ARCTAS Blogging
Updates from the Arctic
ARCTAS researchers are keeping the rest of us up-to-date on their progress in a blog hosted by Discovery.com. For previous blogs, click this link. For the new blog, click the link below.
NASA and IPY
Top Story
Forest Fire Smoke Plumes Probed
An instrument from the National Center for Atmospheric Research collects data from a smoke plume generated by a forest fire over Canada on July 1, 2008. Credit: NASA
> Larger image In a nondescript room on a Canadian Air Force Base, an international team of fire trackers, weather forecasters and various atmospheric scientists puzzle over computer models, satellite tracks and flight charts. Their goal is to find the best fire targets and tailor the flight path of NASA’s airborne laboratories to track and investigate the properties of smoke plumes.
The researchers are part of the summer deployment of NASA’s Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites, or ARCTAS, mission. The mission is just five days into its summer study of the smoke plumes from northern latitude forest fires, and already the choreographed effort between modelers and experimenters is producing a wealth of new data.
> Read more
An instrument from the National Center for Atmospheric Research collects data from a smoke plume generated by a forest fire over Canada on July 1, 2008. Credit: NASA> Larger image In a nondescript room on a Canadian Air Force Base, an international team of fire trackers, weather forecasters and various atmospheric scientists puzzle over computer models, satellite tracks and flight charts. Their goal is to find the best fire targets and tailor the flight path of NASA’s airborne laboratories to track and investigate the properties of smoke plumes.
The researchers are part of the summer deployment of NASA’s Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites, or ARCTAS, mission. The mission is just five days into its summer study of the smoke plumes from northern latitude forest fires, and already the choreographed effort between modelers and experimenters is producing a wealth of new data.
> Read more
News and Features
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Forest Fire Smoke Plumes Probed
An international team of fire trackers, weather forecasters and various atmospheric scientists puzzle over computer models, satellite tracks and flight charts to determine how fires age.
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ARCTAS Mission Status Update, July 3, 2008
While most citizens of the United States are celebrating the nation's independence during the July 4th weekend, more than 100 scientists, flight crew and mission support personnel from NASA and a variety of universities and government research agencies are working in northern Canada, gathering data in the second phase of the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites – or ARCTAS – field campaign.
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NASA Aircraft Examine Impact of Forest Fires on Arctic Climate
NASA aircraft will follow the trails of smoke plumes from some of Earth's northernmost forest fires, examining their contribution to arctic pollution.
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NASA Web Tool Enhances Airborne Earth Science Mission
NASA is taking flight over the Arctic to uncover how pollution and wildfires may affect its atmosphere and sea ice.
About ARCTAS
ARCTAS: Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites
The Arctic is undergoing significant environmental changes related to global climate change. Now, NASA is extensively studying the role of air pollution in this climate-sensitive region as part of the ARCTAS field campaign, the largest airborne experiment ever to do so.
Multimedia Gallery
Notes From the Field
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An International Flare for Modeling
08.07.08 - Atmospheric scientist Bhupesh Adhikary watches his 3-D atmospheric models in action from aboard the ARCTAS mission's airborne science laboratory.
Media Resources
> ARCTAS Fast Facts
> NASA's ARCTAS project site
Aircraft Fact Sheets
> DC-8
> B200 King Air
> P-3B
Satellite Web Sites
> Aura
> CALIPSO