One of the major breakthroughs of CAS is to forge international collaborations with outstanding scientists and thus create unprecedented new opportunities for young scientists and students. CAS researchers maintain a healthy balance between observations, theory and modeling.

CAS teamed up with UNEP and created a major international program to study how long range transport of air pollution impacts climate, agriculture, and health.

CAS researcher developed a parameterization scheme for deep convection. It is used in major climate models.

CAS researchers pioneered an optical technology for observing single particles.

The Atmospheric Aerosol Group investigates the behavior of aerosol particles in the Earth's atmosphere under both pristine marine and anthropogenically-influenced conditions. Measuring the properties of atmospheric structure and its chemical constituents is an important part of these investigations, for which our group has developed instruments that we have used in the field for airborne and shipboard observations. Field projects are an important part of our research effort, providing evidence of the role of aerosol particles in atmospheric chemistry, meteorology, and radiation. Interpreting the results of field projects involves both analysis with numerical models of aerosol evolution and laboratory investigations. The latter provides controlled conditions in which we can investigate the relative importance of different atmospheric mechanisms.

Project Atmospheric Brown Cloud (ABC): ABC was initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with financial support for the US component from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and from respective national agencies for participating member nations. The initial funding is for a five-year period beginning in 2003. The aim of the first phase of this program is to study the impact of atmospheric brown clouds on a number of parameters, including monsoon change, water balance, agriculture, and health. ABC scientists plan to establish a network of ground-based monitoring stations throughout the Indo-Asian and the Pacific regions to study the composition and seasonal patterns of brown clouds. UNEP has pledged to facilitate this long-term research program. CAS houses the ABC secretariat.

Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX): CAS is the lead institution for this international field experiment, conducted during 1998 and 1999 (description below) in the tropical Indian Ocean to understand the nature and magnitude of aerosol-climate forcing and the chemistry of ozone in the tropical Indian Ocean, Chief scientists: V. Ramanathan and P. J. Crutzen.

DSCOVR, formerly known as Triana: CAS is the lead institution for this satellite mission that will initiate a new approach for making remote sensing observations (description below). Chief scientist: F. P. J. Valero.

Atmospheric Radiation Measurements Enhanced Short-wave Experiment (ARESE); the experimental phase of ARESE was conducted in 1995 utilizing 3 aircraft, 1 satellite and 3 surface observatories located in north central Oklahoma. The objective of this program is to investigate the absorption of solar radiation by the cloudy and clear atmospheres to help resolve major discrepancies (about 8%) between theory and observations of the Earth's global radiative balance. Chief scientist: F. P. J. Valero

In addition, CAS participates actively in the following experiments: