C4 IN THE NEWS

A semi-official, informal news brief from the NSF Center for Clouds,
Chemistry and Climate (C4).



This is your newsletter. Contributions are needed and always welcome!
Please send yours to either Co-Editor: H. Nguyen at hnguyen@ucsd.edu or J. des Rosiers at jdesrosier@ucsd.edu


Spring 1998

This spring issue contains updates on the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX), and C4 meetings, presentations and seminars.

 

**Report on INDOEX 1998 First Field Phase (FFP) Campaign**

From: Prof. V. Ram Ramanathan, Chair, INDOEX International Steering Committee

I am delighted to inform you that INDOEX FFP was successfully conducted between January 1, 1998 and April 1, 1998. Data were collected from all of the platforms: R/V Sagar Kanya; surface stations in Kaashidhoo, Mauritius, Tromelin, Mt. Abu and Trivandrum. For geostationary satellites, while the METEOSAT-5 is on its way to 63 degrees East, UCAR/JOSS has been collecting data from the Chinese FY-2. Florida State University provided trajectory analyses for air parcels.

The campaign included several first-time measurements for the tropical Indian Ocean (e.g., LIDAR profiles of aerosols; high spectral resolution of solar irradiance at the surface). Meteorological conditions, aerosol, chemistry and radiation data have been collected under a variety of clear, cloudy, aerosol-rich and aerosol-poor conditions in the northern and southern hemisphere. At the Utrecht meeting in June (see announcement below), we can look forward to seeing preliminary analyses of some of the data and plan for the Intensive Field Phase in 1999.

Equally important, the cooperation and collaboration across international boundaries worked flawlessly. Below, I list some of these successes, for international cooperation is the hallmark of INDOEX:

- Scientists from France (LMD) and India (NIO) conducted preliminary tests on the constant level balloon from Goa.

- Scientists from India, the US, France, Sweden and Germany participated in the Sagar Kanya Cruise #133, which included surface, sondes and lidar measurements. Scientists on the ORV Sagar Kanya also performed joint measurements at surface stations in Trivandrum, Kaashidhoo and Mauritius.

- The Maldivian government is providing tremendous local support as confirmed by the attendance of the president who opened the Kaashidoo Climate Observatory (KCO) on February 23, 1998. KCO currently includes instruments from US and Sweden, and is managed by personnel from the US, India and the Republic of Maldives."

For more information, please contact:

Sagar Kanya Cruise: Dr. K. Zalpuri, NPL, New Delhi or Hung Nguyen, C4

Kaashidoo Observatory: Hung Nguyen, C4 ( La Jolla)

Satellite and analyses: Dr. S. Williams, UCAR (Boulder)

Constant Level Balloons: Dr. R. Sadourny, LMD (Paris)

 

**News from Surinam**

Prof. P.J. Crutzen, Co-Chief Scientist for INDOEX, just returned from an experiment from Surinam and shares the following report:

"Last week I returned from a field program in Surinam devoted especially to the organic chemistry over the tropical forests. The experiments went very well and we collected a wonderful set of data which we will have to study in detail in the coming months.

Much of the data were performed on the Dutch Cessna Citation aircraft. The Surinam experiment was thus extremely useful also for checking the performance of the instruments under hot and humid conditions. Indeed in several of the boundary layer runs temperatures in the aircraft and its instrumentation got so high (ca. 50°C) that some of the equipment had to be shut off due to overheating. Thus we know what we must do for INDOEX, i.e. more aircraft cooling, more efficient pumps."

Prof. J. Lelieveld of Utrecht University also participated in these experiments.

Contact: Prof. Paul Crutzen

 

**Summer 1998 INDOEX Meeting**

Prof. Paul Crutzen and Prof. Jos Lelieveld will host an INDOEX Workshop on Monday and Tuesday, June 22 and 23, 1998. The INDOEX International Steering Committee will also meet on Sunday, June 21. The workshop will enable scientists to prepare for the intensive field phase of INDOEX scheduled for January - April 1999. Contact: Barbera Bolhuis

 

**R/V Ronald H. Brown Will Sail in INDOEX**

Pending final approval and scheduling by NOAA, it is about 90+% certain that the R/V Ronald H. Brown will participate in INDOEX 1999! For more information, please contact the ship coordinators: Prof. Russ Dickerson and Dr. Thomas Carsey

 

**U.S. Aircraft Meeting**

C4 is hosting a meeting for the coordinators of the U.S. Aircraft Operations during INDOEX on Monday, April 6, 1998. Participants include Drs. Tony Clarke, Jim Coakley, Bruce Gandrud, Andy Heymsfield, V. Ramanathan and Francisco Valero.

