5 June 2010
The month of May marked the beginning of CalNex 2010: Research at the Nexus of Climate and Air Quality, a joint field study with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) to investigate atmospheric emissions and processes over California and the eastern Pacific coastal region.
Background: The goal of the 2010 CalNex program is to study the important scientific issues at the nexus of air quality and climate change problems, and to provide scientific information regarding the synergies and trade-offs faced by decision makers when addressing these two interrelated issues. Over the course of three months, state-of-the-art instrumentation for chemical and meteorological measurements will be deployed on the NOAA WP-3D and Twin Otter research aircraft, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's R/V Atlantis, the Naval Research Laboratory's Twin Otter, at ground sites, and other platforms. NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory and Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory are leading the multi-agency effort, with participation from scientists at NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, NASA, DOE, several universities and other institutions, and industry.
Significance: CARB and the CEC are especially interested in obtaining information that is pertinent to the current and potential future environmental policies in the State of California.