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| SEAC4RS | |
|---|---|
| Name | SEAC4RS |
| Mission type | Atmospheric science campaign |
| Operator | NASA |
| Launch | August 2013 |
| Instruments | Airborne in situ and remote sensors |
| Region | Southeast United States, Gulf of Mexico |
| Duration | August–September 2013 |
SEAC4RS SEAC4RS was a NASA airborne campaign conducted in August–September 2013 that brought together researchers, aircraft, and instrumentation to study atmospheric composition and processes over the southeastern United States and adjacent marine regions. The campaign coordinated efforts among multiple institutions to probe interactions among aerosols, ozone, convective systems, and trace gases, linking observations to satellite platforms and modeling centers.
SEAC4RS operated as a field campaign integrating platforms such as the NASA ER-2, NASA DC-8, NASA WB-57, and ground sites including Kennedy Space Center and coastal observatories. The project engaged teams from NASA Langley Research Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Ames Research Center, and partner universities such as University of Maryland, Georgia Institute of Technology, Florida State University, and University of Miami. SEAC4RS served as a complement to satellite missions including Aqua (satellite), Aura (satellite), Suomi NPP, and Terra (satellite), enabling synergy with instruments like MODIS, OMI, MISR, CALIPSO, and CloudSat.
Primary goals included quantifying the distribution and chemistry of ozone precursors, characterizing aerosol optical properties, and evaluating convective transport. The campaign aimed to improve process-level understanding relevant to GEOS-Chem, WRF-Chem, CMAQ, and GMI modeling frameworks, and to support atmospheric chemistry studies connected to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments. SEAC4RS targeted interactions among anthropogenic emissions from urban areas such as Houston, Atlanta, and Miami, biogenic emissions from regions like the Everglades, and wildfire plumes influenced by events in Texas and the Gulf Coast.
SEAC4RS deployed a suite of in situ and remote instruments for trace gas, aerosol, and cloud measurements, coordinated with satellite overpasses of Aura (satellite), Suomi NPP, and Terra (satellite). Onboard instrumentation included cavity ring-down spectrometers comparable to those used by NOAA ESRL, mass spectrometers similar to products of Aerodyne Research, Inc., nephelometers and aethalometers as used in studies at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and cloud probes analogous to equipment from NCAR. Lidar systems aboard aircraft paralleled capabilities of CALIPSO and ground-based networks like ARM (Atmospheric Radiation Measurement) sites. Coordination included modeling support from NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, satellite validation teams from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and data assimilation efforts linked to European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
Flights originated from bases including NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and operations were coordinated with regional centers such as NOAA Air Resources Laboratory and state agencies. Campaign sorties sampled outflow from convective anvils, boundary-layer urban plumes, and marine stratocumulus, with target missions planned using forecasts from GFS, ECMWF, and model outputs from WRF. Data streams included airborne aerosol size distributions, volatile organic compound (VOC) speciation measured by instruments like proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometers similar to those deployed by MIT, and reactive nitrogen species monitored by instrumentation analogous to that developed at Pennsylvania State University. Ground-based contributions included ozonesonde launches coordinated with World Meteorological Organization protocols and flux measurements from tower networks connected to NOAA and university sites.
SEAC4RS produced results on ozone production sensitivity, aerosol radiative effects, and convective transport of precursors to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Publications authored by teams at NASA Langley Research Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, University of Colorado Boulder, California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Washington, and Cornell University addressed topics ranging from secondary organic aerosol formation to lightning-produced NOx impacts on ozone. Findings compared airborne observations with retrievals from OMI, MODIS, MISR, and lidar profiles from CALIPSO. Selected results informed policy-relevant assessments by groups such as the EPA and contributed to model improvements in GEOS-Chem and WRF-Chem. Major peer-reviewed reports appeared in journals including Journal of Geophysical Research, Geophysical Research Letters, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Nature Geoscience, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
SEAC4RS archived datasets, including calibrated flight-level measurements, level-2 products for trace gases and aerosols, and merged model/measurement comparisons, are maintained in NASA data repositories and distributed through nodes like NASA Earthdata and Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center. Legacy products support satellite validation for missions such as Aura (satellite) and Suomi NPP and underpin model evaluation by groups at NOAA ESRL, NCAR, and international partners including Met Office and Max Planck Institute for Chemistry. Long-term impacts extend to programs like SAGE follow-on studies and regional air quality assessments coordinated with State of Florida and Gulf Coast research consortia.
Category:NASA field campaigns