Atmospheric Boundary Layer Experiment (ABLE-2) Data from the Global

Tropospheric Experiment (GTE)

BRIEF

The ABLE missions have been designed specifically to study the rate of exchange of material between the Earth's surface and its atmospheric boundary layer, and the processes by which gases and aerosols are moved between the boundary layer and the 'free' troposphere. These expeditions are conducted in ecosystems of the world that are known to exert a major influence on global atmospheric chemistry. In some cases, these ecosystems are undergoing profound changes as a consequence of natural processes and/or human impact.

The ABLE-2 project consisted of two expeditions: the first in the Amazonian dry season (ABLE-2A, July-August 1985); and the second in the wet season (ABLE-2B, April-May 1987). The ABLE-2 core research data were gathered by NASA Electra aircraft flights that stretched from Belem, at the mouth of the Amazon River, west to Tabatinga, on the Brazil-Colombia border, from a base at Manaus in the heart of the forest. These observations were supplemented by ground based chemical and meteorological measurements in the dry forest, the Amazon floodplain, and the tributary rivers through use of enclosures, an instrumented tower in the jungle, a large tethered balloon, and weather and ozone sondes.

This study showed air above the Amazon jungle to be extremely clean during the wet season but deteoriated dramatically during the dry season as the result of biomass burning, performed mostly at the edges of the forest. Biomass burning is also a source of greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane, as well as other pollutants (carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen). Amazonian ozone deposition rates were found to be 5 to 50 times higher than those previously measured over pine forests and water surfaces. The Amazon River floodplain is a globally significant source of methane, supplying about 12% of the estimated worldwide total from all wetlands sources. Over Amazonia, carbon monoxide is enhanced by factors ranging from 1.2 to 2.7 by comparison with adjacent regions due to isoprene oxidation and biomass burning. Over the rainforest individual convective storms transport 200 megatons of air per hour, of which 3 megatons is water vapor that releases 100,000 megawatts of energy into the atmosphere through condensation into rain.

The ABLE was a collaboration of U.S. and Brazilian scientists sponsored by NASA and Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) and supported by the Global Tropospheric Experiment (GTE) component of the NASA Tropospheric Chemistry Program.

ATTRIBUTES

Entry_ID: ABLE-2 (MD Identifier: 3704)
 
Temporal Coverage:
     From: 1985-07-11                 TO: 1987-05-13 
 
Geographic Coverage:
     Southwest Extent: 0 ,70W      Northeast Extent:  10S,50W
 
Source:
     AIRCRAFT
     BALLOON
     GROUND STATIONS
 
Sensor:
     DIAL>Differential Absorption Lidar
     LIDAR
     OZONESONDE
     RADIOSONDE
     RAWINSONDE
 
Storage Media:
     Diskettes
     Film
     Hardcopy
     Magnetic Tapes
 
Campaign/Project:
     GTE>Global Tropospheric Experiment
 
Discipline, Subdiscipline:
     EARTH SCIENCE                   > ATMOSPHERE
     SOLAR PHYSICS                   > ULTRAVIOLET OBSERVATIONS
 
Location Keyword:
     BOUNDARY LAYER
     EQUATORIAL
     SOUTH AMERICA
     TROPOSPHERE
 
Parameter Group, Parameter:
     ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION         > AEROSOLS
     ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION         > AIR QUALITY
     ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION         > CARBON DIOXIDE
     ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION         > CARBON MONOXIDE
     ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION         > HUMIDITY
     ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION         > METHANE
     ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION         > NITROGEN OXIDES
     ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION         > NITROUS OXIDE
     ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION         > NON-METHANE HYDROCARBONS
     ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION         > OZONE
     ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION         > TRACE GASES
     ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION         > WATER VAPOR
     ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS            > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE
     ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS            > HEAT FLUX
     ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS            > HUMIDITY
     ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS            > PRESSURE
     ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS            > SOLAR RADIATION
     ATMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS            > WINDS
     RADIANCE AND IMAGERY            > ULTRAVIOLET
 
General Keywords:
     ABLE
     CH4
     CO2
     DIAL
     DIMETHYLSULFIDE
     DMS
     HALOCARBONS
     HYDROCARBONS
     N2O
     NITRIC OXIDE
     NMHC
     NO
     NOX
     O3
     SURFACE
     UPPER AIR
     WATER VAPOR FLUX
 
Revision Date: 1993-12-06

DATACENTER

Archive: 
   LARC>Langley Research Center, NASA
   Data Set ID: ABLE2A 
                ABLE2B 
 
   Contact: DREWRY, JOSEPH W.
            NASA Langley Research Center
            Mail Stop 483
            Hampton, VA 23665-5225
            USA
 
            Electronic Mail: NASAMAIL> JWDREWRY
 
            Phone: (804) 864-5842

PERSONNEL

Investigator: HARRISS, ROBERT C.
              Institute for EOS/CSRC/SERB
              University of New Hampshire
              292 College Road
              Durham, NH 03824
              USA
 
Tech Contact: WOFSY, STEVEN F.
              Harvard University
              Pierce Hall
              29 Oxford Street
              Cambridge, MA 02138
              USA
 
Entry Author: SCIALDONE, JOHN N.
              Hughes STX
              7701 Greenbelt Road, Suite 400
              Greenbelt, MD  20770
              USA
 
              Electronic Mail: INTERNET> SCIALDONE@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV
                               NSI/DECnet> NCF::SCIALDONE
 
              Phone: (301) 441-4214
 
 
Information in this entry provided by LARC

REFERENCE


Drewry, J. W., and D. W. Owen, 1989: Global Tropospheric Experiment Data
Archive Catalog, NASA Langley Research Center.

Global Tropospheric Experiment Brochure

Harriss, R.C., S.C. Wofsy, M. Garstang, E.V. Browell, L.C.B. Molion, R.J.
McNeal, J.M. Hoell, Jr., R.J. Bendura, S.M. beck, R.L. Navarro, J.T. Riley, and
R.L. Snell. 1988. 'The Amazon Boundary Layer Experiment (ABLE 2A) Dry Season
1985', J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 93 (D2), pp. 1351-1360.

SUP_MENU

   1. Campaign: GTE>Global Tropospheric Experiment