Abstract:
An aircraft campaign was conducted from 21 September through 24
October 1992 as the NASA Global Tropospheric Experiment - Transport
and Atmospheric Chemistry near the Equator-Atlantic (GTE/TRACE-A) to
understand processes in the tropical atmosphere controlling
atmospheric chemical composition and aerosols, in particular
convective transports (see special 30 October 1996 issue of Journal of
... Geophysical Research - Atmospheres). Fourteen aircraft flights (NASA
DC-8 and Brazilian aircraft, including cooperation with an African
experiment conducted by European investigators: Southern African
Fire-Atmosphere Research Initiative) covered areas of biomass burning,
convective and continental outflow regions, and areas of large-scale
subsidence over and between tropical South America and
Africa. Aircraft measurements were supported by enhanced surface and
upper air meteorological observations, a special ozone-sonde network,
and satellite observations. The experimental region extends from 40S-0
latitude a nd from 40E-70W longitude. (Fishman et al., 1996, JGR 101,
23865-23879; Pickering et al., 1996, JGR 101, 23993-24012; Thompson et
al., 1996, JGR 101, 24251-24278). This case study presents data from 21 Sep
1992 to 24 Oct 1992 and covers a region from 40S to 10N latitude and from 80W to 20W longitude.
The data for this experiment is under Working Group 4 (Precipitating
Convective Cloud Systems) of the GEWEX Cloud System Study (GCSS) is to
improve the parameterization of precipitating convective cloud systems
in global climate models (GCMs) and numerical weather prediction
models through an improved physical understanding of cloud system
processes. See: http://www.met.utah.edu/skrueger/gcss/wg4.html