Investigator’s Annual Reports (IAR’s) for Crater Lake National Park
Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation Experiment (ITCT)
Report Number: 25031
Reporting Year: 2002
Permit Number: CRLA-2002-SCI-0001
Current Status: Checked in
Date Received: May 07, 2003
Principal Investigator: Steven Cliff, Department of Applied Science, University of California, Davis, CA
Additional investigator(s): Dr. Thomas A. Cahill, Kevin D. Perry, Peter B. Kelly
Park-assigned Study Id. #: CRLA-01010
Permit Expiration Date: Dec 31, 2002
Permit Start Date: Apr 15, 2002
Study Starting Date: Apr 15, 2002
Study Ending Date: Dec 31, 2005
Study Status: Continuing
Activity Type: Research
Subject/Discipline: Air Quality
Objectives: New perspectives on the “global” nature of Earth’s atmosphere.
Research has shown that it is, indeed, “one atmosphere” that envelopes and supports life on Earth. Over the past two decades, studies of the global dissemination of manmade pollution have centered on the emissions of long-lived gases and particles that influence global and regional climate. More recently, a new focus is emerging that recognizes that the chemical properties of shorter-lived manmade pollutants can have intercontinental and global influence.
How does the transport of chemicals from one continent influence the air quality in other continents, as well as regional and global climate?
The Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation (ITCT) is a coordinated international research program to address this question. Its foci are:
(i) to investigate intercontinental transport of manmade pollution, with an emphasis on ozone, fine particles, and other chemically active “greenhouse” compounds
(ii) to determine the chemical transformation that occurs during this transport.
There is increasing evidence that ozone and fine particles and their precursors, even compounds with reasonably short lifetimes, can be detected at great distances from their sources. The “intercontinental” nature of manmade chemical pollution has been demonstrated in studies over the last decade. ITCT will further the scientific understanding of the consequences – both for air quality and for climate – of this intercontinental transport and transformation. Investigations will initially focus on the Northern Hemisphere, which contains most of the world’s landmasses and population, and where most anthropogenic pollution originates.
The International and NOAA Frameworks for ITCT
ITCT is a newly initiated activity of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) program, which is a Core Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). ITCT combines two earlier IGAC activities: the North Atlantic Regional Experiment (NARE) and the East Asian/North Pacific Regional Experiment (APARE). While the bulk of the ground studies will be conducted at Trinidad Head in Northern California, additional sites are needed to fully understand the context of long-range pollution transport at the intensive site. Therefore, additional sampling sites are proposed to better characterize the extent and nature of long-range pollution transport events. Crater Lake NP is one such site proposed for this experiment.
