First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE) Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment (ASTEX) MAGE Oceanus Meteorological Data

The Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment (ASTEX)/Marine Aerosol Gas Exchange (MAGE) experiment is a multinational effort to improve our capability for studying cloud-chemistry interactions and the air/sea fluxes that affect them. The primary purpose of ASTEX (with which MAGE collaborated) was to study the factors influencing the formation and dissipation of marine clouds. The specific goals of the MAGE atmospheric chemistry experiment in ASTEX included: - Develop and test a Lagrangian strategy for studying chemical and meteorological evolution in a tagged airmass, using ships, balloons, and aircraft. - Develop and test new techniques for estimating trace-gas and aerosol fluxes across the air/sea interface by comparison with traditional approaches. - Evaluate the impact of marine and continental aerosols on the formation and dissipation of stratocumulus clouds. - Compare the impacts of natural and anthropogenic sulphur, halogens, and hydrocarbons on marine aerosol chemistry. - Gain experience with multi-national and multi-agency field experiments as a means for addressing global tropospheric chemistry issues.