Each summer, the North American Monsoon Anticyclone (NAMA) dominates the circulation of the Northwestern Hemisphere and acts to partially confine and isolate air from the surrounding atmosphere. Strong convective storms in the NAMA regularly reach altitudes into the lower stratosphere, with some ascending above 20 km. These storms carry water and pollutants from the troposphere into the otherwise very dry stratosphere, where they can have a significant impact on radiative and chemical processes, potentially including destruction of stratospheric ozone.
The Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere (DCOTSS) field campaign was a NASA Earth Venture Suborbital research project aimed at investigating these thunderstorms. The DCOTSS team used NASA’s ER-2 aircraft and conducted two 8-week science deployments spanning early to late summer and based out of Salina, Kansas.
For DCOTSS, the ER-2 was equipped with 12 proven instruments that could make in situ measurements of trace gases, aerosols, reactive species, and meteorological parameters in the study area. The Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) network was paired with operational modeling, and NASA and NOAA Earth-observing satellites were used to collect remote sensing measurements to study the interaction between the storms and the stratosphere.
This campaign advanced the understanding of changes in Earth’s radiative balance, air quality, and the ozone layer caused by changes in atmospheric composition. DCOTSS also improved scientists' ability to predict weather and extreme weather events. Results from DCOTSS will be used to determine what dynamical mechanisms lead to irreversible stratospheric injections of air in the NAMA due to convection, and how the air is exported to the global stratosphere.
Learn more from the DCOTSS Project Page.
Access the 2021 DCOTSS Photos and Videos and 2022 DCOTSS Photos and Videos at NASA's Airborne Science Program (ASP).
