Collaborative Research: Analysis of Historic Spectral Plates for Atmospheric Composition Data

提高对气候变化的认识是当代环境科学的一个普遍重要的目标，但理解当前气候扰动和任何因果关系的关键可能在于更好地描述过去的气候记录。 丹佛大学和哈佛大学-史密森学会天体物理观测站的研究人员之间的这一合作项目将以数字方式保存1925-1950年期间在照相底片上获得的历史档案太阳观测记录，并从中提取二氧化碳、甲烷和臭氧等具有重要辐射意义的微量气体种类的大气成分数据。 独立测量的大气成分变化的这段时间的特点是快速旋转的“工业时代”的阶段，其中很少有直接的测量记录是在全球范围内提高目前的理解的人为和自然对气候变化的影响的基石。 该项目的更广泛影响包括保存一套非常重要的档案数据，这套数据是关于长期大气趋势的重要和独特的知识来源，从而可能促进今后各种气候相关研究。 通过丹佛大学的组成部分为本科生的参与提供支持，这将增加该机构年轻地球科学家的研究经验选择。

An improved understanding of climate change is a universally important goal of contemporary environmental science, but a critical key to understanding perturbations in present climate and any cause and effect relationships may well lie in better characterizing the past climate record. This collaborative venture between investigators at the University of Denver and the Harvard University-Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory will digitally preserve historical archive solar observational records acquired on photographic plates during the period 1925-1950 and extract from them atmospheric composition data for radiatively important trace gas species such as carbon dioxide, methane and ozone. Independent measurements of changes in atmospheric composition for this time period characterizing the rapid spin-up phase of the 'Industrial Age' and where few direct measurements are documented is at the cornerstone of enhancing present understanding of the anthropogenic and natural influences on climate change on a global scale. The broader impacts of this project include preserving a very important archival data set representing a significant and unique source of knowledge about long-term atmospheric trends, and thereby possibly facilitating a variety of climate relevant studies in the future. Support is provided for undergraduate participation through the University of Denver component that should enhance research experience options for young geoscientists at that institution.