An additional goal is to create a template for monitoring atmospheric aerosol distributions for local and regional entities complying with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencies regulations on air quality. This is a consequence of better understanding of the production of anthropogenic troposphere aerosols. These aerosols are suspected to have doubled the amount of solar radiation scattered back into space and thus play an indirect role in climate change. A second effect that has received more interest as of late is the effect of aerosols, natural and anthropogenic, on human health. Also the regular inhalation of aerosols is suspected to be a key factor in upper respitory ailments in children and the elderly.
Ground based monitoring systems are in place.
A major question about ground based monitoring is whether or not the particles undergo chemical changes when collected on filters. If there are reactions on the filters, errors are present upon analysis of the filter. This implies that the best time to analyze the aerosols is when they are suspended in the atmosphere. Both, reflection of solar radiation and inhalation occur when the particles are suspended in the atmosphere. The initial phase of the project will be the analysis of existing models multi-scattering theory.