Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division
The Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (ATDD) of Oak Ridge Associated Universities works closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) division of the same name. Their mission is to perform research directed toward issues of national and global importance in the areas of air quality, contaminant dispersion, and climate. The group's emphasis is on studying the lower atmosphere.
NOAA/ATDD is one of several field divisions of NOAA's Air Resources Laboratory, headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland. ORISE/ATDD falls under the auspices of the Independent Environmental Assessment and Verification (IEAV) program.
ATDD began as a Weather Bureau Special Projects research office in 1948 under Atomic Energy Commission sponsorship in Oak Ridge. Major contributions to many of the classic models of air pollution dispersion were made there. ATDD continues as a source of meteorological information and expertise for the Department of Energy and its contractors in Oak Ridge, though its activities have expanded well beyond. It now operates primarily as a NOAA research organization.
ATDD's objectives are:
- To develop better methods for predicting transport and dispersion of air pollutants
- To improve understanding and modeling of air-surface exchange of water, energy, and carbon, so that their effect on the earth's climate may be better understood
- To make high-quality measurements in support of these efforts toward increased understanding
- To install and maintain a world-class long-term self-consistent system to monitor the climate over the whole of the United States (see the Climate Reference Network site at http://www.atdd.noaa.gov/uscrn.htm)
Learn more about ATDD on the ATDD Web site.
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| The Climate Reference Network (CRN) includes 86 measuring stations across the United States that use highly accurate and reliable sensors and gauges to measure temperature, wind speed and precipitation. The network allows scientists to study not simply weather, but actually the climate of an area over sustained periods, from 50 to 100 years. Pictured here is a recent addition to the CRN at the Mauna Loa Slope Observatory in Hawaii. |
