The ongoing 4th International Polar Year is a global scientific initiative to study the sensitive and changing Arctic and Antarctic environments. As part of that effort NASA’s ARCTAS experiment was created to study air quality, pollution, and climate change in the Arctic. For three weeks in April 2008, over 100 atmospheric scientists using four airplanes loaded with chemical composition and radiation instruments are based in Fairbanks, Alaska.

 

ARCTAS has three major scientific objectives: 1. identify the transport pathways and composition of Arctic haze; 2. measure the vertical distribution of halogen radicals photochemically generated from sea salt and their effects on atmospheric composition and mercury deposition; 3. assess the impact of smoke plumes from boreal forest fires on air quality and radiation balance.