Science

STRIVE would observe the complex interactions connecting the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere to the surface and global atmosphere, providing unique, necessary data to understanding weather, climate, the ozone layer, and air quality.

STRIVE would deliver unprecedented spatio-temporal coverage of key observations to address challenges in four areas:

How is pollution transported around the globe? STRIVE’s fine vertical resolution and global sampling of atmospheric composition would allow a unique diagnosis of the vertical transport pathways connecting surface emissions to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). STRIVE would identify the origins, follow the fate, and quantify the global climate and air quality impacts of gases and aerosols in the outflow of convective storms lofting pollution and smoke to the UTLS.
How do changing winds, wildfires, and volcanoes affect the ozone layer? STRIVE would provide the observations necessary to understand how ozone layer recovery is affected by changing stratospheric circulation on monthly-to-interannual timescales. STRIVE would allow the first global characterization of atmospheric gravity waves that drive stratospheric circulation and its variability. STRIVE would enable a comprehensive view of the mechanisms perturbing stratospheric ozone after volcanic eruptions and extreme wildfires.
Is an extreme weather event about to happen? Large variations in stratospheric circulation and composition often precede anomalous surface weather—cold air outbreaks, floods, droughts, and heat waves—by several weeks. STRIVE observations are needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying this coupling, and thus improve weather predictability on timescales of weeks-to-months. STRIVE observations would allow a direct quantification of stratosphere-troposphere exchange, which is a critical source of ozone to the troposphere and affects surface air quality.
Can we untangle complex climate feedbacks in our atmosphere? Changes in stratospheric ozone and water vapor, tropical thin cirrus clouds, tropopause temperature and height constitute powerful but highly uncertain climate feedbacks. STRIVE measurements would provide information on the processes controlling the variability of these climate-relevant quantities in the UTLS.

An Ozone and Trace Gases Mission

STRIVE addresses the 2017 Decadal Survey Ozone and Trace Gases Targeted Observable, which calls for “vertical profiles of O3 and trace gases (including H2O, CO, NO2, CH4, and N2O).” In addition to providing these globally distributed observations with high vertical resolution and precision, the STRIVE mission concept goes further, observing multiple other gas species, as well as temperature, aerosol extinction, thin cirrus, polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs), and cloud/aerosol plume top height.

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