Stratosphere and Upper-Tropospheric Aerosols (SUTA), 1996 - 2003 or earlier

  • Advanced research on the dispersal and decay mechanisms for stratospheric aerosols. SUTA sought to find out if stratospheric aerosols serve as nuclei for cloud formation in the upper troposphere and stratosphere and if there is “background” stratospheric aerosol, what the source is. SUTA sought to find out if volcanic emissions on the stratosphere are adequately characterized in current models. SUTA also sought to find out if stratospheric aerosols are frozen or if they exist as supercooled liquid particles at low temperatures.