AASE
type: Concept
in scheme: projects
definition: AASE Mission Overview NASA is addressing the crucial scientific issue of global ozone depletion. A major airborne campaign was planned and executed in August and September of 1987 to study the sudden and unanticipated decrease observed in the abundance of ozone over Antarctica in the Austral spring since 1979. Results from that study have provided data which directly implicate man-made chemical compounds, chlorofluorocarbons, in the enormous ozone loss over this remote region in the southern hemisphere. To continue the study of the production and loss mechanisms for ozone in the polar stratosphere and to assess man's growing influence on his environment, NASA is planning a follow-on experiment to the one conducted over the Antarctic. A second major aircraft-campaign is planned for January - February 1989. The recently published Ozone Trends Panel Report found that the largest decreases in total ozone occurred during January-February at latitudes near the edge of the Arctic vortex. This experiment! will investigate the Arctic polar stratosphere from a base in Norway. Objectives The primary objectives of the 1989 Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition are: To study the production and loss mechanisms of ozone in the north polar stratospheric environment. To study the effect on ozone distribution of the Arctic polar vortex and of the cold temperatures associated with the formation of Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSC's). Approach The Upper Atmospheric Research Program sponsored by the NASA Office of Space Science and Applications has supported the development of instrumentation specifically designed to measure trace species critical to the understanding of stratospheric photochemistry and dynamics. This airborne instrumentation has been flown in two previous experiments: the Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange Project and the Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment. We propose to use the suite of instruments flown in these earlier experiments to address the objectives defined…

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type: Concept