Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Aerosol Program

IASOA working groups collaborate closely with relevant global programs.  An example of this is the overlap between members of the Black Carbon working group and the WMO's Global Atmosphere Watch Aerosol Expert Group.  This collaboration assures that IASOA is following best practices, integrating our data products with global networks and informing global initiatives about Arctic-specific issues.  In 2013, the Black Carbon Working Group initiated a process to get all IASOA aethalometer data submitted to the responsible WMO World Data Center (www.ebas.org) following a standardized, Level 0 submission process.  

The following link provides access to information on the GAW Aerosol Program: http://www.wmo-gaw-sag-aerosol.org/aerosol-program.html

It is the goal of GAW to ensure long-term measurements in order to detect trends and reasons for them (WMO, 2001a). With respect to aerosols, the objective of GAW is to determine the spatio-temporal distribution of aerosol properties related to climate forcing and air quality up to multi-decadal time scales. While much of the recent international focus has been directed at assessing the impact of human activities on regional and global scales, there is growing recognition that the management of urban environments requires special attention, and has resulted in an increasing interest in regional air quality within WMO....