Overview of the NOAA/ESRL Federated Aerosol Network

TLDR

NOAA ESRL’s Global Monitoring Division and collaborators operate 30 worldwide sites measuring aerosol optical properties to estimate global aerosol radiative forcing, with many stations in regions dominated by specific aerosol types such as Asian and Saharan dust, pollution, and biomass burning; the network, a joint effort with WMO’s GAW, DOE, universities, and foreign science organizations, provides long‑term, directly comparable atmospheric measurements supported by shared protocols and software that integrate with GAW’s observation strategy. This paper describes the history of the NOAA/ESRL Federated Aerosol Network, details about its measurements and operations. Recent findings from the network measurements are presented.

Abstract

Abstract To estimate global aerosol radiative forcing, measurements of aerosol optical properties are made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)’s Global Monitoring Division (GMD) and their collaborators at 30 monitoring locations around the world. Many of the sites are located in regions influenced by specific aerosol types (Asian and Saharan desert dust, Asian pollution, biomass burning, etc.). This network of monitoring stations is a shared endeavor of NOAA and many collaborating organizations, including the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)’s Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) program, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), several U.S. and foreign universities, and foreign science organizations. The result is a long-term cooperative program making atmospheric measurements that are directly comparable with those from all the other network stations and with shared data access. The protocols and software developed to support the program facilitate participation in GAW’s atmospheric observation strategy, and the sites in the NOAA/ESRL network make up a substantial subset of the GAW aerosol observations. This paper describes the history of the NOAA/ESRL Federated Aerosol Network, details about measurements and operations, and some recent findings from the network measurements.