Airborne Lidar Column CO2 Measurements for ACT-America Campaigns

Column-average carbon dioxide concentrations were measured at a 0.1-second frequency during four airborne campaigns over the central and eastern United States. The data was collected by a Multi-functional Fiber Laser Lidar onboard a C-130 Hercules aircraft flying at altitudes up to 8 km for NASA's Atmospheric Carbon and Transport project. Campaigns occurred in Summer 2016, Winter 2017, Fall 2017, and Spring 2018.

Use Cases

• Analyzing regional carbon dioxide transport patterns using latitude, longitude, and altitude columns.
• Validating satellite-derived column CO2 products with direct airborne lidar measurements.
• Studying seasonal variations in atmospheric CO2 concentrations across the eastern USA.
• Integrating aircraft attitude data with CO2 readings to refine retrieval algorithms.

Strengths

• Data provides high-temporal-resolution measurements at a 0.1-second frequency during flights.
• Coverage includes four distinct seasonal campaigns from 2016 to 2018.
• Includes complete aircraft flight information such as latitude, longitude, altitude, and attitude.
• Collected using a specialized Multi-functional Fiber Laser Lidar instrument.

Limitations

• Key metadata like row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' date: one source lists 2026-03-13, while another lists 2018-05-20.
• The dataset does not include measurements from the Summer 2019 ACT-America campaign.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Airborne remote sensing using a Multi-functional Fiber Laser Lidar onboard a C-130 Hercules aircraft.

Time Range

Summer 2016 to Spring 2018

Freshness

2026-03 13 20:13:45.275808

Geography

Central and eastern regions of the United States