 

**C4 External Advisory Panel Meeting**

On Tuesday, April 7, 1998, C4 will welcome members of their External Advisory Panel for a one-day meeting. Panel members in attendance will include Drs. Robert Dickinson, Kou-Nan Liou, John Ogren, Joyce Penner and David Randall (chair). Dr. J.T. Kiehl is the C4 coordinator of the meeting.

 

**C4 Presents INDOEX to Presidents' Circle**

Prof. V. Ramanathan presented INDOEX to members of the Presidents' Circle on March 20. Along with 48 members of the Circles, Dr. Bruce Alberts, President of the National Academy of Science, Dr. Wm. A. Wulf, President of the National Academy of Engineering, and Dr. Kenneth I. Shine, President of the Institute of Medicine attended his presentation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD.

 

**Chinese Delegation Introduced to INDOEX**

Dr. Guang Zhang and H. Nguyen discussed INDOEX with a delegation from China on Wednesday, March 18. Dr. Yuan Yeli, Director of First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, headed the delegation. Other participants included Mr. Wu Guoxiang, Head of Remote Sensing Department, High Technology and Fundamental Research Division, State Commission of Sciences of China; Prof. Yu Zhouwen, Director of Environment Forecasting Center; Prof. Shi Ping, Deputy Director of South China Sea Institute of Oceanography, Chinese Academy of Science; Mr. Li Jiahong, Coordinator, High Tech Coordination Dept, State Committee of Sciences of China; and Prof. Yiu Zhongbin, Research Scientist of Environment Forecasting Center.

 

**New SIO Director, Scientists Addressed El Nino Issues**

Prof. Charles F. Kennel, the new director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Prof. V. Ramanathan of C4 and Dr. Nicholas Graham of the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction addressed the World Affairs Council of Orange County, March 12, in El Toro, CA. The event was designed to answer some key questions about the El Nino phenomenon.

 

**C4 Summer Research Fellowships for Community College Instructors**

As part of our educational outreach efforts, C4 is sponsoring summer research fellowships for community college instructors. Mentored by C4 scientists, the fellows will develop and conduct specific research programs in an area of interest relating to atmospheric chemistry, physics or computer modeling. Each fellow will also spend some time applying new insights towards the enhancement of science education at their home institutions.

 

**C4 SEMINARS **

Dr. Guang Zhang, Center for Atmospheric Sciences, SIO/UCSD, presented "Parameterization of Convection in the NCAR CCM3 and its Effect on Climate Simulation", Friday, March 20, 1998.

Dr. Andy Vogelmann, presents "Excess Absorption and the Non-Lorentzian Water Vapor Continuum: A Test with ARM-ARESE Data", Friday, April 3, 1998.

For future talks of the Center for Atmospheric Science's Seminar Series, please visit http://www-c4.ucsd.edu/seminar

 

**Two New INDOEX PAPERS**

"Characteristics of Spectral Optical Depths and Size Distributions of Aerosols over Tropical Oceanic Regions", K. Krishna Moorthy, S.K. Satheesh, and B.V. Krishna Murthy. Journal of Atmospheric and Solar Terrestrial Physics, 1998 (accepted in January, 1998; in press).

"Spatial Gradients in Aerosol Characteristics over the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean", S.K. Satheesh, K. Krishna Moorthy, and B.V. Krishna Murthy. Journal of Geophysical Research, 1998 (accepted in March, 1998).

For the complete list of INDOEX Papers, please visit http://www-c4.ucsd.edu/c4publications/indoex_publication.html.


To the INDOEX homepage

webmanager@fiji.ucsd.edu / 6 April 98