High Above Erie, Something Unexpected in the Air

photo: Will von Dauster, NOAA

A chemical compound that's common near the oceans is also part of the atmospheric make up over Colorado - and researchers are trying to learn why.  The answer could be important both to local air quality, and global climate change.  In a project in Weld County, about a ton of scientific instruments ride up and down the Erie Tower, taking measurements at different levels while scientists study the results on the ground below. Colorado Public Radio's Mike Lamp talks with Steve Brown, who leads the project for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder.