Monsoon Affects Greenhouse Gases
Research aircraft HALO investigating the transport of greenhouse gases above the Atlantic
Jülich/Shannon, 18 September 2017 – Only a few days ago, the Asian monsoon, which is particularly strong this year, had catastrophic consequences in India. Its destructive effects, however, reach far further than the Indian subcontinent, in part due to the transport of greenhouse gases. Over the next five weeks, a team of atmospheric researchers will investigate this transport as part of the measuring campaign WISE. Headed by Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, twelve measurement flights will be conducted with the high-altitude research aircraft HALO. Its base station will be in Shannon, Ireland. It is hoped that the measurements will permit insights into transport and mixing processes in the upper troposphere and the lower stratosphere. These layers of air above the Atlantic Ocean play a particularly significant role in the exchange of air masses between tropical and temperate latitudes.