ABoVE: Atmospheric Gas Concentrations from Airborne Flasks over Alaska and Canada, 2017

408 flask samples were collected during 55 flights over Alaska and Canada from April to November 2017. This dataset provides mole fractions of carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, and other trace gases from vertical profiles up to 6 km altitude. The data were derived from laboratory measurements by NASA to understand Arctic carbon cycling and permafrost thaw threats.

Use Cases

• Modeling vertical profiles of greenhouse gas concentrations based on the described altitude data.
• Analyzing seasonal trends in Arctic atmospheric composition based on the monthly sampling from April to November 2017.
• Integrating airborne gas data with ground-based flux tower and remote sensing measurements as mentioned in the description.
• Studying the correlation between different trace gases like CO2, CH4, CO, and N2O collected in the same flask samples.

Strengths

• Includes 408 flask samples providing a substantial number of measurement points.
• Covers six monthly campaigns from April to November 2017, offering seasonal perspective.
• Data collected from vertical profiles up to 6 km altitude, capturing atmospheric gradients.
• Measurements are crucial for understanding Arctic carbon cycling, as stated in the description.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from a specific 2017 campaign; temporal generalizability may be limited.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Laboratory measurements of whole air samples collected by Programmable Flask Packages (PFP) onboard an aircraft.

Time Range

April-November 2017

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 19:41:22.397444; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Alaska and the Yukon and Northwest Territories of Canada