Focus Area

Atmospheric Composition

Overview

Atmospheric Composition includes variations in and processes that affect aerosols, clouds, and trace gases, which influence climate, weather, and air quality. AC provides observations and modeling tools to assess the effects of climate change on ozone recovery and future atmospheric composition; improve climate forecasts based on fluctuations in global environmental change; and model past, present, and future air quality, both regionally and globally.

NASA's Atmospheric Composition Homepage

Related Campaigns

Slide 1 of 80

KORUS-OC

Korea-United States Ocean Color Study

2016

South Korea, Yellow Sea, East Sea

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2016-05-20	2016-06-06

· 0 Data Products

ARCTAS

Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites

2008

Alaska, Western Canada, California

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2008-06-26	2008-07-14
2008-03-31	2008-04-21
2008-06-18	2008-06-24

· 27 Data Products

CARVE

Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment

2012—2015

Alaska

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2012-05-23	2012-10-30
2013-02-05	2013-11-25
2015-02-10	2015-11-12
2014-02-13	2014-11-09

· 26 Data Products

NOVICE

Newly-Operating and Validated Instruments Comparison Experiment

2008

Houston, Texas

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2008-09-01	2008-09-15

· 0 Data Products

Start Date	End Date
2017-05-22	2017-06-22

STEP

Stratospheric-Tropospheric Exchange Project

1984—1987

Moffett Field, California; Darwin, Australia

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
1984-04-20	1984-05-06
1987-01-08	1987-02-19

· 0 Data Products

AMISA

Arctic Mechanisms of Interaction Between the Surface and Atmosphere

2008

Arctic: Scandinavia and Greenland

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2008-08-01	2008-09-12

· 0 Data Products

TRACER-AQ

TRacking Aerosol Convection ExpeRiment – Air Quality

2021

Galveston Bay, Gulf of Mexico, Houston metropolitan area

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2021-09-01	2021-09-27

· 5 Data Products

CITE

Global Tropospheric Experiment - Chemical Instrument Test and Evaluation

1983—1989

Wallops Island, Hawaii, Central Pacific, California, Eastern Pacific Ocean, North Atlantic

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
1983-07-05	1983-07-29
1984-04-17	1984-05-09
1989-08-22	1989-09-29
1983-10-19	1983-11-26
1986-08-11	1986-09-05

· 0 Data Products

STAQS

Synergistic TEMPO Air Quality Science

2023

Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, United States, North America

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2023-06-24	2023-08-28

· 10 Data Products

CALIPSO-NVF

Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations Night Validation Flights

2022

North Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2022-08-06	2022-08-19

· 1 Data Product

TRACE

Transport and Atmospheric Chemistry near the Equator

1992—2001

Brazil, Southern Africa, Tropical Atlantic, Central & Western Regions of the Pacific Ocean Basin

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
1992-09-02	1992-10-26
2001-02-24	2001-04-15

· 0 Data Products

SAFARI 2000

Southern African Regional Science Initiative

1999—2001

Southern Africa

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2000-02-01	2000-03-31
2001-03-01	2001-03-31
1999-08-01	1999-09-30
2000-08-01	2000-09-30

· 117 Data Products

SPADE

Stratospheric Photochemistry, Aerosols and Dynamics Expedition

1992—1993

Western United States

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
1992-10-10	1992-11-21
1993-04-15	1993-05-19
1993-10-15	1993-10-26

· 1 Data Product

Start Date	End Date
2013-01-14	2013-02-06

Start Date	End Date
2007-04-16	2007-05-04

FIRE

First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) Regional Experiment

1986—1998

Central and Midwest United States, California Coast, Northwest Africa, Alaska

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
1991-11-13	1991-12-07
1992-06-01	1992-06-25
1998-04-08	1998-07-30
1986-10-13	1986-11-02
1987-06-30	1987-07-19

· 131 Data Products

ACTIVATE

Aerosol Cloud meTerology Interactions oVer the western ATlantic Experiment

2020—2022

Western North Atlantic Ocean

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2020-08-13	2020-09-30
2021-01-27	2021-04-02
2021-05-13	2021-06-30
2020-02-14	2020-03-12
2022-05-03	2022-06-18
2021-11-30	2022-03-29

· 12 Data Products

Start Date	End Date
1998-04-07	1998-05-07

Start Date	End Date
2001-08-08	2001-09-05

CR-AVE

Costa Rica Aura Validation Experiment

2006

Costa Rica

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2006-01-14	2006-02-12

· 0 Data Products

POLARIS

Photochemistry of Ozone Loss in the Arctic Region In Summer

1997

Arctic, Mid-latitudes

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
1997-06-23	1997-07-12
1997-09-02	1997-09-25
1997-04-16	1997-05-15

