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The Atmospheric Carbon and Transport (ACT) -America Mission
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  • Kenneth Davis,
  • Edward Browell,
  • Sha Feng,
  • Thomas Lauvaux,
  • Michael Obland,
  • Sandip Pal,
  • Bianca Baier,
  • David Baker,
  • Ian Baker,
  • Zachary Barkley,
  • Kevin W Bowman,
  • Yu Yan Cui,
  • Scott Denning,
  • Joshua Digangi,
  • Jeremy Dobler,
  • Alan Fried,
  • Tobias Gerken,
  • Klaus Keller,
  • Bing Lin,
  • Amin Nehrir,
  • Caroline Normile,
  • Christopher O'Dell,
  • Lesley E Ott,
  • Anke Roiger,
  • Andrew Schuh,
  • Colm Sweeney,
  • Yaxing Wei,
  • Brad Weir,
  • Ming Xue,
  • Christopher Williams
Kenneth Davis
The Pennsylvania State University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Edward Browell
STARSS-III Affiliate
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Sha Feng
The Pennsylvania State University
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Thomas Lauvaux
Laboratoire des sciences du climat et de l'environnement
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Michael Obland
NASA Langley Research Center
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Sandip Pal
Texas Tech University
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Bianca Baier
University of Colorado
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David Baker
Colorado State University
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Ian Baker
Colorado State University
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Zachary Barkley
The Pennsylvania State University
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Kevin W Bowman
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Yu Yan Cui
The Pennsylvania State University
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Scott Denning
Colorado State University
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Joshua Digangi
NASA Langley Research Center
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Jeremy Dobler
Spectral Sensor Solutions LLC
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Alan Fried
University of Colorado
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Tobias Gerken
The Pennsylvania State University
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Klaus Keller
The Pennsylvania State University
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Bing Lin
NASA Langley Research Center
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Amin Nehrir
NASA Langley Research Center
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Caroline Normile
The Pennsylvania State University
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Christopher O'Dell
Colorado State University
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Lesley E Ott
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Anke Roiger
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt
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Andrew Schuh
Colorado State University
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Colm Sweeney
NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory
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Yaxing Wei
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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Brad Weir
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Ming Xue
University of Oklahoma
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Christopher Williams
Clark University
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Abstract

The Atmospheric Carbon and Transport (ACT) – America NASA Earth Venture Suborbital Mission set out to improve regional atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) inversions by exploring the intersection of the strong GHG fluxes and vigorous atmospheric transport that occurs within the midlatitudes. Two research aircraft instrumented with remote and in situ sensors to measure GHG mole fractions, associated trace gases, and atmospheric state variables collected 1140.7 flight hours of research data, distributed across 305 individual aircraft sorties, coordinated within 121 research flight days, and spanning five, six-week seasonal flight campaigns in the central and eastern United States. Flights sampled 31 synoptic sequences, including fair weather and frontal conditions, at altitudes ranging from the atmospheric boundary layer to the upper free troposphere. The observations were complemented with global and regional GHG flux and transport model ensembles. We found that midlatitude weather systems contain large spatial gradients in GHG mole fractions, in patterns that were consistent as a function of season and altitude. We attribute these patterns to a combination of regional terrestrial fluxes and inflow from the continental boundaries. These observations, when segregated according to altitude and air mass, provide a variety of quantitative insights into the realism of regional CO2 and CH4 fluxes and atmospheric GHG transport realizations. The ACT-America data set and ensemble modeling methods provide benchmarks for the development of atmospheric inversion systems. As global and regional atmospheric inversions incorporate ACT-America’s findings and methods, we anticipate these systems will produce increasingly accurate and precise sub-continental GHG flux estimates.