HUNTSVILLE OZONESONDE STATION

CAMPAIGNS

IONS06 Campaign

In 2004 the INTEX Ozonesonde Network Study provided a consistent network of vertical ozone profiles from the troposphere and stratosphere with higher vertical resolution than aircraft and satellites could provide. Eleven stations, including Huntsville, participated in the coordinated launches between 1 July - 15 August ussing ECC ozonesondes across the board (Thompson et al., in press 2007a). A similiar campaign was launched in 2006 (IONS06) coordinating twenty-two ozonesonde stations, one of which was right here in Huntsville. The data collected between 1 August - 15 September 2006 has been made available on the IONS06 homepage. Currently, Rochelle Williams is working with the available data in order to identify a high in tropospheric ozone over the southeastern United States. She will be using trajectory analysis to determine the origin of this high in ozone with lightning generated NOx being the primary suspect.

IONS06 HOMEPAGE

AIRS Campaign at Chesapeake Lighthouse

In June 2003, Jing Song and Mike Newchurch went to the Chesapeake Lighthouse to join Wallace McMillan/UMBC, Kurt Lightner/UMBC, Kevin McCann/UMBC, Michele McCourt/UMBC, Eric Hintsa/Woods Hole, and Amanda Roberts/Woods Hole for an AIRS validation campaign. Song and Newchurch flew ozonesondes to measure ozone/temperature/humidity; McCourt, McMillan, and Lighter flew radiosondes to measure temperature and humidity; McMillan, Lighter and McCourt made FTIR measurements with the BBAERI; McCann measured aerosol backscatter with the 532-micron ELF lidar; and Hintsa and Roberts measured surface ozone for an ocean surface instrument development program. Lightner and McMillan are also measuring insitu surface O3 and CO and take all-sky images.

Kurt Lighter devised a very effective system for shielding the balloon during inflation using a parachute attached to the helicopter landing pad. This system allowed the first successful daytime and nighttime ozonesonde launches from the Chesapeake Lighthouse on 2 and 3 June 2003.

AIRS CAMPAIGN PHOTOS

SOS Campaign (1999)

The Southern Oxidants Study (SOS) is a strategic alliance of research scientists, engineers, and air quality managers from universities, federal and state governments, industry, and public interest groups. In SOS, these groups work to design and execute scientific research and assessment programs that will increase understanding of the accumulation of ozone, other oxidants, and fine particulate matter in the atmosphere near the ground. SOS was formed in June 1988 when a group of 60 concerned scientists, federal and state agency officials, and key industry representatives gathered at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. The group considered the question of why ozone abatement measures had been largely unsuccessful, particularly in the South. To read more about the program, please see the SOS homepage.

The Southern Oxidants Study, Nashville 99 campaign ran from June 14th through July 16th 1999.   The group was located at the Nashville Old Hickory Weather Service Office in Tennessee. The Huntsville Ozonesonde Station's role in the Southern Oxidants Study in Nashville was to launch daily ozonesondes throughout the duration of the 99 campaign.

SOS HOMEPAGE