The Southern Hemisphere Marine Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-1) of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Project (IGAC) was the first of a series of experiments that will quantify the chemical and physical processes controlling the evolution and properties of the atmospheric aerosol relevant to radiative forcing and climate. The objectives of this series of process studies are to provide the necessary data to incorporate aerosols into global climate models and to reduce the overall uncertainty in the calculation of climate forcing by aerosols. The goal of ACE-1 was to document the chemical, physical, radiative and cloud nucleating properties and determine the controlling processes of the aerosol in the remote marine atmosphere.
ACE-1 was successfully completed on 15 December 1995. The experiment involved the efforts of over 100 research scientists from 11 countries and included coordinated measurements from the NCAR C-130 aircraft, the NOAA research vessel Discoverer, the Australian fisheries research vessel Southern Surveyor, and land based stations at Cape Grim and Macquarie Island, Australia and the western coast of New Zealand.