SGER: Whole Air Sampling with Advanced Whole Air Sampler (AWAS) during HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observation (HIPPO) Global

University Of Miami, Coral Gables FL

Investigators

Abstract

The investigators will collect whole air samples and measure trace gas composition during the first year of the HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observation (HIPPO) project. The measurements proposed here promise to provide an unprecedented data set of the vertical and latitudinal distributions of a wide range of trace gases that are relevant to atmospheric chemistry and climate. The measurements will include a wide range of anthropogenic and naturally-occurring trace gases with a range of chemical lifetimes and emission source patterns. The measurements during the first year of the HIPPO project will cover the northern hemisphere winter (January) and autumn (Oct/Nov) time periods, when there is maximum contrast in photochemical lifetimes of reactive trace gases between the hemispheres. The trace gas distributions and correlations from these samples (and from the NOAA flask samples) will enhance the interpretation of the major carbon cycle gases by adding insight into source regions and chemical processing of the air masses sampled in the HIPPO transects. Further, the measurement of trace gases from the whole air samplers will add additional and significant constraints to the global chemical transport models that will be used in the HIPPO analyses and will add measurements relevant to understanding changes in air quality in the remote atmosphere. Finally, the proposed research will compare the newly-constructed HAIS Advanced Whole Air Sampler (AWAS) canister modules with NOAA glass flasks for selected halocarbons, CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCs, will enhance the geographic resolution of the HIPPO whole air data set for these gases, and will extend the range of compounds to additional natural and anthropogenic trace gases. The measurement of the suite of trace gases planned here, as a complement to the major carbon cycle gases measured during HIPPO, will add to the understanding of the relationships between greenhouse and carbon cycle gases and other significant trace gases in the atmosphere. These relationships and distributions, for example characterizing the hemispheric distribution of organic bromine compounds, will link ground based measurements as selected sites to the full atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. This link will enhance the development of global atmospheric chemistry models to better predict atmospheric chemical distributions in the future. The project also supports the development of a HAIS instrument as a community resource by direct comparison to NOAA flasks commonly used throughout the NOAA global network. Finally, the HIPPO project, and out proposed measurements, will involve training of students and post-doctoral scientists, and the project will add to the development of graduate and undergraduate courses in atmospheric chemistry and environmental science.