Aircraft Meteorological and Navigational Data from ACT-America Campaigns

Five years of aircraft-based meteorological and navigational data collected during five intensive field campaigns across the central and eastern United States. The dataset includes measurements like latitude, longitude, altitude, ground speed, air temperature, and wind speed and direction from two NASA aircraft platforms. It was produced by the ORNL_CLOUD organization in support of the NASA ACT-America project, with data last updated in July 2019.

Use Cases

• Analyze correlations between altitude, air temperature, and wind speed to study atmospheric boundary layer dynamics.
• Model aircraft trajectory and ground speed for geospatial mapping of sampling paths and instrument co-registration.
• Validate satellite-derived wind or temperature products using in-situ measurements of wind speed/direction and air temperature.
• Investigate seasonal and regional variations in meteorological conditions using data spanning four seasons and three U.S. regions.

Strengths

• Data collected over five years across five distinct field campaigns.
• Covers four seasons and three geographic regions in the central and eastern United States.
• Includes high-quality in-situ measurements from two dedicated NASA research aircraft.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage ends with the last update in 2019, limiting analysis of recent atmospheric conditions.
• Specific sample size, row count, and data completeness metrics are unknown.
• Geographic coverage is limited to the central and eastern U.S., not global.

Provenance

Source

NASA Atmospheric Carbon and Transport-America (ACT-America) project, via ORNL_CLOUD.

Collection Method

In-situ measurements collected by instruments aboard the NASA Langley B200 King Air and NASA Goddard C-130H Hercules aircraft.

Time Range

Spanning five years of project missions, including five 6-week field campaigns.

Freshness

Last updated 2019-07-27; no update frequency stated.

Geography

Central and eastern United States, covering three distinct regions.