· 9 Data Products

ASCENDS Airborne

Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons

2010—2017

United States, Canada

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2010-07-06	2010-07-18
2011-07-25	2011-08-06
2013-02-21	2013-03-08
2014-08-13	2014-09-03
2016-02-10	2016-02-11
2017-07-20	2017-08-09

· 5 Data Products

ASHOE

Airborne Southern Hemisphere Ozone Experiment

1994

Moffett Field, California, Christchurch, New Zealand, Hawaii, Fiji

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
1994-03-18	1994-11-04

· 0 Data Products

FireSense

2023—2027

Western United States, California, Montana, Arizona, Utah, Colorado

Ongoing

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2023-09-14	2023-10-31

· 0 Data Products

DEVOTE

Development and Evaluation of satellite ValidatiOn Tools by Experimenters

2011

Eastern and Southeastern United States

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2011-09-19	2011-11-18

· 5 Data Products

ATom

Atmospheric Tomography Mission

2016—2018

Western Arctic, South Pacific, Atlantic Ocean, Greenland, Central North America

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2016-07-29	2016-08-23
2018-04-24	2018-05-21
2017-09-28	2017-10-27
2017-01-26	2017-02-21

· 41 Data Products

Start Date	End Date
2012-03-06	2012-05-15

MACPEX

Mid-latitude Airborne Cirrus Properties Experiment

2011

Central United States

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2011-03-18	2011-04-26

· 7 Data Products

POSIDON

Pacific Oxidants, Sulfur, Ice, Dehydration, and cONvection

2016

Guam, western Pacific

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2016-10-12	2016-10-30

· 0 Data Products

TC4

Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling

2007

Costa Rica, tropical Eastern Pacific

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2007-06-16	2007-08-15

· 1 Data Product

FIREX-AQ

Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality

2019

Northwestern and Southeastern US

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2019-07-15	2019-09-05

· 26 Data Products

AAOE

Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment

1987

Antarctica

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
1987-08-17	1987-10-04

· 1 Data Product

ORACLES

Observations of Aerosols above Clouds and their Interactions

2016—2018

Southeastern Atlantic Ocean, Southern Africa

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2016-08-19	2016-10-27
2017-08-01	2017-09-04
2018-09-21	2018-10-27

· 8 Data Products

ABLE

Global Tropospheric Experiment - Atmospheric Boundary Layer Experiment

1984—1990

Tropical North Atlantic Ocean, Amazon Rainforest, Greenland, Eastern Canada, Alaska

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
1984-06-13	1984-06-30
1985-07-18	1985-08-09
1987-04-13	1987-05-08
1988-07-07	1988-08-17
1990-07-06	1990-08-15

· 0 Data Products

COMEX

CO2 and Methane Experiment

2014—2015

Southern California

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2014-08-18	2014-09-10
2014-05-04	2014-07-05
2015-08-19	2015-08-19

· 4 Data Products

CPEX-AW

Convective Processes Experiment – Aerosols & Winds

2021

St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands; Western Atlantic and Caribbean Sea

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2021-08-20	2021-10-02

· 10 Data Products

TARFOX

Tropospheric Aerosol Radiative Forcing Observational Experiment

1996

Western Atlantic Ocean, US Eastern Seaboard

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
1996-07-07	1996-07-31

· 5 Data Products

VIRGAS

Volcano-plume Investigation Readiness and Gas-phase and Aerosol Sulfur

2015

Houston, Texas

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2015-10-19	2015-10-30

· 2 Data Products

INTEX-NA

Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment - North America

2004—2006

North America, Gulf of Mexico, North Pacific Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2004-07-01	2004-08-15
2006-03-01	2006-05-17

· 21 Data Products

LISTOS

Long Island Sound Tropospheric Ozone Study

2017—2019

New York City metropolitan and Long Island Sound area, Northeastern U.S.

