New England Air Quality Project DescriptionIn the summer of 2004
several separate field programs intensively studied the
photochemical, heterogeneous chemical and radiative environment
of the troposphere over North America, the North Atlantic Ocean,
and western Europe. Previous studies have indicated that the
transport of continental emissions, particularly from North
America, influences the concentrations of trace species in the
troposphere over the North Atlantic and Europe. An international
team of scientists, representing over 100 laboratories,
collaborated under the International Consortium for Atmospheric
Research on Transport and Transformation (ICARTT) umbrella to
coordinate the separate field programs in order to maximize the
resulting advances in our understanding of regional air quality,
the transport, chemical transformation and removal of aerosols,
ozone, and their precursors during intercontinental transport,
and the radiation balance of the troposphere. Participants
utilized nine aircraft, one