GTE Rationale

The research challenges of an international Global Tropospheric Chemistry Program (GTCP) demand a broadly-based program. The resources required are distributed among several federal agencies, scores of universities, and a variety of scientific disciplines--including atmospheric science, biology, land processes, and oceanography. It was already clear in 1984 that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) would play a leading role in such a program. Some GTCP objectives require large-scale field studies and the most advanced instrumentation. NASA brings together unique research facilities, strength in atmospheric science, technical expertise, and management skills needed to address the challenges of the GTCP.

The Global Tropospheric Experiment (GTE) utilizes large, extensively instrumented aircraft as primary research tools. However, GTE also draws heavily upon satellite observations of meteorology, land use, and atmospheric chemical species to aid in experiment design and in the scientific analyses of results obtained from aircraft and ground-based measurements. The GTE, managed through the Tropospheric Chemistry Program in the Earth Science Enterprise, at NASA Headquarters, was initiated in the early 1980s. Implementation of the GTE Project is via a Project Office in the Atmospheric Sciences Competency at the NASA Langley Research Center.