Multiyear observations of the tropical Atlantic atmosphere: Multidisciplinary applications of the NOAA aerosols and ocean science expeditions

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) worked jointly with the Howard University NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences (NCAS) to support a series of multidisciplinary, trans-Atlantic Aerosols and Ocean Science Expeditions (AEROSE) onboard the blue-water NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown. The two organizations supported the series of AEROSE onboard the ship to acquire in situ and remotely sensed marine data during intensive observing periods in an effort to address the topics related to the measurement of African dust and smoke phenomena. One of the objectives of the combined effort was to assess the capability of environmental satellite observing systems for detecting and resolving processes of interest pertaining to Saharan and sub-Saharan trans-Atlantic outflows, including the evolution of dust and smoke aerosol distributions during transport.