The Aerosol Monitoring Project: Student/Teacher/Scientist Atmospheric Science for the 21st Century

Drexel University, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

In response to an Announcement of Opportunity for the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment Program (GLOBE) this project is designed to meet GLOBE goals and objectives of linking scientists and schoolchildren in a global information network with the ultimate goal of better understanding Earth's environment and changes that take place within it. This proposal will continue to support existing protocols, and conduct scientific research with GLOBE data. The project will continue to support the protocol for the measurement of Atmospheric Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT), which is based on an inexpensive hand-held sun photometer, and/or sky-color cards. Measurements of AOT will introduce students to the connections between air pollution, natural events such as dust storms and forest fires, variations in surface insolation, and incidences of asthma. More advanced students can use the data in studies of Beer's law for radiative transfer. These measurements will enhance data from extremely sparse networks of ground-based AOT observations. Reducing the uncertainties in the global radiative transfer effects of the aerosols s currently one of the highest scientific priorities of the climate studies community. Local and global environmental conditions are affected by the presence of atmospheric haze layers. Visibility is a major parameter in environmental quality in its own right and haze layers affect the surface radiative transfer balance of Earth as well as influencing optical remote sensing measurements which are a major source on information for study of global environmental change. In addition, presence of high amounts of aerosols is thought to aggravate certain bronchial conditions, such as asthma. Students will be contributing quantitative measurements to the study of haze layers.