LASP Science Seminars

The Earth’s stratosphere, which sits above the troposphere, is a difficult place to make measurements. The highest-flying aircraft can only reach the lowermost portion of the stratosphere, while space-based sensors orbiting well above are limited by technique. Balloons can profile in situ from the surface up to approximately 35 km. Thus, they are a critical measurement platform for investigating the stratospheric constituents and processes that play important roles in regulating Earth’s climate. In this talk, I will detail the activities at LASP to design and build instruments to study stratospheric aerosols, water vapor, and temperature. I will then provide an overview of what we have learned from the historical in situ aerosol measurement record. This record was established at the University of Wyoming in the 1970s, and its operations have recently transferred to LASP. Finally, I will discuss the upcoming third phase of the Startèole 2 long-duration balloon campaign: a CNES led mission investigating processes within the tropical tropopause layer. LASP is supplying three novel instruments to the endeavor.