Tropospheric Studies Tropospheric Studies Ozone in the troposphere is a greenhouse gas, a health hazard and harmful to plants and materials. In contrast to stratospheric ozone, which is necessary for life on earth, increases in tropospheric ozone are a cause for concern.
Tropospheric ozone is highly variable.
Highest concentrations are typically found in the upper troposphere, where air mixes with ozone-rich stratospheric air, and in polluted urban regions in summer. Before satellites provided a daily picture of global total ozone, scientists assumed the middle troposphere and the remote tropical troposphere were clean since they were usually removed from these two sources. Now troposheric ozone research is rapidly studying and trying to understand the processes responsible for the global tropospheric ozone distribution. In order to understand tropospheric ozone, the Tropospheric Studies group performs computer simulation of trace gas chemistry and transport to assess effects on global chemistry and climate change. We are active in planning, conducting and analyzing field data from NASA aircraft experiments, particularly those involving the link between chemistry, convection and biomass burning on ozone.