NDACC recognizes the importance of new measurement capabilities and of existing capabilities whose heritage was developed external to NDACC, and has encouraged Network affiliation with such measurements.
News and Events for 2009
Since the onset of formal operations, NDACC (formerly NDSC) has designated several specific instrument types as official measurement capabilities. These are: Dobson / Brewer Spectrometers, Fourier Transform IR Spectrometers (FTIRs), Lidars (temperature, ozone, and aerosol), Microwave Radiometers, and UV/Visible Spectrometers.
In the early days of NDACC (then NDSC), the Infrared Working Group (IRWG) targeted the retrieval of total columns of several gases considered of primary importance to the original goals of the Network. These goals focused on increasing our understanding of ozone chemistry and, in the post-Montreal Protocol period, observing the accumulation (and hopefully the eventual decline) of Cly and Fy in the stratosphere.
At the 2008 NDACC Steering Committee meeting, an ad hoc working group was established to review existing and assess future Network measurement strategies and emphases in light of the broadening of Network goals over those established at its inception.
At the 2008 NDACC Steering Committee meeting, a decision was made to remove the "Primary" and "Complementary" designations of NDACC measurement sites / stations. These original terminologies were instituted at the inception of the Network for designating a minimum of five stations with long-term measurement commitments.