Atmospheric chemistry observational databases: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:32, 29 June 2008

Revision as of 06:49, 23 May 2009

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Over the last two centuries many '''atmospheric chemical observations''' have been made from a variety of ground-based, [[aircraft| airborne]], and [[Orbital spaceflight | orbital]] platforms and deposited in [[databases]]. Many of these [[databases]] are publicly available. All of the instruments mentioned in this article give online public access to their data. These observations are critical in developing our understanding of the [[Earth's atmosphere]] and issues such as [[climate change]], [[ozone depletion]] and [[air quality]]. Some of the external links provide repositories of many of these datasets in one place. For example, the Cambridge Atmospheric Chemical Database, is a large [[database]] in a uniform [[ASCII]] format. Each observation is augmented with the meteorological conditions such as the [[temperature]], [[potential temperature]], [[geopotential height]], and equivalent [[Potential vorticity | PV]] latitude.

== Constituent observations ==

== Ground-based and balloon observations ==

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* '''[[Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite]]''' (UARS) observations. Data from the UARS is available from the [http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/ GES Distributed Active Archive Center] (DAAC). The UARS satellite was launched in 1991 by the Space Shuttle Discovery. It is {{convert|35|ft|m}} long, {{convert|15|ft|m}} in diameter, weighs 13,000 pounds, and carries 10 instruments. UARS orbits at an altitude of {{convert|375|mi|km}} with an orbital inclination of 57 degrees. UARS measured ozone and chemical compounds found in the ozone layer which affect ozone chemistry and processes. UARS also measured winds and temperatures in the stratosphere as well as the energy input from the Sun. Together, these helped define the role of the upper atmosphere in climate and climate variability.

== Related observations ==

* '''Surface [[albedo]]'''. The surface reflectivity is of importance for atmospheric [[photolysis]]. Instruments such as the [http://toms.gsfc.nasa.gov/reflect/reflect.html Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer] (TOMS) and the [http://aura.gsfc.nasa.gov/instruments/omi/index.html Ozone Mapping Instrument] (OMI) provide daily global fields.

== See also ==

* [[Acid rain]]

* [[Atmospheric chemistry]]

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* [[Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion]]

== External links ==

* The [http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/home/index.html British Atmospheric Data Centre.]