POLARIS PROJECT OFFICE EMAIL ARCHIVE FOR 970128

To:		POLARIS Team
From:		Steve Hipskind
Subject:	Balloon Flights in Coordination with POLARIS

The following note, compiled by David Fahey, with input from Mike Kurylo and 
Dean Peterson, lays out the tentative plans for balloon measurements in coordination 
with the POLARIS ER-2 measurements.  It also details the instruments and 
measurements planned for the ADEOS flights.  As indicated below, the details of the 
deployment locations and dates are still being worked out at this time.  The 
March/April flights for ADEOS validation are contingent on support from the 
Japanese Space Agency.

In conjunction with the POLARIS deployments, NASA UARP and AEAP/AESA will 
support balloon launches to provide information on trace species above ER-2 
altitudes.  In March/April, NASDA (Japan)  and NASA will support a flight of two 
balloon payloads from Fairbanks containing the MkIV FTIR (Toon, JPL), the FIRS-
2 far infrared spectrometer (Traub, Harvard Smithsonian), the SLS submillimeter 
sounder (Stachnik, JPL), in situ ozone (Margitan) the CAESR mid-infrared remote 
thermal emission grating spectrometer (Murcray, Denver U.), and an in situ aerosol 
sampler (Hayashi, Nagoya U.)  Payload 1 will consist of FIRS-2, SLS, in situ 
ozone, and in situ aerosol.  Payload 2 will carry MkIV, in situ ozone, in situ aerosol, 
and CAESR.  The Japanese support is associated with the validation of their ADEOS 
satellite.

The FIRS-2 is a remote-sensing Fourier-transform spectrometer that measures the 
mid-and far-infrared (14 to 140 micron) thermal emission spectrum of the 
stratosphere from balloon and aircraft platforms.  Species measured include:  O3, 
N2O, HNO3, NO2, H2O, N2O5, OH, HO2, H2O2, HOCl, ClONO2, HCl, and 
HF.

The JPL MkIV is a high resolution FTIR spectrometer designed to make remote 
observations of atmospheric composition by the solar absorption technique. Since 
being built at JPL in 1985, the MkIV has performed 7 balloon flights (all successful) 
from New Mexico and California.  The MkIV measurements include, O3, N2O, 
HNO3, NO2, CH4, H2O, CO, CFC-11, N2O5, H2O2, HOCl, ClONO2, HCl, HF, 
CFC-12, NO, HNO4, OCS, HCN, CCl4, CF4, COF2, CHF2Cl, CH3Cl, C2H2, 
C2H6, and CFC-22.

The Submillimeterwave Limb Sounder (SLS) is a heterodyne detection spectrometer 
which measures atmospheric thermal emission at submillimeter wavelengths.  As a 
high resolution (2 MHz min channel width) emission remote sensing instrument, the 
SLS can provide continuous vertical profile (15km to 45 km altitude) measurements 
during day or night.  Species measured by SLS are, O3, N2O, HNO3, HO2, ClO, 
and HCl.

The JPL Ozone Photometer has made 20 flights in the past 8 years aboard gondolas 
flying in NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Program.  The balloon photometer is 
a twin of the ozone measuring instrument that flies on board the NASA ER-2 in the 
Polar Ozone Campaigns.

The Nagoya University sampler samples the aerosols in the air, which is pumped by 
a small air pump onto the surface of filter whose size is a few mm in diameter. The 
sampler is often called an impacter sampler since the aerosols stick on the filter 
surface by the collision on it with the air flow by the pump. After return to the 
laboratory, the morphology of the aerosols is observed with an electron microscope, 
and the chemical composition is analyzed with a laser microprobe mass spectrometer.

The University of Denver mid-infrared remote thermal-emission grating spectrometer 
measures atmospheric radiation with essentially zero instrumental background.  It is a 
small, He-cooled grating radiometer, for the region 7.5 to 12.6 micron.  Profile 
measurements are made on ascent.  The species measured are, O3, HNO3, CH4, 
aerosol, CFC-11, N2O5, and CFC-12.

Discussions are underway to arrange a flight for only the MkIV instrument at times 
close to at least one of the last two POLARIS deployments.  These flights may occur 
from Lynn Lake, Canada, due to NSBF deployment constraints associated with  
other balloon activities  already scheduled from this site.  In addition, in the July time 
period, plans include a flight of the in situ balloon payload currently being deployed 
for STRAT  from Brazil [LACE GC (Elkins, NOAA), CO2 (Boering, Harvard), 
CH4 and N2O (ALIAS II, Webster, JPL), ARGUS (Loewenstein, NASA Ames), 
ozone (Margitan, JPL), H2O (Oltmans, NOAA)].   Another flight of this same 
payload is also being considered for the September time period from Ft. Sumner, 
NM.  Thus OMS-POLARIS will have both remote and in situ balloon components.  
Deployment support issues are currently being discussed with NSBF and the PIs 
under the coordination of Bill Brune (Penn. State U.) who will continue as Project 
Scientist for OMS-POLARIS just has he has done for OMS-STRAT.  Final decisions 
regarding the timing, location, and participants in OMS-POLARIS will soon be 
made.

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