Current State of the Arctic Atmosphere as Observed by the NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) Mission

The Arctic is changing rapidly, particularly the cryosphere where large and fast reductions in sea ice, land ice, and snow cover are impacting all natural and anthropogenic Arctic Systems. The Arctic atmosphere is both contributing to the forcing driving these changes through poleward transport of heat and short-lived climate forcing pollutants (SLCFP: aerosol, CH₄, O₃) and responding in ways that are not fully understood to modified surface energy balance and surface-atmosphere exchange processes within the Arctic. ATom provides multiple vertical profiles of the SLCFP and many additional trace gas tracers of sources across the North American Arctic in August 2016 and February 2017 that augment our knowledge of the current state of the Arctic atmosphere based on long-term surface-based observations from stations throughout the basin. We will assess the degree to which seasonal and secular trends observed at surface stations are reflected in the Arctic troposphere by comparing ATom observations to long station records and to the vertical profiles measured during the earlier airborne campaigns TOPSE (February through May, 2000) and ARCTAS (April and July, 2008).