The CSIRO archive of the Atmospheric Life Experiment (ALE) datasets which was designed to determine accurately the atmospheric concentrations of the four halocarbons CFCl3, CF2Cl2, CH3CCl3, and CCl4, and also of N2O with emphasis on measurement of their long-term trends in the atmosphere. Comparison of these concentrations and trends for the four halocarbons with estimates of their industrial emission rates then enabled calculations of their global circulation rates and globally averaged atmospheric lifetimes. The ALE project was the precursor of the GAGE (Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment) and thereafter AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment) global observing system that has been continuously measuring the composition of the atmosphere since. This particular dataset represents measurements taken utilizing automated dual-column electron-capture gas chromatographs which sample the background air about 4 times daily at the following globally distributed sites: Adrigole, Ireland; Cape Meares, Oregon; Ragged Point, Barbados; Cape Matatula, American Samoa; and Cape Grim, Tasmania. Officially ALE ran for the time period from 1978-1981, although data was continued to be logged until 1986 and is available in yearly files either in Ascii (.txt), Ascii decimal date(.dat) or binary file decimal date format(.dat.bin).

The CSIRO archive of the Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (GAGE) datasets which were designed to determine accurately the atmospheric concentrations of the five halocarbons CFCl3, CF2Cl2, CH3CCl3, CCl4 and CCL2FCCLF2 and also of N2O & CH4 with emphasis on measurement of their long-term trends in the atmosphere. Comparison of these concentrations and trends for the five halocarbons with estimates of their industrial emission rates then enabled calculations of their global circulation rates and globally averaged atmospheric lifetimes. The GAGE project was the continuation and expansion of the ALE (Atmospheric Life Experiment) and precursor to the AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment) global observing system that has been continuously measuring the composition of the atmosphere since. This particular dataset represents measurements taken utilizing automated dual-column electron-capture gas chromatographs which sample the background air about 12 times daily at the following globally distributed sites: Adrigole, Ireland; Cape Meares, Oregon; Ragged Point, Barbados; Cape Matatula, American Samoa; and Cape Grim, Tasmania. Officially GAGE ran for the time period from 1981-1985, although data was continued to be logged until 1996 and is available in yearly files either in Ascii (.txt), Ascii decimal date(.dat) or binary file decimal date format(.dat.bin).