A group of 200 scientists from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Friday presented their mission to study clouds with the goal of better understanding how they play into global warming and other weather phenomena. The project is based out of Juan Santamaría International Airport, northwest of San José.

President Oscar Arias and U.S. Ambassador Mark Langdale were among those present at the event.

The project -- called Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling – aims to examine how chemical components are transported vertically into the atmosphere, affecting clouds and the earth's climate, according to a statement from Casa Presidencial.

Two airplanes, satellites and dozens of meteorological balloons are among equipment the scientists are using to collect data. U.S. universities and international agencies are also part of the mission, and the National Center for High Technology is acting as NASA's Costa Rican counterpart.

The two planes made the mission's first data-collection flight July 17, and since then they have made three more, according to the daily La Nación. They're scheduled to continue making flights through Aug. 17.

On one flight, a plane flew over Costa Rica's Caribbean coast to the Yucatan Peninsula and returned to Costa Rica's Pacific coast, said flight director Paul Newman.

The planes collected data from clouds, which they hope to use to evaluate changes and help predict natural disasters, as well as gain information about global warming and other human effects on the atmosphere.

-Tico Times