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NASA funded researchers have
linked unexplained pockets of

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ozone over the Western Pacific
Ocean to fires thousands of

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miles away. The findings are
from a 2014 field campaign over

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the remote island of Guam.
Scientists took to the air

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aboard flying laboratories
filled with instruments to study

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the chemistry of the atmosphere.
Measurements taken along flight

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paths up to 30,000 feet revealed
areas with levels of ozone that

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were three times higher than
normal. So while

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ozone is an important shield
against ultraviolet radiation in

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the upper atmosphere, in the
lower atmosphere it is a very

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strong greenhouse gas. So what
we were trying to explore, is

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what was causing these very high
levels of ozone in the Pacific.

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The answer came from two
chemicals found with the ozone

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linked to forest fires and the
burning of vegetation. As these

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fires burn, a mix of organic
compounds and gases that react

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to form ozone are released into
the atmosphere.  They’re then

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transported by winds, sometimes
thousands of miles from their

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source. Using a
computer model, we traced the

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winds back in time to their
origins so we could figure out

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the source of these chemicals.
What the model and satellite

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data showed, is that these
chemicals were coming from fires

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in Africa and Southeast Asia.
The red and orange lines in this

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visualization trace the path of
high concentrations of

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ozone-filled air detected in the
Western Pacific to their source.

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The air could be traced back ten
to fifteen days to fires in

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Southeast Asia and tropical
Africa. In one of the remotest

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parts of the Northern
Hemisphere, we’re seeing impacts

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from fires that are happening
half a world away. So what I

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think is important about this
study, is that it helps us

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connect these fires in Africa
and Southeast Asia to processes

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that are happening across the
globe.