected during the NASA Student Airborne Research Project (SARP) 2024 airborne campaign. Six of the campaign flights recording NO2 performed a vertical spiral, providing vertical column data that was adjusted to ambient conditions for comparison against the corresponding TEMPO values. Statistical analyses indicate we have reasonable evidence to conclude that TEMPO satellite data and the flight-collected data record similar values. This research fills a critical knowledge gap through the utilization of aloft NO2 measurements to validate NASA’s newly-launched TEMPO satellite. It is expected that future users of TEMPO data can apply these results to better inform project creation and research.
Benjamin Wells
Investigating the Atmospheric Burden of Black Carbon Over the Past Decade in the Los Angeles Basin
Benjamin Wells, San Diego State University
Black Carbon is a primary aerosol emitted directly into the atmosphere as a result of biomass burning and incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. During the pre-industrial revolution, the main source of black carbon was natural sources whereas currently, the main source is anthropogenic activities. When black carbon is released into the atmosphere, it is a dominant absorber of solar radiation and leads to a significant warming effect on Earth’s climate. In addition to its harmful effects associated with climate change, ambient black carbon inhalation is correlated with adverse health effects such as respiratory and cardiovascular disease, cancer, and premature mortality. In this study, we analyze aloft black carbon measurements in 2016 and 2024 acquired on NASA SARP research flights and compare these concentrations to black carbon measurements taken during the 2010 CalNex field campaign. Both field campaigns flew similar flight paths over the Los Angeles basin allowing us to conduct a critical comparative analysis on vertical and spatial profiles of the atmospheric burden of black carbon over the past 14 years. During the CalNEX study, mass concentrations of black carbon ranged from 0.02 μg/m3 to 0.531 μg/m3, meanwhile 2024 SARP measurements demonstrate concentrations as elevated as 7.83 μg/m3 within the same region. Moreover, similar flight paths conducted during SARP 2024 and 2016 allow for further analysis of aloft black carbon concentrations over a period of time. The results of this study examines and analyzes the changing spatial and temporal characteristics of black carbon throughout the years, leading to an increase of adverse effects on both the climate and public health.
Devin Keith
Tracking Methane and Aerosols in relation to Health Effects in the San Joaquin Valley
Devin Keith, Mount Holyoke College
The San Joaquin Valley (SJV) is located in central California and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country for dairy, nuts, and berries, producing more than half of California’s $42 billion output. Due to the SJV’s close proximity to the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range to the East and predominantly Easterly winds, air pollution often accumulates because it is trapped by the geography. Significant chemical constituents of trapped particulate matter are ammonium (NH4), chloride (Cl), sulfate (SO4), nitrate (NO3), black carbon, and organic carbon. The particle size measured in this study is less than 1 micron in diameter, and due to their size, can easily penetrate the respiratory tract leading to adverse health effects such as: asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular disease. We employ airborne data collected during the SARP 2024 mission onboard NASA’s P-3 research plane to observe spatial and temporal trends of NH4, Cl, SO4, NO3, and black carbon. Further, we analyze measurements from SARP 2016 flights and compare the atmospheric burden of pollution in the SJV across time. To investigate observations in the context of the public health impacts, we utilize data collected by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazards Assessment and find asthma and cardiovascular disease rates are higher in the SJV hotspots identified here. Per capita health impacts are greater than other California regions such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. The SJV exhibits higher rates of poverty than other communities, which may reveal an environmental justice issue that is difficult to explicitly quantify especially where measurements are sparse.
Lily Lyons
Investigating the Effects of Aerosols on Photosynthesis Using Satellite Imaging
Lily Lyons, Brandeis University
Aerosols in the atmosphere can affect the way sunlight travels to the ground by absorbing or scattering light. Sunlight is a critical component in plant photosynthesis, and the way light scatters affects productivity for vegetation and plant growth. When plants absorb sunlight, the chlorophyll in their leaves releases the excess energy as infrared light, which can be measured from space via satellite. To better understand how aerosol loading in the atmosphere affects plant photosynthesis, this study examines locations in Yosemite, Sequoia, Garrett, and Talladega national forests, and compares aerosol optical depth (AOD), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and solar induced fluorescence (SIF) in these areas. Yosemite and Sequoia act as proxies for the old growth sequoia grove ecosystems, and Talladega and Garrett act as proxies for the Appalachian mixed mesophytic forest ecosystem. Our results show that within 2015-2020 during July, SIF and NDVI levels are significantly greater in mixed mesophytic forests than in sequoia groves. Using linear regression plots, we determined the correlation between SIF, NDVI and AOD to be weak in the given locations. Greater SIF in mixed mesophytic forests could suggest that the presence of a prominent and biodiverse understory is positive for the overall primary productivity of an ecosystem. This study is a good starting point for analyzing diverse ecosystems using SIF, NDVI and satellite data as proxies for photosynthesis, and broadening the scope of biomes examined for their SIF. Furthermore, it highlights the need for further investigation of aerosol impact on the trajectory and amount of sunlight that reaches certain plants.
