Atmospheric Composition and the Asian Monsoon (ACAM)

APARC/IGAC joint activity

Activity leaders

Michelle Santee (co-lead)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA

Ritesh Gautam (co-Lead)
Environmental Defense Fund, USA

Scientific Steering Group Members

Bhupesh Adhikary
ICIMOD, Nepal

Jianchun Bian
Institute of Atmospheric Physics, CAS, China

Mian Chin
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, USA

Jim Crawford
NASA Langley Research Center, USA

Federico Fierli
EUMETSAT, Italy

Ritesh Gautam
Environmental Defense Fund, USA

Laura Pan
National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA

Xiaohua Pan
ADNET/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, USA

Michelle Santee (SPARC Liaison)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA

Hans Schlager
DLR, Germany

Chang-Keun Song
National Institute of Environmental Research, Korea

Hiroshi Tanimoto (IGAC-Asia Liaison)
National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan

Jonathon Wright
Tsinghua University, China

Working Group leads:

Jianchun Bian (WG1 co-Lead)
IAP/CAS, China

Gabi Stiller (WG1 co-Lead)
Karlsruher Institute for Technology, IMK, Germany

Klaus-Dirk Gottschaldt (WG1 co-Lead)
DLR, Germany

Chang-Keun Song(WG1 co-Lead)
UNIST, Korea

Jonathan Wright (WG2 co-Lead)
Tsinghua University, China

Xiaohua Pan(WG2 co-Lead)
NASA, USA

Bhupesh Adhikary (ICIMOD liaison; WG3 co-Lead)
ICIMOD, Nepal

Ritesh Gautam (WG3 co-Lead)
Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay), India

Federico Fierli (WG3 co-Lead)
EUMETSAT, Germany

Activity description

ACAM is a joint IGAC/SPARC activity. Scientifically, the initiative focuses on four themes, each representing a key aspect of the connection between atmospheric composition and Asian monsoon dynamics:

  1. Emissions and air quality;
  2. Aerosols and clouds;
  3. Convection and chemistry;
  4. UTLS Response to the Asian Monsoon

Organizationally, the initiative invites the participation around three working groups:

  • WG1 – Observations and data sharing
  • WG2 – Modeling and analysis
  • WG3 – Training school for early career scientists

As a weather pattern, the Asian monsoon impacts the lives of more than a billion people. With rapid population and economic growth of the regional countries in the recent decade, it becomes a pressing concern that the monsoon convection coupled to surface emissions is playing a significant role in the region’s air quality. The uplift of pollutants also enhances aerosol–cloud interactions that may change the behavior of the monsoon. The chemical transport effect of the monsoon system is seen from satellites as an effective transport path for pollutants to enter the stratosphere. The monsoon system is therefore relevant to scales and processes bridging regional air quality, climate change, and global chemistry-climate interaction. Accurate representation of this system in global chemistry-climate models is critical to predicting how this evolving region may contribute to future change. To characterize and quantify the impact of the system, integrated study is essential, including observations (in situ and remote sensing) from the surface through the troposphere and stratosphere as well as modeling from regional to global scales. To be successful in this pursuit, it is necessary to build strong international collaborations to obtain the diverse expertise, resources, and access to the monsoon region for international research teams. The ACAM activity represents a critical step in building these international relationships. For more information, visit the ACAM Website.

Meetings
2021
2019
2017
2016
2015
  • 2nd ACAM workshop, 8-10 June 2015, Bangkok, Thailand.
  • 1st ACAM training school, 11-12 June, 2015, Bangkok, Thailand
2014
  • Special session on Atmospheric Composition and the Asian Summer Monsoon (ACAM)
    at AOGS2014 (Asian Oceanic and Geosciences Society), 28 July-1 August 2014, Sapporo, Japan.
  • IGAC Science Conference side meeting and poster.
2013

Published results

Journal publications:

Randel, W. J., Laura, L., and J. Bian, 2016: Workshop on dynamics, transport and chemistry of the UTLS Asian Monsoon. Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, 33(9), pp 1096–1098.

SPARC activity updates:

SPARC Newsletter No. 46, 2016, p. 20: Report on the 2nd Workshop on Atmospheric Composition and the Asian Monsoon (ACAM), by L. Pan and J. Crawford.

SPARC Newsletter No. 42, 2014, p. 40: Report on the Atmospheric Composition and the summer Asian Monsoon (ACAM) Workshop, 9-12 June 2013, Kathmandu, Nepal, by L. Pan, J. Crawford, H. Tanimoto, M. Lawrence, A. Panday, S. Suresh Babu, B. Barret, H. Schlager, P. Konopka, and J. Bian.

Website for further information

ACAM: https://www2.acom.ucar.edu/acam