Atmospheric Chemistry: What’s there and what it does

The Terrain-induced Rotor Experiment (T-REX) is the second phase of a coordinated effort to explore the structure and evolution of atmospheric rotors (intense low-level horizontal vorticies that form along a mountain ridge crest) and associated phenomena in complex terrain. Researchers can view results on the T-Rex Mapserver. Common environmental problems – urban air pollution, the ozone hole, greenhouse gases – are drawing greater interest in understanding what goes on in the atmosphere. Home to aerosols, a variety of gases, and water vapor, among other things, atmospheric chemists strive to understand how these atmospheric substances interact with each other, as well as how they impact the Earth's ecosystems. Not surprisingly, the effects of human activity on atmospheric makeup drive much of today’s research.

At NCAR, our Atmospheric Chemistry Division’s (ACD) has concentrated on two main research challenges. The first is understanding and quantifying the impact of urban emissions on air quality. The second is understanding interactions between the physical climate system, the chemical climate system, and the biosphere.

TOGA-MIRAGE Air Chemistry Monitor

The Atmospheric Chemistry Division (ACD) uses many instruments to analyze the composition of the atmosphere. Only ultraprecise sensors can fully capture the ebb and flow of the atmosphere's constituents. ACD has developed some of the world's most sensitive instruments for monitoring air chemistry and its changes over time.


In terms of understanding global air quality, scientific priority goes toward studying large-scale impacts of intense emissions originating from megacities, and the multiphase (gas-aerosol-cloud) processes that transform pollutants in the atmosphere. When it comes to climate, focus has been in two areas – simulating the recent past and future chemical climate states based on current climate simulations, and studying the role of the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UTLS) in the physical and chemical climate system.