Read features and view multimedia related to NASA's role in the International Polar Year.
Visit the ARCTAS Web site maintained by NASA's Earth Science Project Office.
An international team of fire trackers, weather forecasters and various atmospheric scientists puzzle over computer models, satellite tracks and flight charts to determine how fires age.
While most citizens of the United States are celebrating the nation's independence during the July 4th weekend, more than 100 scientists, flight crew and mission support personnel from NASA and a variety of universities and government research agencies are working in northern Canada, gathering data in the second phase of the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites – or ARCTAS – field campaign.
NASA aircraft will follow the trails of smoke plumes from some of Earth's northernmost forest fires, examining their contribution to arctic pollution.
NASA is taking flight over the Arctic to uncover how pollution and wildfires may affect its atmosphere and sea ice.