SPARC
Stratospheric Processes And their Role in Climate
A core project of the World Climate Research Programme
Publications (Newsletters / Reports)
Stratospheric processes play a significant role in the earth's climate. The absorption of solar radiation in the stratosphere by ozone modulates the solar forcing of climate. The concentrations of some stratospheric gases, principally ozone, carbon dioxide and water vapour, determine significant radiative forcing terms, and there is two-way interaction between stratospheric and tropospheric dynamics.
Recognising the importance of these processes for the climate system, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) set up, in 1992, a research project to study Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC). The principal objective of this project is to help the stratospheric research community focus on the issues of particular interest to climate. The Scientific Steering Group (SSG) of the SPARC project work towards this with the help of the SPARC office and the SPARC initiatives (working groups), through the SPARC newsletter, SPARC meetings and the preparation of SPARC reports, as well as the promotion of needed field measurement programs.
The objectives of SPARC are described in detail in the SPARC Implementation Plan (2009).
The SPARC Data Center has been opened in June 1999 and is archiving the SPARC relevant data to facilitate data exchanges between participating scientists.
News
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SPARC Neswletter # 34, January 2010 (.pdf)
- SPARC Implementation Plan, 2009 (.pdf)
- Vacancy Announcement: ESSP Science Officer
The Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) is delighted to announce an employment opportunity: Science Officer, ESSP Office, Paris, France. The ESSP Science Officer will facilitate the advancement of the Partnership and the implementation of its activities under the guidance of the ESSP Scientific Committee and Executive Officer. See PDF attached for more information. Deadline for applications: Dec 7, 2009. - Latest WCRP News No. 16 (December 2009)
- Final report from the June 2008 Cambridge, UK workshop on The Role of Halogen Chemistry in Polar Stratospheric Ozone Depletion (.pdf)
