AJAX: Atmospheric Trace Gas and Meteorological Profiles Over California and Nevada
Updated 4mo ago
23filesBIN
Available on 1 platform
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Description
The Alpha Jet Atmospheric eXperiment (AJAX) dataset provides in-situ atmospheric measurements from routine aircraft flights over California, Nevada, and the coastal Pacific. The data includes calibrated mixing ratios for ozone, formaldehyde, carbon dioxide, and methane, along with 3-D winds and meteorological data, collected via multiple vertical profiles per flight over more than a decade. This project, a partnership between NASA Ames Research Center and H211, L.L.C., supports satellite validation for missions like OCO-2/3 and GOSAT.
Use Cases
Validate satellite sensor health and calibration for greenhouse gases based on in-situ trace gas measurements.
Analyze pollution transport events, such as forest fire plumes or long-range transport from Asia, based on vertical profile data.
Study urban outflow and local emissions from sources like gas leaks and oil fields using calibrated chemical mixing ratios.
Investigate meteorological phenomena like atmospheric rivers using the 3-D wind and meteorological data.
Complement surface and tower-based air quality observations for regional atmospheric chemistry studies.
Strengths
Data collected for over a decade across all seasons, providing long-term temporal coverage.
Includes rigorously-calibrated measurements for multiple trace gases (O3, HCHO, CO2, CH4) and 3-D winds.
Supports major satellite validation efforts for NASA's OCO-2/3 and Japan's GOSAT missions.
Celebrated its 200th science flight in 2016, indicating a substantial operational history.
Limitations
Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Data files are in specialized formats (BIN, XML, ISO, HTML, PDF), which may require specific tools for processing.
Provenance
Source
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center in partnership with H211, L.L.C.
Collection Method
Routine in-situ measurements collected via aircraft flights with a standard payload.
Time Range
Over a decade of regular collection (specific start date not provided).
Freshness
Last updated 2026-03-13 05:58:40.102248; freshness should be verified.
Geography
California, Nevada, and the coastal Pacific.
License is listed as 'other-license-specified'; specific terms must be reviewed before use.