INTEX-B

INTEX-B SCIENCE SPOTLIGHT

In January and February 2006 the University of North Dakota DC-8 team, together with the science investigators of the INTEX-B mission, successfully completed payload integration activities at the Grand Forks Air Force Base. The DC-8 aircraft and team departed Grand Forks on February 24 to begin the first set of INTEX-B flights out of Houston.

Click to view the Science Team presentations in a new window

INTEX-B DETAILS

DC-8 ROLE

INTEX-B will use the the DC-8 to validate satellite observations of troposphere composition, and researchers will coordinate between aircraft measurements, satellite observations, and models in the pursuit of the mission objectives. The long range and high altitude capability of the DC-8 enables INTEX-B researchers to investigate both the inflow of pollution to North America from Asia as well as the outflow and evolution of pollution from Mexico City. The DC-8 is the platform of choice for the task of large scale chemical characterization.

The DC-8 will be equipped with a comprehensive suite of in-situ and remote sensing instrumentation to provide chemical, physical and optical measurements. Priority measurements will include long-lived greenhouse gases, ozone and its precursors, aerosols and their precursors, radicals and their reservoirs, and chemical tracers of sources and transport.

The Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment - Phase B

INTEX-B is the second phase of a two phase experiment (INTEX-NA (North America)) that aims to understand the transport and transformation of gases and aerosols on transcontinental / intercontinental scales and assess their impact on air quality and climate.

INTEX VIDEO

View a video of Dr. Hanwant Singh, INTEX-B Lead Project Scientist, presenting an overview of the INTEX mission.
(Recorded February 10, 2006, at the University of North Dakota. Duration: 00:58:35)

GOALS

Quantify the transpacific transport and evolution of Asian pollution to North America and assess its implications for regional air quality and climate
Quantify the outflow and evolution of gases and aerosols from the Mexico City Megaplex
Investigate the transport of Asian and North American pollution to the eastern Atlantic and assess its implications for European air quality
Validate and refine satellite observations of troposphere composition
Map emissions of trace gases and aerosols and relate atmospheric composition and sources to sinks

MISSION FLIGHTS (PROPOSED)

MISSION FLIGHTS (ACTUAL)

INTEX-B FLIGHT REPORTS

2/22/2006	First test flight ND
2/24/2006	Test flight two - transit ND to TX
3/04/2006	Flight three - TX local 1
3/9/2006	Flight four - TX local 2
3/11/2006	Flight five - TX local 3
3/12/2006	Flight six - TX local 4
3/16/2006	Flight seven - TX local 5
3/19/2006	Flight eight - TX local 6
3/21/2006	Flight nine - science/transit TX to CA
4/17/2006	Flight ten - science/transit CA to HI
4/23/2006	Flight eleven - HI local 1
4/25/2006	Flight twelve - HI local 2
4/28/2006	Flight thirteen - HI local 3
4/30/2006	Flight fourteen - transit HI to AK
5/4/2006	Flight fifteen - AK local 1
5/7/2006	Flight sixteen - AK local 2
5/9/2006	Flight seventeen - AK local 3
5/12/2006	Flight eighteen - AK local 4
5/15/2006	Flight nineteen - transit AK to ND

MISSION PAYLOAD

LINKS

NASA's Earth Science Project Office hosts the official INTEX-B site.
NASA's Tropospheric Chemistry Integrated Data Center's INTEX-B Site.
NASA's Earth Observatory overview of the INTEX-B Mission.
NASA News' story on the INTEX-B Research Mission.
NASA's white paper on the INTEX-B Mission.