Aircraft Flux-Filtered Data from FIFE Boundary Layer Study

NCAR King Air aircraft data from the FIFE-1987 and FIFE-1989 campaigns provides airborne measurements of the daytime convective atmospheric boundary layer. The dataset includes vertical and horizontal wind gusts, humidity, potential temperature, radiation parameters, and derived fluxes of sensible heat, moisture, and momentum. Data was collected by the ORNL_CLOUD organization, with the most recent platform update noted in 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the structure and physical processes of the daytime convective boundary layer using vertical wind, temperature, and humidity measurements.
• Estimating surface-atmosphere fluxes of sensible heat, moisture, and momentum from high-pass filtered fast-response sensor data.
• Studying spatial variation in boundary layer properties by correlating surface measurements with airborne data on horizontal wind speed and linear trends.
• Investigating radiation budgets and energy balance using measured parameters like global shortwave, longwave, and upwelling/downwelling radiation.
• Validating or improving boundary layer models with in-situ measurements of altitude (from radar/pressure), geographical position, and atmospheric state variables.

Strengths

• Dataset is described as having excellent overall quality with very little loss of data.
• Fluxes were derived from fast-response measurements processed with a specific high-pass filter algorithm (third order, break point at 0.012 Hz).
• Measurements include multiple coordinated components: aircraft data, surface measurements, balloon profiles, and remote sensing (SODAR/lidar).

Limitations

• Vertical wind sampling at 5 Hz instead of the customary 10 Hz may compromise estimates of turbulence dissipation.
• Radar altitude measurement, while more accurate, was only valid below approximately 930 meters.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist between platforms (1989-10-31 and 2026-03 13), indicating potential metadata inconsistency.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD / NCAR King Air participation in FIFE

Collection Method

Airborne measurement via instrumented aircraft during coordinated field campaigns.

Time Range

1987 to 1989

Freshness

2026-03-13 18:37:07.994019

Geography

FIFE (First ISLSCP Field Experiment) study area.