Measurements of CO2, CO, O3, NOx , water vapor and total H2O (vapor + condensed phase) were made in the upper troposphere on board of the WB-57F during CRYSTAL FACE. Air in the outflow of deep convective storms, and in associated cirrus clouds, showed distinctly different composition from surrounding air. On average concentrations of CO2 in clouds at ~12 km were 0.4 ppm lower than surroundings. The magnitude of the anomaly varied directly with condensed-phase water content. Concentrations of NOx showed very large enhancements, but CO was rarely elevated and ozone was reduced, implying a major... Read more about Distribution of CO2 and other tracers in convective and non-convective regions during CRYSTAL-FACE

In carbon cycle science a problem arises from linking local-scale observations (e.g. eddy flux) with the global-scale atmospheric constraint (e.g. latitudinal gradient and inversion modeling studies). Atmospheric budget methods involving airborne measurements of CO2 have the potential to fill the current gap on regional and continental scales. Optimizing the sampling strategy for such methods is one of the main objectives of the CO2 Budget and Rectification Airborne (COBRA) study. During the COBRA Summer campaign of 2000, 26 flights were conducted using the UND CITATION 2 over large...

Read more about Quantification of Regional and Continental Scale Surface Fluxes of Carbon Using Airborne Measurements in a Lagrangian Framework