HATS Airborne Projects

ER-2The Halocarbons and other Atmospheric Trace Species (HATS) group of NOAA/GMD has designed and built three instruments since 1991 for implementation onaircraft and/or balloon platforms. Each instrument is a multi-channel gas chromatograph (GC) that measures halogenated trace gases (e.g., chlorofluorocarbons and halons) and other important atmospheric tracers. All of the HATS airborne instruments make measurements using gas chromatography with electron capture detectors (ECDs).

The data obtained from these instruments permit studies of chemistry and transport in the upper atmosphere.

Airborne Instruments and years of operationWB-57

  • ACATS-II — two channel GC for ER-2 platform (1989-1992)
  • ACATS-IV — four channel GC for ER-2 platform (1993-2000)
  • LACE — three channel GC for high-altitude balloons and WB-57 platforms (1995-2004)
  • PANTHER — six channel GC with ECDs and a mass selective detector (MSD) for WB-57, DC-8, and Gulfstream-V aircraft (2000-Current)
  • UCATS — two channel GC with ozone and water vapor instruments for Altair UAS and Gulfstream-V aircraft (2004-Current)

NASA Campaigns and Projects

Data can be found for all of these missions on the NASA ESPO Data Archive web site. The aircraft data uses the prefix "GC", "MSD" and "BC".

Unpiloted Aircraft System (UAS) Campaigns (coordinated by NASA)

Altair

NOAA, UCAR and NSF Campaigns

NOAA Campaigns (partnership with Institute of Atmospheric Physics (Moscow), MPI, Harvard, U. of North Dakota, and NASA)CitationTROICA 8

UCAR & NSF CampaignsGulfstream-V

Selected Publications

  • Elkins, J.W., D.W. Fahey, J.M. Gilligan, G.S. Dutton, T.J. Baring, C.M.Volk, R.E. Dunn, R.C. Myers, S.A. Montzka, P.R. Wamsley, A.H. Hayden, J.H. Butler, T.M. Thompson, T.H. Swanson, E.J. Dlugokencky, P.C. Novelli, D.F. Hurst, J.M. Lobert, S.J. Ciciora, R.J. McLaughlin, T. L. Thompson, R.H. Winkler, P.J. Fraser, L.P. Steele, and M.P. Lucarelli. Airborne gas chromatograph for in situ measurements of long-lived species in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Geophys. Res. Lett.23(4), 347-350, 1996.
  • Hurst, D.F., G.S. Dutton, P.A. Romashkin, J.W. Elkins, R.L. Herman, E.J. Moyer, D.C. Scott, R.D. May, C.R. Webster, J. Grecu, M. Loewenstein, and J.R. Podolske, Comparison of in situ N2O and CH4 measurements in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere during STRAT and POLARIS, J. Geophys. Res., 105 (D15), 2000.
  • Hurst, D.F., P.A. Romashkin, J.W. Elkins, E.A. Oberländer, N.F. Elansky, I.B. Belikov, I.G. Granberg, G.S. Golitsyn, A.M. Grisenko, C.A.M. Brenninkmeijer, and P.J. Crutzen, Emissions of ozone-depleting substances in Russia during 2001, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D14303, doi:10.1029/2004JD004633, 2004.
  • Hurst, D.F., J.C. Lin, P.A. Romashkin, B.C. Daube, C. Gerbig, D.M. Matross, S.C. Wofsy, B.D. Hall, and J.W. Elkins, Continuing global significance of emissions of Montreal Protocol-restricted halocarbons in the USA and Canada, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D15302, doi:10.1029/2005JD006785, 2006.
  • Moore, F.L., J.W. Elkins, E.A. Ray, G.S. Dutton, R.E. Dunn, D.W. Fahey, R.J. McLaughlin, T.L. Thompson, P.A. Romashkin, D.F. Hurst, and P.R. Wamsley, Balloon-borne in situ gas chromatograph for measurements in the troposphere and stratosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D5), doi: 10.1029/2001JD000891, 2003.
  • Ray, E. A., F. L. Moore, J. W. Elkins, D. F. Hurst, P. A. Romashkin, G. S. Dutton, and D. W. Fahey (2002), Descent and mixing in the 1999-2000 northern polar vortex inferred from in situ tracer measurements, J. Geophys. Res., 107(D20), 8285, doi:10.1029/2001JD000961.
  • Schauffler, S.M., E.L. Atlas, S.G. Donnelly, A. Andrews, S.A. Montzka, J.W. Elkins, D.F. Hurst, P.A. Romashkin, G.S. Dutton, V. Stroud, Chlorine budget and partitioning during SOLVE, J. Geophys. Res. 108(D5), doi:10.1029/2001JD002040, 2002.

For Further Information Contact: Dr. Fred Moore or Dr. James Elkins