The Halocarbons and other Atmospheric Trace Species (HATS) group of NOAA/GML has designed and built instruments since 1991 for implementation on aircraft 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 and/or mass selective detectors (ECDs).

The data obtained from these instruments permit studies of chemistry and transport in the upper atmosphere. Ongoing efforts at supplementing and packaging these measurements for public distribution are described on a separate HATS Airborne Data page.

Airborne Instruments and years of operation

  • 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, Gulfstream-V, Global Hawk, DC-8, and ER-2 aircraft (2004-Current)
ER-2
WB-57

Campaigns

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".

DC-8
Unpiloted Aircraft System (UAS) Campaigns (coordinated by NASA)
Global Hawk
NOAA Campaigns

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

TROICA 8 Citation
UCAR & NSF Campaigns
These links will take you to the UCAR website for more information.
Gulfstream-V


Selected Publications

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