The first implementation of one of the most ambitious studies of the Earth's atmosphere NASA will start around July and August. The mission, called tomography Atmosféric to, will be held on board laboratory mounted on a DC-8 from the agency on a trip that will last 26 days from the North Pole to the Pacific Ocean in New Zealand and then in tip of South America, through the Atlantic and Arctic Ocean.
The mission in the air will complement the efforts based on current NASA satellites to monitor and understand the main gases of the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and ozone. In addition to validating space observations, the mission Atmospheric Tomography , will increase the range with finely detailed measurements of atmospheric chemistry that are difficult or impossible to do with a satellite.
"The best way to study the atmosphere is to fly through it and measure the maximum we could," said Dave Jordan, Project Manager at Ames Flight Research Center of NASA.
The mission will measure over 200 gases and particles suspended in the atmosphere over the oceans. The science team is trying to understand how greenhouse gases, such as methane, ozone and airborne particles are removed from the atmosphere. This will define the processes essential for understanding the Earth's climate today and in the future.
A DC-8 aircraft NASA will be loaded with 20 scientific instruments to measure the atmosphere on your trip around the world. The DC-8, which is the size of a commercial aircraft of medium size, will make a series of descents and gentle ascents in order to capture the warm, moist air that is about 500 feet above the ocean surface, and cooler, dry air at its maximum height of 35,000 feet (10,670 meters).
NASA wants to understand how the gases alter the atmosphere's behavior in different regions, so that it is possible to estimate the most hazardous locations and those who are barely affected by methane and CO2, is the distance from city centers or drafts. Analyze each altitude also makes room for how polluted air behaves according to the rarefied air.
Of primary interest are methane and tropospheric ozone, two greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere for weeks or decades - much less time than the carbon dioxide. However, it is expected that the effects of methane pollution in the short term and the formation of ozone can change the climate in coming decades. Second NASA, pollution caused by methane is more dangerous and harmful to the atmosphere that caused by CO2.
