HATS Airborne Projects

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)

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".

Unpiloted Aircraft System (UAS) Campaigns (coordinated by NASA)

FIRE - Partnership with USDA Forest Service
GloPac 2010 - on Global Hawk
ATTREX - on Global Hawk

NOAA Campaigns

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

TROICA 7 - Trans-Siberian Railway
TROICA 8 - Trans-Siberian Railway
COBRA-NA - North American Airborne Study
Erie, Colorado - Tower studies

UCAR & NSF Campaigns

These links will take you to the UCAR website for more information.

Selected Publications

Elkins, J.W., D.W. Fahey, J.M. Gilligan, G.S. Dutton, T.J. Baring, C.M.Volk, R.E. Dunn, R.C. Myers, S.A. Montzka, P.R. Wamsley, A.H. Hayden, J.H. Butler, T.M. Thompson, T.H. Swanson, E.J. Dlugokencky, P.C. Novelli, D.F. Hurst, J.M. Lobert, S.J. Ciciora, R.J. McLaughlin, T. L. Thompson, R.H. Winkler, P.J. Fraser, L.P. Steele, and M.P. Lucarelli. Airborne gas chromatograph for in situ measurements of long-lived species in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Geophys. Res. Lett.23(4), 347-350, 1996.
Hurst, D.F., G.S. Dutton, P.A. Romashkin, J.W. Elkins, R.L. Herman, E.J. Moyer, D.C. Scott, R.D. May, C.R. Webster, J. Grecu, M. Loewenstein, and J.R. Podolske, Comparison of in situ N2O and CH4 measurements in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere during STRAT and POLARIS, J. Geophys. Res., 105 (D15), 2000.
Hurst, D.F., P.A. Romashkin, J.W. Elkins, E.A. Oberländer, N.F. Elansky, I.B. Belikov, I.G. Granberg, G.S. Golitsyn, A.M. Grisenko, C.A.M. Brenninkmeijer, and P.J. Crutzen, Emissions of ozone-depleting substances in Russia during 2001, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D14303, doi:10.1029/2004JD004633, 2004.
Hurst, D.F., J.C. Lin, P.A. Romashkin, B.C. Daube, C. Gerbig, D.M. Matross, S.C. Wofsy, B.D. Hall, and J.W. Elkins, Continuing global significance of emissions of Montreal Protocol-restricted halocarbons in the USA and Canada, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D15302, doi:10.1029/2005JD006785, 2006.
Moore, F.L., J.W. Elkins, E.A. Ray, G.S. Dutton, R.E. Dunn, D.W. Fahey, R.J. McLaughlin, T.L. Thompson, P.A. Romashkin, D.F. Hurst, and P.R. Wamsley, Balloon-borne in situ gas chromatograph for measurements in the troposphere and stratosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D5), doi: 10.1029/2001JD000891, 2003.
Ray, E. A., F. L. Moore, J. W. Elkins, D. F. Hurst, P. A. Romashkin, G. S. Dutton, and D. W. Fahey (2002), Descent and mixing in the 1999-2000 northern polar vortex inferred from in situ tracer measurements, J. Geophys. Res., 107(D20), 8285, doi:10.1029/2001JD000961.
Schauffler, S.M., E.L. Atlas, S.G. Donnelly, A. Andrews, S.A. Montzka, J.W. Elkins, D.F. Hurst, P.A. Romashkin, G.S. Dutton, V. Stroud, Chlorine budget and partitioning during SOLVE, J. Geophys. Res. 108(D5), doi:10.1029/2001JD002040, 2002.

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