The Lightweight Airborne Chromatograph Experiment (LACE) is a two-channel gas chromatograph (GC) that is designed for operation on balloons and remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) up to 32 km in altitude. LACE, similar to Airborne Chromatograph for Atmospheric Trace Species (ACATS), is a joint collaborative project between two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) labs: the Global Monitoring Division (GMD) and Chemical Sciences Division (CSD) in Boulder, CO. The first test flights of this new instrument will occur during a Stratopheric Tracers for Atmospheric Transport (STRAT) deployment located at Fort Sumner, NM in June 1996. The design and construction of LACE is supported in part by the Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) Program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Atmospheric Chemistry Project of NOAA's Climate and Global Change Program (C&GP). The operation of LACE for STRAT mission is supported in part by the High Speed Research Program (HSRP) of NASA, Upper Atmospheric Research Program of NASA, and the Atmospheric Chemistry Project of NOAA's C&CP.

Co-Principal Investigators: Drs. James W. Elkins and David W. Fahey
For more information, contact Dr. Fred L. Moore

• Lab at Ft. Sumner, NM
• A Balloon Launch
• Field Action Cam
• Test Flight Balloon Launch and Recovery
• Results from First Science Ready Flight in September 1996
• Seasonal Boundary Limits of the Tropical Pipe
• Mass Flux through the Tropics

Related Web Sites:

• NASA's Stratospheric Tracers for Atmospheric Transport (STRAT) home page
• National Scientific Balloon Facility home page