The atmosphere and other components of the Earth system present scientists with complex puzzles to be solved. To get a better grasp on these problems, major field campaigns involving dozens to hundreds of researchers, often from a wide spectrum of academic disciplines and many national and international institutions, must be staged. The Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) expertly manages the staging and instrumentation of these programs. Over weeks or months, they deploy a host of sensors and bring back large quantities of data for analysis. Some results emerge quickly, while others take years of work to uncover. Computer models draw heavily on the knowledge gleaned from field programs.
The “HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO) of Carbon Cycle and Greenhouse Gases Study” provides the first comprehensive, global survey of atmospheric trace gases, covering the full troposphere in all seasons and multiple years
Prediction and understanding of tropical cyclogenesis remains one of the most challenging aspects of atmospheric science.