Beautiful clouds, from a flying laboratory

A flying laboratory porpoises through the sky from the north pole to the south pole, taking readings from 14 kilometers high to just above the sea ice.

This National Science Foundation project, called Hiaper Pole to Pole Observations, will provide the most comprehensive picture yet of greenhouse gases and how they affect climate.

Of particular interest are clouds. Clouds warm the earth. Clouds cool the earth
But we don't know how clouds form -- water vapor holds the key.

In discussions about global warming, carbon dioxide and methane get all the attention but water vapor impacts climate more than any other gas

As the flying laboratory circles the globe Princeton researchers analyze data in real-time. Their findings thus far are surprising: large plumes of water vapor exist in areas no one expected to find them.

A nuanced understanding of water vapor in the atmosphere is crucial for predicting climate and making smart policy decisions.

Special thanks:

NSF HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations
Steven Wofsy
Britt Stephens
Ralph Keeling
Elliot Atlas
Bruce Daube
Jim Elkins
Fred Moore
Eric Hintsa
Steve Montzka
David Fahey
Ru-Shan Gao
Shuka Schwarz
Teresa Campos
...and the rest of the HIPPO Science Team

VCSEL instrument team:
Minghui Diao
Mark E. Paige
Stuart Beaton
Steve Massick
Joel Silver

Aircraft and operations support:
Pavel Romashkin
Brent Kidd
Vidal Salazar
Henry Boynton
Steve Thompson
Greg Bruning
John Cowan
Robert Beasley
Kurt Zrubek
Jack Fox
William Cooper
Sue Schauffler
...and the rest of the NCAR RAF aircraft and ground crews

Video by:
Mark Zondlo
Ryan Spackman
Alison Rockwell
Joshua Schwartz
NCAR / NSF

Financial Support:
National Science Foundation ATM-0840732
National Science Foundation HAIS
NASA NNX09AO51H
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
NSF Center for Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and the Environment
Princeton University

Directed by Mark Zondlo
Editing, musical score and titles by Taofik Kolade
Produced by Teresa Riordan

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• climate change
• global warming
• atmosphere
• beautiful clouds
• clouds
• water vapor
• Earth Day
• NCAR
• National Science Foundation
• greenhouse gasses
• Princeton University
• HIAPER synthesized music mod
• Princeton
• engineering
• sky
• energy
• above
• sunset
• nature
• blue
• fly
• relax
• relaxing