Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 7, 1994                   TAG: 9404070315
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

SHUTTLE BRINGING SCIENTIST A LONG-AWAITED GIFT

Peters - who wears three hats as Tech's vice provost for research, dean of the graduate school and chemical engineering professor - will use data on air pollution collected on the flight to refine computer models of atmospheric carbon monoxide movement.

The "measurement of air pollution from satellite," or the MAPS experiment, is the only NASA-borne experiment looking at gaseous pollutants in the troposphere, Peters said this week. The troposphere includes the first 6 to 8 kilometers above the Earth's surface.

Carbon monoxide from man-made and natural sources interacts with other atmospheric chemicals to form carbon dioxide, a so-called greenhouse gas. In doing that, it may be using up the atmosphere's supply of hydroxyl radicals, which serve as a "sink" for carbon monoxide and are key to breaking down and removing greenhouse gases.

"So it's all tied up together," Peters said.

Carbon dioxide is considered a greenhouse gas because it's been implicated in global warming, he explained. The prevailing theory blames excessive carbon dioxide for trapping infra-red radiation from the Earth - much as a real greenhouse does - thus raising atmospheric temperatures.

Computer models make it easier to predict the likely fate of atmospheric carbon monoxide under various weather conditions, Peters said.

"If we understand that fate, then we can do experiments with the [computer] models that we cannot do naturally," such as raising atmospheric carbon monoxide levels to see the probable effects. Providing a basis for government to control both man-made and natural carbon monoxide emissions is a long-term goal, Peters said.

"We've been waiting for this for 10 years," the professor said of the flight, which already has been delayed one day. Data from MAPS experiments aboard shuttle flights in 1981 and 1984 confirmed that burning of forest and grasslands in South America and Africa were major sources of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. Another source is the internal combustion engine.

Natural sources derive from methane - or swamp gas - from decaying vegetation in moist areas, such as rice paddies and large marshes. Peters said man-made and natural sources contribute about equally to atmospheric carbon monoxide.

The latest Endeavour flight will provide data from a greater portion of the Earth's troposphere and will include much more of North America, Europe and Asia than the earlier flights. Additional data will be collected during future shuttle flights.

Peters said he's never even seen a shuttle launch - though he's been invited - and he'll stay in Blacksburg this time too. But, throughout the weeklong mission, he'll keep in close contact with other members of the research team.

The principal investigator in the project is Henry Reichle Jr. of NASA-Langley. Other members of the science team are in Brazil, Canada and Germany as well as within NASA and at other U.S. universities.