The Models, In situ, and Remote sensing of Aerosols (MIRA) Working Group
Announcing the 2025 MIRA-WG Workshop in Athens, Greece... Click Here for More Info!
There is a natural partitioning of scientific interest amongst three specialties of aerosol research: modeling, in situ measurements, and remote sensing. The community sees enhanced measurement capabilities when these groups interact, and this strengthens the overall scientific impact on climate and air quality. The Models, In situ, and Remote sensing of Aerosols (MIRA) working group connects members of the different aerosol communities through collaborative projects.
MIRA is forum that fosters international collaborations amongst the aerosol Modeling, In situ, and Remote sensing specialties.
MIRA advances scientific knowledge about aerosol properties and improves our understanding of air quality, weather, and climate through the pursuit
of specific goals. MIRA emphasizes areas of study where the aerosol specialties overlap, and MIRA projects seek additional data from others
(observational and modeled).
The purpose of MIRA is to contextualize both observations and model results through the encouragement of holistic projects and collaborations.
Linking aerosol disciplines removes gaps in understanding that hinder our interpretation of observations and model results. Such linkages improve our
understanding of air quality, weather, and climate.
MIRA focuses on interdisciplinarity to improve measurements and their utility, so MIRA complements the activities of other groups. For example, ensemble model runs of AeroCom could be used in a MIRA project with greater robustness than a similar effort that uses single-model analyses.
Other interdisciplinary aerosol groups have different primary foci. For instance, AeroCom mainly focuses on improving global aerosol models, AeroSat focuses on strengthening collaboration amongst satellite aerosol retrieval groups, and ICAP focuses on aerosol forecasting. We hope that many MIRA projects engage these groups.
• Encourage projects that facilitate links between modeling and measurements of particulate pollution.
• Encourage projects that use interdisciplinary knowledge to develop and improve aerosol remote sensing techniques.
• Encourage a community database of aerosol optical tables that easily allows new contributions and updates.
• Fostering communication by building webpages and community databases.
• Bi-annual side meetings at IGAC; work towards becoming a recognized IGAC working group.
• Additional in-person and virtual meetings as appropriate.
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