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2018-01-01	2019-07-29
2017-05-17	2017-05-18

· 17 Data Products

Start Date	End Date
2021-05-17	2021-12-15

PAVE

Polar Aura Validation Experiment

2005

Northeastern United States, Eastern Canada

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2005-01-13	2005-02-09

· 0 Data Products

DISCOVER-AQ

Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from COlumn and VERtically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality

2011—2014

Baltimore MD, San Joaquin Valley CA, Houston TX, Denver CO

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2011-06-27	2011-07-31
2013-09-01	2013-10-01
2013-01-14	2013-02-11
2014-07-16	2014-08-16

· 89 Data Products

GloPac

Global Hawk Pacific

2010

Northern Pacific Ocean, Arctic Ocean

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2010-04-02	2010-04-30

· 0 Data Products

SCAR

Smoke/Sulfates, Clouds, and Radiation

1993—1995

Mid-Atlantic, Pacific Northwest, Central Brazil

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
1993-07-12	1993-07-29
1994-09-19	1994-10-07
1995-08-13	1995-09-20

· 6 Data Products

SO GasEx

Southern Ocean Gas Exchange Experiment

2008

Southern Ocean

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2008-02-29	2008-04-12

· 0 Data Products

ACCENT

Atmospheric Chemistry of Combustion Emissions Near the Tropopause

1999—2000

Southern United States

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
1999-09-03	1999-10-08
1999-03-25	1999-04-24
2000-09-01	2000-09-15

· 0 Data Products

ARCSIX

Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction EXperiment

2024

Greenland, Arctic Ocean

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2024-05-24	2024-06-17
2024-07-22	2024-08-16

· 0 Data Products

ARISE

Arctic Radiation - IceBridge Sea and Ice Experiment

2014

Alaska, Beaufort Sea

view all deployment dates

Start Date	End Date
2014-09-01	2014-10-03

· 5 Data Products

DC3

Deep Convective Clouds & Chemistry

2012

Northeastern Colorado, West Texas to Central Oklahoma, Northern Alabama

view all deployment dates

· 19 Data Products

PACE-PAX

Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment

2024

Southern and Central California

view all deployment dates

· 0 Data Products

STRAT

Stratospheric Tracers of Atmospheric Transport

1995—1996

Pacific Ocean, Moffett Field, California, Barbers Point Naval Air Station, Hawaii

view all deployment dates

· 9 Data Products

DCOTSS

Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere

2021—2022

Central United States

view all deployment dates

· 5 Data Products

TOTE-VOTE

Tropical Ozone Transport Experiment – Vortex Ozone Transport Experiment

1995—1996

Pacific Ocean, Hawaii, Alaska, Iceland, Arctic, Arctic Ocean

view all deployment dates

· 10 Data Products

ACCLIP

Asian Summer Monsoon Chemical & Climate Impact Project

2022

West Pacific, South Korea

view all deployment dates

· 8 Data Products

PEM

Pacific Exploratory Mission

1991—1999

Pacific Ocean

view all deployment dates

· 0 Data Products

AEROMMA

Atmospheric Emissions and Reactions Observed from Megacities to Marine Areas

2023

Urban regions across the western and eastern United States

view all deployment dates

· 0 Data Products

ASIA-AQ

Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality

2024

East and Southeast Asia, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand

Ongoing

view all deployment dates

· 0 Data Products

SONEX

Subsonic Assessment (SASS) Ozone and Nitrogen Oxide Experiment

1997

North Atlantic Ocean, Ireland, Newfoundland, Bangor, Maine, Azores

view all deployment dates

· 10 Data Products

SCOAPE

Satellite Coastal and Oceanic Atmospheric Pollution Experiment

2019

Gulf of Mexico

view all deployment dates

· 4 Data Products

AVE

Aura Validation Experiment

2004—2005

Houston, Texas, Southern United States, Gulf of Mexico

view all deployment dates

· 0 Data Products

RADEX

Radar Definition Experiment (RADEX) for ACE Mission

2014—2015

Southeastern United States, North Carolina (NC); Olympic Peninsula, Washington (WA) State

view all deployment dates

· 30 Data Products

CC-VEx

The CALIPSO-CloudSat Validation Experiment

2006

Eastern United States, Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico

view all deployment dates

· 0 Data Products

SARP

Student Airborne Research Program

2009—2030

Southern California, Virginia

Ongoing

view all deployment dates

Deployment Dates

Start Date	End Date
2009-07-12	2009-08-13
2010-06-20	2010-07-30
2011-06-19	2011-07-29
2012-06-17	2012-08-10
2013-06-09	2013-08-02
2014-06-15	2014-08-08
2015-06-14	2015-08-07
2016-06-12	2016-08-05
2017-06-18	2017-08-11
2018-06-18	2018-08-10
2019-06-16	2019-08-09
2021-12-03	2021-12-10
2022-06-12	2022-08-05
2023-06-11	2023-08-04
2023-06-18	2023-08-11
2024-06-16	2024-08-09
2024-06-23	2024-08-16