The researchers are measuring for the first time an array of chemicals that could shed light on ozone production, atmospheric cleansing and pollution transport in the northern latitudes. NCAR's primary sponsor, the National Science Foundation, is funding the experiment. Many more flight miles are added as the plane rises and falls to measure chemical compounds at various altitudes along the way. Churchill is a tourist spot for viewing white whales in the summer and polar bears in the fall. Churchill's aircraft facilities are a runway and fuel.
Staff take turns staying up all night to tend heaters and instruments.
From Churchill, the team sometimes flies another 1,400 miles to Thule, Greenland, and then on to Alert. Sometimes I wonder how we got into this. But the scientific questions are so important that it's worth the hardship. Meanwhile, in the stratosphere above, the returning springtime sun triggers chemical reactions that deplete ozone, creating a smaller, northern version of the Antarctic ozone hole. Scientists suspect that some ozone sinks from the stratosphere into the troposphere.