From MAILER-DAEMON Tue Sep 25 13:12:27 2001 Date: 25 Sep 2001 13:12:27 -0400 From: Mail System Internal Data Subject: DON'T DELETE THIS MESSAGE -- FOLDER INTERNAL DATA X-IMAP: 1001437947 0000000000 Status: RO This text is part of the internal format of your mail folder, and is not a real message. It is created automatically by the mail system software. If deleted, important folder data will be lost, and it will be re-created with the data reset to initial values. From scw@io.harvard.edu Tue Sep 25 12:36:45 2001 -0400 Status: R X-Status: A X-Keywords: Received: from localhost (djj@localhost) by io.harvard.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id MAA07912 for ; Tue, 25 Sep 2001 12:36:45 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 12:36:45 -0400 From: Daniel Jacob To: Steve Wofsy Subject: INTEX text for NACP document Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Hi - here's a 1-2 pager I just wrote on INTEX for the NACP document. It really is my own spin on what INTEX should be - I think (of course!) that it's much better than what's in the rather dreadful existing white paper. I'll need to clear it with the other INTEX folks, and I'll do that now, but I wanted to get it to you so that you have a placeholder (and if you're in a major hurry to finalize the NACP document, go ahead and use it). With a few pushes like this I hope to bring the proper vision into INTEX! I'll be back with a revised version after I get the feedback from the INTEX folks. Daniel ********************** INTEX-NA: Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment- North America INTEX-NA is a NASA Global Tropospheric Experiment (GTE) aircraft mission focused on quantifying the sources, sinks, and import/export of environmentally important chemicals on the scale of the continental United States. Chemicals of interest include ozone and its precursors, aerosols and their precursors, and long-lived greenhouse gases. INTEX-NA will use two NASA aircraft, the DC-8 (ceiling 12 km) and the P-3B (ceiling 7 km) operating along the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards as well as over the continental United States. Two deployments are planned, in summer 2004 (Phase A) and spring 2006 (Phase B). Sampling strategies will be guided by information from satellite observations and atmospheric models. Coordination will be sought with NACP and with other experimental programs focused on U.S. air quality (NOAA, DOE), and transatlantic transport (EEC). Validation of Aura satellite observations and scientific application of these observations to address mission objectives will represent an important component of the INTEX-NA activity. INTEX-NA will follow an experimental design in which bottom-up, a priori knowledge of chemical sources and sinks on the scale of the United States can be tested and improved in a top-down manner with atmospheric observations. This design requires an integrated approach where synthesis of the aircraft observations with measurements from other platforms (satellites, sondes, surface sites) and 3-D atmospheric chemistry models is pursued at all stages of mission design, execution, and interpretation. The aircraft flights will be directed at optimal sampling of the continental boundary layer (CBL), of the exchange between the CBL and the free troposphere (FT), and of the synoptic-scale flow across the coastlines and over the neighboring oceans. The aircraft will carry high-performance instrumentation for measuring a wide range of chemical species, building on the capabilities developed for previous GTE missions. These include (1) extensive in situ measurements, (2) eddy correlation flux measurements from the P-3B aircraft, (3) remote sensing (DIAL) measurements of ozone and aerosols aboard the DC-8 aircraft. The optimal sampling strategy to enable top-down analysis will be developed prior to the mission using atmospheric model simulations and prior observational knowledge. It will be implemented during mission execution through the use of 3-D model forecasts and satellite observations, and through coordination with other field programs including NACP. Phase (A) of INTEX-NA will prioritize the eastern U.S. and outflow to the North Atlantic. Phase (B) will emphasize inflow from the Pacific. However, both phases will extend their scope to the continental scale. Sampling with the DC-8 will focus on the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards to characterize continental-scale inflow/outflow, and will include transcontinental transects aimed at quantifying large-scale chemical gradients over the U.S. as well as transport involving Canada and Mexico. Bangor and Seattle are planned as the principal operational bases of the DC-8. The P-3B will focus on regional-scale mapping of surface fluxes and characterization of CBL-FT exchange over the United States. It will be based at interior sites in the U.S.; a site in Wisconsin is presently under consideration. The deployment of the P-3B will be conducted with deliberate intent to maximize opportunities for collaboration with NACP and other field programs towards addressing the INTEX-NA mission objectives. Close coordination between INTEX-NA and NACP is indeed a compelling investment to augment the scientific returns of both programs. A common objective is the characterization of carbon sources and sinks over the U.S. The NACP measurement platforms and biogeochemical modeling resources will be of considerable value for INTEX-NA. The extensive chemical tracer observations together with CO2 and methane available from the INTEX-NA aircraft will offer powerful constraints for carbon sources and sinks. The eddy correlation flux measurements and vertical sounding capabilities of the NASA P-3B aircraft will complement the smaller-scale mapping by the NACP aircraft, while the continental-scale observations from the DC-8 will allow an integrated perspective on carbon budgets. Such fruitful coordination between INTEX-NA and NACP needs to be pursued actively at the mission planning stage to lay the groundwork for successful execution.