Ryleigh Czajkowski
Validating the Performance of CMAQ in Simulating the Vertical Distribution of Trace Gases
Ryleigh Czajkowski, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Air quality modeling simulates atmospheric processes and air pollutant transport to better understand gas-and particle-phase interactions in the atmosphere. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model couples meteorological, emission, and chemical transport predictions to simulate air pollution from local to hemispheric scales. CMAQ provides scientists and regulatory agencies with important assistance in air quality management, policy enactment, atmospheric research, and creating public health advisories. Recently, a new update to CMAQ (v5.4) was released, utilizing new chemistry mechanisms and incorporating a new atmospheric chemistry model. This study evaluates the performance of the latest model update by analyzing multiple time series of vertical distributions of formaldehyde (CH2O) and methane (CH4) in the Los Angeles Basin and Central Valley regions of California. It compares data from aloft measurements taken during NASA SARP 2017 flights with model predictions to evaluate accuracy. Our study analyzes CMAQ’s capabilities in capturing the vertical dispersion of CH2O and CH4 in different regions, offering insights into the effectiveness of CMAQ for air quality management and the analysis of trace and greenhouse gas dynamics. Using NASA airborne data, this research utilizes a diversified data set to validate the model, providing a more comprehensive evaluation of its capabilities, and thus providing valuable insight into future developments of CMAQ.
Alison Thieberg
Estimating Aerosol Optical Properties Using Mie Theory and Analyzing Their Impact on Radiative Forcing in California
Alison Thieberg, Emory University
Anthropogenic aerosols, unlike greenhouse gasses, provide a net cooling effect to the Earth’s surface. Particles suspended in the atmosphere have the ability to scatter incoming solar radiation, preventing that radiation from heating up the surface. These aerosols like black carbon, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, and organics are byproducts of both natural and anthropogenic activities. Measuring radiative forcing as a result of these aerosols over time can provide insight on how anthropogenic industries are altering our Earth’s temperature. This study analyzes the changes in radiative forcing from aerosols in central and southern California using data collected from NASA SARP flights from 2016-2024. Aerosol size, composition, and single scattering albedo were used to estimate the aerosol characteristics and to calculate the aerosols’ radiative forcing efficiency. Our results show that aerosols are found to have less of a cooling effect over time when looking at the change in radiative forcing in California from 2016 to 2024. When narrowing in on specific geographic regions, we observe the same trends in the Central Valley with the area becoming warmer as a result of aerosols. However, more southern regions like Los Angeles and the Inland Empire have become cooler from aerosols during this time period. The overall decrease in the cooling effect of California’s aerosols could indicate that the average size of particulates is changing or that the aerosol composition could be shifting to a greater concentration of absorbing aerosols rather than scattering aerosols. This study shows how aerosols influence radiative forcing and their subsequent impacts across regions in California from multiple years.
Click here watch the Terrestrial Ecology Group presentations.
Click here watch the Ocean Group presentations.
Click here watch the Whole Air Sampling (WAS) Group presentations.
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Last Updated Sep 25, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
4 Min Read Eclipses Create Atmospheric Gravity Waves, NASA Student Teams Confirm
In this photo taken from the International Space Station, the Moon passes in front of the Sun casting its shadow, or umbra, and darkening a portion of the Earth's surface above Texas during the annular solar eclipse Oct. 14, 2023. Credits: NASA Student teams from three U.S. universities became the first to measure what scientists have long predicted: eclipses can generate ripples in Earth’s atmosphere called atmospheric gravity waves. The waves’ telltale signature emerged in data captured during the North American annular solar eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023, as part of the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP) sponsored by NASA.
Through NEBP, high school and university student teams were stationed along the eclipse path through multiple U.S. states, where they released weather balloons carrying instrument packages designed to conduct engineering studies or atmospheric science. A cluster of science teams located in New Mexico collected the data definitively linking the eclipse to the formation of atmospheric gravity waves, a finding that could lead to improved weather forecasting.
“Climate models are complicated, and they make some assumptions about what atmospheric factors to take into account.”
Angela Des Jardins
Director of the Montana Space Grant Consortium, which led NEBP.
“Understanding how the atmosphere reacts in the special case of eclipses helps us better understand the atmosphere, which in turn helps us make more accurate weather predictions and, ultimately, better understand climate change.”
