Guest post by NOAA scientist Joshua “Shuka” Schwarz   To accomplish the science goals of Atom, every scientific instrument on the NASA DC8 is tenderly cared for. In the case of the Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) an instrument for quantifying black carbon aerosol concentration, this care includes gentle heating after cold nights, frequent laser… Read More

On August 3rd, the ATom mission moved on from Alaska to Kona, on the big island of Hawai’i.  The schedule allowed for two days on the ground in Kona, and for many of the crew, this allowed a much welcome day off. CIRES/NOAA scientist Jeff Peischl was able to squeeze in a day of sight-seeing:… Read More

The ATom mission is officially underway!  But not without some minor technical difficulties…   Following the first test flight, the DC-8 crew reported a “humming” sound that seemed to emanate  from one of the sampling inlets on the starboard side of the aircraft. The crew subsequently flew several additional check flights to find the source of… Read More