1 Dr.

RAMESH KUMAR
ATTREX MISSION Introduction o It stands for Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment (ATTREX) o It is the NASAs scientific mission to study the water vapor in Stratosphere and its impact on climate change Importance of Stratospheric water vapour o Despite its low concentration, stratospheric water vapor has large impacts on the earths energy budget and climate. What is Water vapor o Water vapor is water in its gaseous state-instead of liquid or solid (ice). Water vapor is totally invisible.

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2 Dr. RAMESH KUMAR

Importance of water vapor o Water vapor is extremely important to the weather and climate. Without it, there would be no clouds or rain or snow, since all of these require water vapor in order to form o Water vapor is also the Earth's most important greenhouse gas, accounting for about 90% of the Earth's natural greenhouse effect, which helps keep the Earth warm enough to support life. Approximately 99.13% of water vapor is contained in the troposphere What is Stratosphere

o The stratosphere is a region of the atmosphere from about eight to 30 miles above the Earths surface. When water vapor enters the stratosphere o Water vapor enters the stratosphere mainly as air rises in the tropics How Stratospheric water vapor influences global warming o After a steep rise in global average temperatures in the 1990s, the 2000s have seen relatively flat temperatures, despite increasing levels of CO2 emissions by humans. This reduced warming may be partially due to a sharp decrease in stratospheric water vapor that began after 2000

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3 Dr. RAMESH KUMAR

Design of ARRTEX mission

o NASA will send a remotely piloted research aircraft 65,000 feet over the tropical Pacific Ocean to probe unexplored regions of the upper atmosphere and detect how a warming climate is changing Earth. o ATTREX mission is a multi-year airborne science campaign with a heavily instrumented Global Hawk aircraft. Importance of ARRTEX mission o ATTREX will study moisture and chemical composition in the upper regions of the troposphere, the lowest layer of Earths atmosphere. o It will provide unprecedented measurements of the tropical tropopause. Why Tropopause is selected for the study o The tropopause layer between the troposphere and stratosphere, 12 km to 17 km above Earths surface, is the point where water vapour, ozone and other gases enter the stratosphere. Why Winter period is selected instead of summer

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4 Dr. RAMESH KUMAR

o Winter months will be coldest and extremely dry air enters the stratosphere. It is important to carry out research

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