Weather & Climate Science

Ms. Alison RockwellNCAR/Earth Observing Laboratory Education & Outreach Coordinator

Photo by Adam Sobel

What is the Atmosphere?

11 km

500 km

87 km

50 km Troposphere

Stratosphere

Mesosphere

Thermosphere

Exosphere

A Closer Look at the Troposphere & Stratosphere

Troposphere

Stratosphere

FA

AM

BA

e-146

MBL -

6 k

m

Intense solar radiation and warm sea surface temperature in the ;YVWPJHS�>LZ[LYU�7HJPÄJ�WYVK\JL�KLLW�JVU]LJ[P]L�JSV\KZ��

Mid-altitude outflow

Low-altitude inflow & outflow

Designed by Alison Rockwell NCAR/EOL

Troposphere

Lower Stratosphere

Net zero radiative heatingAir

descending

Rising warm air lofts chemical compounds

released by marine organisms

NA

SA

Glo

bal H

aw

k

14 -

19 k

m

Warm tropical ocean waters enhance production of ZOVY[�SP]LK�VYNHUPJ�IYVTPUL�HUK�PVKPUL�JVTWV\UKZ�I`�THYPUL�

VYNHUPZTZ��;OLZL�OHSVJHYIVUZ��OHSVNLU�JVU[HPUPUN�VYNHUPJ�JVTWV\UKZ��HYL�[OLU�YLSLHZLK�PU[V�[OL�H[TVZWOLYL�

)Y6�HUK�*S6�YLHJ[��SLHKPUN�[V�Z[YH[VZWOLYPJ� VaVUL��63) depletion

CONTRAST*65]LJ[P]L�;9HUZWVY[�VM�(J[P]L�:WLJPLZ� PU�[OL�;YVWPJZ

.\HT�!!����1HU\HY`������-LIY\HY`�����

TropopauseAir

ascendingN

SF/N

CA

R H

IAPER

5 -

15 k

m Br I IO

Long-lived bromocarbons

BrO

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:OVY[�SP]LK�IYVTVJHYIVUZ���Z\USPNO[���O`YKV_`S��6/�� IYVTPUL�TVUV_PKL��)Y6��HUK�VY�PVKPUL�TVUV_PKL��06�

Short-lived halocarbons decompose, yielding:

)Y6�HUK�06�YLHJ[�YLTV]PUN�[YVWVZWOLYPJ�VaVUL��63)

High-altitude slow ascent from

outflow

(PY�^P[OPU�JVU]LJ[P]L�JSV\KZ�OHZ�L_[YLTLS`�SV^�VaVUL�� H�\UPX\L�JOLTPJHS�LU]PYVUTLU[�[OH[�^PSS�IL�

Z[\KPLK�PU�KL[HPS�MVY�[OL�MPYZ[�[PTL�

Flying Laboratory

NSF/NCAR HIAPER Research Aircraft

Flying Laboratory

NSF/NCAR HIAPER Research Aircraft

✭Guam

Image courtesy of WikiCommons & the World Ocean Atlas

Why Guam?

Why Guam?

Global Chlorophyl Concentrations

Why are we studying this?

Science Serving Society: Impacts of human activity on atmospheric composition

The People of CONTRAST

The People of CONTRAST

The People of CONTRAST

The People of CONTRAST

The People of CONTRAST

ITCZ: Inter-tropical Convergence Zone rainy region of the tropics

SouthernHemisphere

Northern Hemisphere

Guahan

15º N

10º N

5º N

Guam

Red & Yellow: Aircraft flight track Note aircraft did return to GuamEQ

ITCZ

Aircraft track flown Sat, 8 Feb (yellow) on top of satellite cloud map

Northern Hemisphere

Carbon Monoxide

Hei

ght (

ft)

Ozone Ozone (O3): Compromises air quality & causes global warming Carbon monoxide (CO): Produced by combustion of fossil fuel & biomass burning

Southern Hemisphere

Ozone Ozone (O3): Compromises air quality & causes global warming Carbon monoxide (CO): Produced by combustion of fossil fuel & biomass burning

Ozone

Hei

ght (

ft)

Carbon Monoxide

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?Any Questions?