Catching Waves in New Mexico
Previous ballooning teams also had hunted atmospheric gravity waves during earlier eclipses, research that was supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation. In 2019, an NEBP team stationed in Chile collected promising data, but hourly balloon releases didn’t provide quite enough detail. Attempts to repeat the experiment in 2020 were foiled by COVID-19 travel restrictions in Argentina and a heavy rainstorm that impeded data collection in Chile.
Project leaders factored in these lessons learned when planning for 2023, scheduling balloon releases every 15 minutes and carefully weighing locations with the best potential for success.
“New Mexico looked especially promising,” said Jie Gong, a researcher in the NASA Climate and Radiation Lab at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and co-investigator of the research on atmospheric gravity waves. “The majority of atmospheric gravity sources are convection, weather systems, and mountains. We wanted to eliminate all those possible sources.”
The project created a New Mexico “supersite” in the town of Moriarty where four atmospheric science teams were clustered: two from Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire, and one each from the State University of New York (SUNY) Albany and SUNY Oswego.
Students began launching balloons at 10 a.m. the day before the eclipse.
“They worked in shifts through the day and night, and then everyone was on site for the eclipse,” said Eric Kelsey, research associate professor at Plymouth State and the NEBP northeast regional lead.
“Our hard work really paid off. The students had a real sense of accomplishment.”
Eric Kelsey
Research Associate Professor at Plymouth State and the NEBP Northeast Regional Lead.
Each balloon released by the science teams carried a radiosonde, an instrument package that measured temperature, location, humidity, wind direction, and wind speed during every second of its climb through the atmosphere. Radiosondes transmitted this stream of raw data to the team on the ground. Students uploaded the data to a shared server, where Gong and two graduate students spent months processing and analyzing it.
Confirmation that the eclipse had generated atmospheric gravity waves in the skies above New Mexico came in spring 2024.
“We put all the data together according to time, and when we plotted that time series, I could already see the stripes in the signal,” Gong said. “I bombarded everybody’s email. We were quite excited.”
Plymouth State University students Sarah Brigandi, left, and Sammantha Boulay release a weather balloon from Moriarty, New Mexico, to collect atmospheric data on Oct. 14, 2023.NASA For Students, Learning Curves Bring Opportunity
The program offered many students their first experience in collecting data. But the benefits go beyond technical and scientific skill.
“The students learned a ton through practicing launching weather balloons,” Kelsey said. “It was a huge learning curve. They had to work together to figure out all the logistics and troubleshoot. It’s good practice of teamwork skills.”
“All of this is technically complicated,” Des Jardins said. “While the focus now is on the science result, the most important part is that it was students who made this happen.”
NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Science Activation program funds NEBP, along with contributions from the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Project and support from NASA’s Balloon Program Office.
Learn More:
Montana State-led ballooning project confirms hypothesis about eclipse effects on atmosphere
Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project
NASA Selects Student Teams for High-Flying Balloon Science
NASA Science Activation
NASA Space Grant
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By European Space Agency
Launched in May, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite has been making waves, with the first images from three of its scientific instruments already delivered. Now, the spotlight is firmly on the atmospheric lidar, the most advanced of the satellite’s four instruments.
This cutting-edge sensor has captured detailed 20 km-high vertical profiles of atmospheric aerosols – tiny particles and droplets from natural sources like wildfires, dust, and sea spray, and from human activities like industrial emissions or burning of wood – and clouds across various regions of the globe.
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By NASA
“I was born and raised in Kenya and come from a very humble background. I’m one of nine kids and the third born, meaning that I started responsibilities very early because we had to help our mother. Almost every two to three years, she had a baby, so you can imagine she was a very, very strong woman and powerful, too. When I think about that past, she is the person, and my father as well, who taught us that we can overcome any obstacle. It doesn’t matter what it is.
“I remember going to school without fees, and they would send me home. One time, when I was complaining about being sent home because of my lack of school fees, [my mother] could see I was affected by all this. She told me, ‘Those kids you see out there that look like they come from higher, well-off families came to this world the same way you came. So, you are no different than them. Don’t look at the material wealth and think you are less than them.’
“That’s the background that shaped me. It instilled a sense of believing in yourself. Anyone you see on the streets, their color or background doesn’t matter; we all come into this world the same way. You’re equipped with skills, so find your passion and go for it.
“When I look at that background, it’s the one that has helped me come this far.”
– Dr. Charles Gatebe, Chief of Atmospheric Science Branch, NASA’s Ames Research Center
Image Credit: NASA / Brandon Torres
Interviewer: NASA / Tahira Allen
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