Transport and processing of O₃ and O₃ precursors over the North Atlantic: An overview of the 1993 North Atlantic Regional Experiment (NARE) summer intensive

In the summer of 1993, airborne and ground-based measurements of O₃ and O₃ precursors were made in the North Atlantic region. These studies were made by an international team of scientists collaborating as part of the North Atlantic Regional Experiment, an activity of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program. Previous measurements [cf. Fehsenf eld et al, this issue] have indicated that the amount of O₃ produced from anthropogenic sources is greater than that reaching the lower troposphere in this region from the stratosphere and that ozone derived from anthropogenic pollution has a hemisphere wide effect at northern temperate latitudes. In this special issue the recently acquired data are used to better quantify the contribution of continental sources to the ozone levels over the North Atlantic. The aim of this overview is to provide the operational and logistical context of the study and to introduce the principal findings and conclusions that have been drawn from the results.