The Spring 2001 ACE-Asia intensive field study concluded this week with the international, interagency team of scientists extremely pleased with the sampling opportunities. ACE-Asia was the fourth in a series of
experiments, organized under the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Program, designed to quantify the spatial and vertical distribution of aerosol properties and their column integrated clear-skyradiative effect. The ACE-Asia intensive field study in March/April 2001 off the coasts of S. Korea, China, and Japan, involved coordinated
measurements aboard NOAA SHIP Ronald H. Brown, three aircraft (US NSF C-130, US Navy Twin Otter, and Australian ARA King Air), four satellites (Terra, SeaWiFS, AVHRR 14 & 16), and numerous ground stations by investigators from many countries. One regional and three global chemical transport/climate models were run in forecast mode at the
operations center in Iwakuni, Japan to help direct the daily
operations.
During the experiment researchers sampled two major dust storms that swept across China. Both storms were later observed over North America. With the dust came aerosols of industrial and combustion origin, evident from the high concentrations of sulfate, organic and elemental carbon. This was the first ACE that sampled a dust/pollutant aerosol mixture. The data set will be extremely valuable in determining the effect of the Asian aerosol on the Earth’s climate system