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atmospheric tomography data over the eastern hemisphere
aerosol concentration data
ATOM flight path

ATom

Atmospheric Tomography Mission

The Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) was a NASA Earth Venture Suborbital-2 mission to study the impact of human-produced air pollution on greenhouse gases and on chemically reactive gases in the atmosphere. ATom deployed an extensive gas and aerosol payload on the NASA DC-8 aircraft for systematic, global-scale sampling of the atmosphere, profiling continuously from 0.2 to 12 km altitude. Around-the-world flights were conducted in each of four seasons between 2016 and 2018.

Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) Graphic Identifier.
Study DatesJuly 29, 2016 to May 21, 2018
Season of StudyYear round
RegionWestern Arctic, South Pacific, Atlantic Ocean, Greenland, Central North America
Spatial Bounds

N: 80°N

S: 80°S

W: 180°W

E: 180°E

Focus Areas

Atmospheric composition

Carbon cycle and ecosystems

Climate variability and change

Geophysical Concepts

Aerosols

Atmospheric chemicals and trace gases

Scientific Topics

Human-produced air pollution

Methane

Ozone

Air quality

Atmospheric chemistry

Tier 1

  • What are chemical processes that control the short-lived climate forcing agents methane (CH4), ozone (O3), and black carbon (BC) in the atmosphere? How is the chemical reactivity of the atmosphere on a global scale affected by anthropogenic emissions? How can we improve chemistry-climate modeling of these processes?

Tier 2

  • Over large, remote regions, what are the distributions of BC and other aerosols important as short-lived climate forcers? What are the sources of new particles? How rapidly do aerosols grow to CCN-active sizes? How well are these processes represented in models?
  • What type of variability and spatial gradients occur over remote ocean regions for greenhouse gases (GHGs) and ozone depleting substances (ODSs)? How do the variations among air parcels help identify anthropogenic influences on photochemical reactivity, validate satellite data for these gases, and refine knowledge of sources and sinks?

NASA DC-8 flight operations were provided by NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, CA. The University of North Dakota National Suborbital Education and Research Center provided science mission operations, including payload integration engineering, data display and satcom systems and support, and education and outreach.

The DC-8 is a four-engine jet aircraft with a range in excess of 5,000 nmi (9,200 km), a ceiling of 41,000 feet (12,500 m), and an experiment payload of 30,000 lb (13,600 kg). Utilization is planned to be 350 to 500 flight hours per year.

PlatformInstrument(s)
Douglas DC-8

Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (NOAA-CIMS)

Laser Aerosol Spectrometer (LAS)

CU Aircraft High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-AMS)

Georgia Institute of Technology Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (GT-CIMS)

Trace Organic Gas Analyzer (TOGA)

Programmable Flask Package Whole Air Sampler (PFP)

Picarro Gas Analyzer

Quantum Cascade Laser System (QCLS)

Cloud Aerosol and Precipitation Spectrometer (CAPS)

Soluble Acidic Gases and Aerosols (SAGA)

Particle Analysis By Laser Mass Spectrometry (PALMS)

Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2)

Airborne Tropospheric Hydrogen Oxides Sensor (ATHOS)

California Insitute of Technology Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (CIT-CIMS)

Whole Air Sampler (WAS)

PAN and Trace Hydrohalocarbon ExpeRiment (PANTHER)

Aerosol Microphysical Properties (AMP)

NCAR Airborne Oxygen Instrument (AO2)

Nucleation-Mode Aerosol Size Spectrometer (NMASS)

Charged-coupled device (CCD) Actinic Flux Spectroradiometers (CAFS)

Diode Laser Hygrometer (DLH)

In Situ Airborne Formaldehyde (ISAF)

Chemiluminescence Instrument (NOx/NOxy)

Meteorological Measurement System (MMS)

Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) Chromatograph for Atmospheric Trace Species (UCATS)

Spectrometers for Optical Aerosol Properties (SOAP)

Condensation Particle Counter (CPC)

Optical Particle Counter (OPC)

Campaign Balloons

Ozonesonde

NOAA Dual-Beam UV-Absorption Ozone Photometer (NOAA-O3)

Radiosonde

CampaignUploadDeploymentDownload
ATom-1 (Summer 2016)Jun 20 - Jul 27Jul 28 - Aug 22Aug 23 - Aug 26
ATom-2 (Winter 2017)Dec 4 - Jan 27Jan 26 - Feb 22Feb 23 - Feb 25
ATom-3 (Fall 2017)Aug 14 - Sep 27Sep 28 - Oct 26Oct 27 - Oct 30
ATom-4 (Spring 2018)Mar 12 - Apr 23Apr 24 - May 21May 22 - May 25

 


 

  • CAM-Chem (Community Atmosphere Model with Chemistry): Chemical climatology, including reactivities for typical years and time of ATom-1 flights.
  • GEOS-Chem (Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) with Chemistry): Chemical climatology, including reactivities for typical years and time of ATom-1 flights
  • GEOS-5 (Goddard Earth Observing System Model, Version 5): GEOS5 fp meteorological products interpolated to the flight track: winds, vorticity, humidity, temperature, simply specified tracers (CO, SO2, many aerosol types)
  • GFDLAM3 (the atmospheric component of the GFDL coupled model CM3): Chemical climatology, including reactivities for typical years and time of ATom-1 flights
  • GISSE2 (GISS series of coupled atmosphere-ocean model): Chemical climatology, including reactivities for typical years and time of ATom-1 flights
  • GMI (Global Modeling Initiative): GMI full chemistry CTM hindcast: gas-phase chemistry (40 species) along 10-sec merge, interpolated to the flight track
  • GMI4D (Global Modeling Initiative 4D): GMI CTM hindcast with 4D grid bounding flight path: gas-phase chemistry (40 species) at: ¼ hr, 1° latitude, 1.25° longitude, standard model levels
  • GMICTM (GMI chemistry and transport model): Chemical climatology, including reactivities for typical years and time of ATom-1 flights
  • UCICTM (UCI chemical transport model): Chemical climatology, including reactivities for typical years and time of ATom-1 flights
  • WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting): 3D back trajectories for ATom parcels along flight path; Convective influence for ATom parcels along flight path; Boundary Layer influence for ATom parcels along flight path; Convective and Boundary Layer influences for ATom parcels along flight path

The following resources provide additional information about the ATom campaign.