Taking the air
In 1999, scientists converged on the Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station, Tas, to take part in SOAPEX, the southern hemisphere's largest investigation of atmospheric photochemistry. During the six week experiment, air measurements were taken from land, sea and air. The aim was to study what happens when light shines on the atmosphere boundary layer above the ocean, the area in which gases are mixed. The study yielded a catalogue of chemicals involved in photochemical reactions in unpolluted air and will lead to significant advances in the understanding of key atmospheric processes.