Michael Braukus

Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

(Phone: 202/358-1547)
September 23, 1992

Jean Drummond Clough

Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
(Phone: 804/864-6122)

RELEASE: 92-155

SCIENCE EXPEDITION TARGETS NEW ATMOSPHERIC OZONE

POLLUTION

More than 200 scientists from 13 countries are participating

in a science expedition, spearheaded by NASA, to investigate
newly discovered concentrations of harmful ozone over large
regions of southern Africa and Brazil.

Believed linked to massive biomass burning on the two

continents, the pool of ozone pollution was recently uncovered
by satellite analysis. Biomass burning is the consumption by
fire of forests or fields. Unlike stratospheric ozone, which is
a critical shield against harmful ultraviolet radiation, ozone
in the lower atmosphere is a pollutant.

Investigation of the new phenomenon will employ a variety of

high-tech instrumentation including observations from
satellites, aircraft and ground platforms. The field campaign,
which began in mid-September, will extend through most of
October.

In addition to satellite surveillance, NASA's DC-8 "flying

laboratory" from the Ames Research Center, Mountain View,
Calif., will participate. The Space Shuttle Endeavour, on its
September mission, photographed African and South American smoke
palls to provide new visual perspective on the nature of the
emissions.
 The South American iinvestigation is a joint effort between
the space agencies of the United States and Brazil. Satellites,
specially instrumented Brazilian aircraft, the NASA DC-8 and
balloon-borne sampling platforms will be used to address the
source areas in central Brazil and track the long-range
distribution of gases as they move into the southern tropical
Atlantic.

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The African portion of the experiment is a collaboration of

European, African and North American scientists to investigate
fires in savanna (grassland containing scattered trees and
undergrowth) in southern Africa, movement of fires across that
continent and the relationship between fires, savanna ecology
and atmospheric chemistry. Measurements from ground, tower,
balloon and airborne platforms will be integrated with data from
the Brazilian investigation and with satellite observations.

Scientists in both projects acknowledge that the movements

and chemical mechanisms of this ozone anomaly are extremely
complex and that explanations up to this point have been
speculative. These new investigations will be the first to
provide concrete insights on the global impact of tropical
biomass burning.

Some scientists believe the effects of emissions from the

biomass burning on the atmosphere's chemistry are comparable to
those from fossil fuels in the northern latitudes. The
emissions from the burning undoubtedly have some effect on the
Earth's climatic balance, but whether this could lead to net
warming or cooling is still open to speculation.

Scientists should get a better understanding of the processes

involved in these mechanisms when the data are analyzed and
interpreted.

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