MILAGRO: Megacity Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations

Summary

The Megacity Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations (MILAGRO) project brought an international research team of hundreds of scientists and students including Mexican investigators and collaborating Mexican government agencies to the Mexico City area and Veracruz in March 2006. The goal of MILAGRO was to conduct measurements of pollutants and other trace gases, aerosol particles, and to study the atmospheric processes leading to the formation of secondary aerosols from precursor gases, and the transport and transformations of these gases and aerosols on local, regional, and global scales. MILAGRO along with model studies will integrate this vast amount of information into new insights on the chemistry of the atmosphere in a large urbanized region, as well as the impact of these on larger geographical scales. The MILAGRO Campaign was done in close collaboration with four simultaneous measurement campaigns: Mexico City Metropolitan Area - 2006 Experiment (MCMA-2006), Megacity Aerosol Experiment (MAX-Mex), Megacity Impacts on Regional and Global Environments (MIRAGE-Mex), and Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment-B (INTEX-B).