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Projects > D - F > FIRE/ACE

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FIRE/ACE  

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  • FIRE, the First ISCCP (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project) Regional Experiment, is going to the Arctic to study a variety of Arctic cloud systems under spring and summer conditions. A team of national and international scientists will conduct the FIRE Arctic Cloud Experiment (ACE) in a two-phase field campaign, starting in April, 1998, and a second phase to be conducted during July, 1998. The scientific objectives of FIRE.ACE will be to study impact of Arctic clouds on radiation exchange between surface, atmosphere, and space, and the influence of surface characteristics of sea ice, leads, and ice melt ponds on these clouds. FIRE.ACE will attempt to document, understand, and predict the Arctic cloud-radiation feedbacks, including changes in cloud fraction and vertical distribution, water vapor cloud content, cloud particle concentration and size, and cloud phase as atmospheric temperature and chemical composition change. FIRE.ACE will use the data to focus on improving current climate model simulations of the Arctic climate, especially with respect to clouds and their effects on the surface energy budget. In addition, FIRE.ACE will address a number of scientific questions dealing with radiation, cloud microphysics, and atmospheric chemistry. The strategy of FIRE.ACE is to use aircraft to take remote and in situ measurements of the Arctic cloud and surface characteristics. The NASA ER-2 will fly far aloft with a suite of remote sensors to remotely infer the cloud and radiative properties of the clouds that form in the vicinity of leads and melt ponds. The University of Washington Convair 580, National Center for Atmospheric Research C-130, and Canada National Research Council Convair 580 aircraft each will fly with a number of in-situ instruments to measure the optical, physical, radiative, and chemical properties of the clouds and radiation directly. NASA FIRE Arctic Cloud Experiment Purpose: Study impact of Arctic clouds on radiation exchange between surface, atmosphere, and space and influence of surface characteristics (including sea ice and leads) on these clouds. Time: Phase I - April 7 - June 13, 1998 Phase II - July 6 - 30, 1998 Location: Beaufort Sea Participants: Scientists from U.S., Canada, Great Britain, and Netherlands. Collaborating Experiments: National Aeronautics and Space Administration FIRE (First ISCCP Regional Experiment) National Science Foundation SHEBA (Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean) Department of Energy ARM (Atmospheric Radiation Measurement) Experiment Plan: Aircraft, surface-based, and satellites will be used to measure the physical processes of coupling between clouds, radiation, chemistry, and the atmospheric boundary layer over the Arctic sea ice in the Beaufort Sea and over Barrow, Alaska. Four instrumented aircraft will make atmospheric measurements of clouds and radiation centered over the SHEBA ice station and Barrow, Alaska. NASA ER-2 NCAR C-130 University of Washington CV-580 Canadian NRC CV-580 Surface-based instruments will make atmospheric measurements of clouds and radiation. SHEBA ice station, Des Grosielliers, Beaufort Sea ARM, Barrow The measurements will be coordinated with the overflights of cloud- and lead-measuring satellites. NOAA Polar Orbiter 12 & 14 DMSP F12 & F13 LANDSAT 6 RESURS RADARSAT Earth Probe Points of Contact: Robert Curran, Radiation Sciences Program Manager, Office of Earth Science, NASA Headquarters, Code YS, Washington, DC, 20546, Telephone 202-358-1432, Email rcurran@hq.nasa.gov. David S. McDougal, FIRE Project Manager, NASA Langley Research Center, Mail Stop 483, Hampton, VA, 23681, Telephone 757-864-5832, Email d.s.mcdougal@larc.nasa.gov. Judy Curry, Arctic Cloud Lead Scientist, Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, Telephone 303-492-6417, Email curryja@cloud.colorado.edu. For more information, link to "http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/ACEDOCS/index.html" (en)

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https://gcmd.earthdata.nasa.gov/kms/concept/4449b3f3-9f6d-4974-93fe-0b1bb9591f37

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