Researchers at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility initiated the Layered Atlantic Smoke Interactions with Clouds (LASIC) campaign on Ascension Island to investigate the influence of biomass burning (BB) aerosols on climate models. Located on the remote island of Ascension and overseen by the U.S. Department of Energy, scientists utilized Micro Pulse LiDAR (MPL) and other instruments to gather data over a 16-month period from June 2016 to October 2017. Their objective was to discern the effects of smoke emitted from agricultural field burning in southern Africa on the climate. This smoke traverses westward across the southeastern Atlantic Ocean, spanning over 4,500 miles (7,242 kilometers) to reach Brazil.