ACES: UAV-Triggered Cloud Electrification Data from Florida Thunderstorms

The ALTUS Cloud Electrification Study (ACES) dataset consists of high-frequency atmospheric measurements collected by a NASA UAV during August 2002. The uninhabited aerial vehicle ALTUS carried instruments including field mills, optical sensors, and a conductivity probe to collect data from above thunderstorms over southwestern Florida. Data collection was triggered by operator-selected events and recorded at 200KHz from the first 16 telemetry items on the aircraft.

Use Cases

• Analyzing thunderstorm development and dissipation based on triggered, high-frequency time-series data.
• Studying cloud electrification phenomena based on electric field mill and optical pulse sensor measurements.
• Modeling atmospheric conductivity based on data from the Gerdien Conductivity Probe.
• Investigating aircraft performance in storm environments based on accelerometer data.

Strengths

• Data was collected at a high sampling rate of 200KHz.
• Instruments include multiple sensor types (electric field, optical, magnetometer, accelerometer, conductivity probe).
• Data collection represents a first-of-its-kind use of a UAV for this type of atmospheric research.

Limitations

• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is from a single campaign in August 2002; temporal coverage is limited.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected via instruments on the ALTUS uninhabited aerial vehicle during overflights.

Time Range

August 2002

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 19:43:45.525846; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southwestern Florida, based at Naval Air Facility Key West.