PMEL-JISAO Atmospheric Chemistry Field Projects
Shiptrack figure with different meteorological regions
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ACE-1 (1995)
The Southern Hemisphere Marine Aerosol Characterization Experiment
(ACE-1) was the first of a series of IGAC experiments designed
to quantify the chemical, physical, and meteorological processes
controlling the evolution and properties of the atmospheric aerosol
relevant to radiative forcing and climate. The PMEL-JISAO Atmospheric
Chemistry Group conducted gas and aerosol measurements aboard
the NOAA ship Discoverer from Seattle (11 October 1995) to Hobart
(10 November 1995) and during the ACE-1 intensive south and west
of Tasmania (15 November - 14 December, 1995).
Intensive cruise track on SST figure
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This was the first field project of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Program's Marine Aerosol and Gas Exchange project (IGAC-MAGE). The experiment was planned to coordinate with the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) in order to complement their oceanographic program with trace gas and atmospheric chemistry measurements. The specific goals of the IGAC/MAGE 1992 equatorial field program were to:
The PMEL-JISAO Atmospheric Chemistry Group led the R/V Vickers cruise. The ship departed Los Angeles, California on 21 February, conducted a 6 day time series station at 12S, 135W, stopped in the Marquesas on 11 March and returned to Los Angeles on 25 March 1992. (cruise track figure)
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The Pacific Sulfur-Stratus Investigation (PSI) was an interdisciplinary program utilizing ship, aircraft, satellite, and shore-based measurements, to describe the biological, chemical, and physical oceanography; atmospheric gas phase, condensed phase and cloud water chemistry; aerosol size distribution, cloud condensation nuclei population, cloud microphysics, cloud albedo, and meteorology. The goals of these experiments were to measure the concentration of the major sulfur species in both the surface ocean and as a function of altitude above the ocean, to begin quantifying the processes controlling these concentrations, and to develop an understanding of the relationships between the measured parameters. A major goal of PSI-3 was to study the cycling of sulfur in the upper water column.
There were three PSI field experiments (30 May to 10 June 1989, 2 to 27 April 1990, and 15 April to 1 May 1991) conducted along the coast of Washington State.
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The primary goal of the third joint Soviet-American Gases and Aerosols (SAGA 3) experiment was to study trace gases and aerosols in the remote marine boundary layer. SAGA 3/leg 1 took place from February 13 to March 13, 1990, aboard the former Soviet R/V Akademik Korolev and consisted of five equatorial transects (designated transects 1 through 5) between 15°N and 10°S on a cruise track from Hilo, Hawaii, to Pago-Pago, American Samoa. Specific objectives were to study (1) the oceanic distribution and air-sea exchange of biogenic trace gases; (2) photochemical cycles of C-, S-, and N-containing gases in the marine boundary layer; (3) the distribution of aerosol particles in the marine boundary layer and their physical and chemical properties; (4) interhemispheric gradients and latitudinal mixing of trace gases and aerosols; and (5) stratospheric aerosol layers. Results have been published in a special section of the Journal of Geophysical Research, volume 98, pages 16893-16997, 1993
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cruise track
