The Aerosol Monitoring Project: Student/Teacher/Scientist Atmospheric Science for the 21st Century

为响应全球学习和观测造福环境项目（GLOBE）的机会公告，本项目旨在实现GLOBE的目标和宗旨，即将全球信息网络中的科学家和学童与更好地了解地球环境及其内部发生的变化的最终目标联系起来。该提案将继续支持现有协议，并利用GLOBE数据进行科学研究。该项目将继续支持大气气溶胶光学厚度（AOT）测量方案，该方案基于廉价的手持式太阳光度计和/或天空色卡。AOT的测量将向学生介绍空气污染、自然事件（如沙尘暴和森林火灾）、地表日照变化和哮喘发病率之间的联系。更高级的学生可以将这些数据用于研究辐射传递的比尔定律。这些测量将增强极为稀疏的地面AOT观测网络的数据。减少气溶胶全球辐射转移效应的不确定性是目前气候研究界最优先考虑的科学问题之一。大气雾霾层的存在会影响局部和全球的环境状况。能见度本身就是环境质量的一个重要参数，雾霾层不仅影响地球表面辐射传输平衡，还影响作为全球环境变化研究主要信息来源的光学遥感测量。此外，大量气溶胶的存在被认为会加重某些支气管疾病，如哮喘。学生将为雾霾层的研究提供定量测量。

In response to an Announcement of Opportunity for the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment Program (GLOBE) this project is designed to meet GLOBE goals and objectives of linking scientists and schoolchildren in a global information network with the ultimate goal of better understanding Earth's environment and changes that take place within it. This proposal will continue to support existing protocols, and conduct scientific research with GLOBE data. The project will continue to support the protocol for the measurement of Atmospheric Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT), which is based on an inexpensive hand-held sun photometer, and/or sky-color cards. Measurements of AOT will introduce students to the connections between air pollution, natural events such as dust storms and forest fires, variations in surface insolation, and incidences of asthma. More advanced students can use the data in studies of Beer's law for radiative transfer. These measurements will enhance data from extremely sparse networks of ground-based AOT observations. Reducing the uncertainties in the global radiative transfer effects of the aerosols s currently one of the highest scientific priorities of the climate studies community. Local and global environmental conditions are affected by the presence of atmospheric haze layers. Visibility is a major parameter in environmental quality in its own right and haze layers affect the surface radiative transfer balance of Earth as well as influencing optical remote sensing measurements which are a major source on information for study of global environmental change. In addition, presence of high amounts of aerosols is thought to aggravate certain bronchial conditions, such as asthma. Students will be contributing quantitative measurements to the study of haze layers.