Tropical Atlantic Aerosols & Clouds

[05-Nov-2019] Earth's atmosphere contains small, suspended liquid and particle matter called aerosols. These aerosols come from various sources, both natural and anthropogenic (man-made), including: volcanic ash, dust, sand, sea salts, industrial pollutants and smoke from biomass burning. Aerosols are important to study and monitor because they have direct and indirect effects on regional weather and global climate. Additionally, tracking aerosols carried on the winds let scientists see the currents in our atmosphere.

In this hands-on activity, students will use real NASA satellite data from the Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) to examine the transport of desert dust off the west coast of Africa. Their goal will be to determine the location of the greatest concentrations of aerosols during the course of a year in the tropical Atlantic region and their relationship to cloud coverage. Tropical Atlantic Aerosols & Clouds