About GMD

NOAA/ESRL's Global Monitoring Division (formerly CMDL) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, conducts sustained observations and research related to source and sink strengths, trends and global distributions of atmospheric constituents that are capable of forcing change in the climate of Earth through modification of the atmospheric radiative environment, those that may cause depletion of the global ozone layer, and those that affect baseline air quality.

GMD accomplishes this mission primarily through long-term measurements of key atmospheric species at sites spanning the globe, including four fully-equipped Baseline Observatories. These key species include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrous oxide, surface and stratospheric ozone, halogenated compounds including CFC replacements, hydrocarbons, sulfur gases, aerosols, and solar and infrared radiation.

The measurements are of the highest quality and accuracy possible, and document global changes in key atmospheric species, which are all affected by mankind, identifying sources of interannual variability. In addition, research programs in key regions, utilizing an array of platforms including aircraft, balloons, ocean vessels and towers, complement the land-based information.

GMD's data are used to assess climate forcing, ozone depletion and baseline air quality, to develop and test diagnostic and predictive models, and to keep the public, policy makers, and scientists abreast of the current state of our chemical and radiative atmosphere.

For more information, visit our online overview.

GMD is made up of several research groups, each working on projects within our research areas.

  • Observatory Operations
    NOAA/ESRL operates staffed atmospheric baseline observatories at Barrow, Alaska; Trinidad Head, California; Mauna Loa, Hawaii; Samoa; and the South Pole from which numerous in situ and remote atmospheric and solar measurements are conducted. The overall scientific programs and administrative functions of the five observatories are handled from Boulder with on-site station chiefs caring for day-to-day station activities.
  • Aerosols (AERO)
    The goals of this regional-scale monitoring program are to characterize means, variability, and trends of climate-forcing properties of different types of aerosols, and to understand the factors that control these properties. GMD's measurements also provide ground-truth for satellite measurements and global models, as well as key aerosol parameters for global-scale models.
  • Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases (CCGG)
    The Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases group makes ongoing discrete measurements from land and sea surface sites and aircraft, and continuous measurements from baseline observatories and tall towers. These measurements document the spatial and temporal distributions of carbon-cycle gases and provide essential constraints to our understanding of the global carbon cycle.
  • Halocarbons & other Atmospheric Trace Species Group (HATS)
    The HATS group quantifies the distributions and magnitudes of the sources and sinks for atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) and halogen containing compounds and other important ozone-depleting and greenhouse gases.
  • Ozone and Water Vapor Group (OZWV)
    The Ozone and Water Vapor Group conducts research on the nature and causes of the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer and the role of stratospheric and tropospheric ozone and water vapor in forcing climate change and in modifying the chemical cleansing capacity of the atmosphere. This mission is accomplished through long-term observations and intensive field programs that measure total column ozone, ozone vertical profiles (ozonesondes and umkehrs), ground level ozone, and water vapor vertical profiles in the upper troposphere and stratosphere.
  • GMD Radiation Group (G-Rad)
    The G-Rad group's activities involve empirical and theoretical research of the Earth's surface radiation budget. The group specializes in the investigation of climatically significant variations in long-term radiation, relative observations of spectral solar radiation for the purpose of remote sensing of certain atmospheric constituents and the absolute measurement of spectral solar UV for the investigation of the interaction of ozone and solar radiation.