ARCSIX: In-Situ Trace Gas Measurements from P-3B Aircraft

May–August 2024 data from the NASA ARCSIX campaign, featuring in-situ measurements of atmospheric trace gases collected onboard a P-3B aircraft over Greenland. The dataset includes concentrations of methane, carbon dioxide, and ozone, captured by a PICARRO G2401-m analyzer and a 2B Technologies ozone monitor. Its primary objective is to validate remote sensing algorithms and improve model parameterizations for Arctic sea ice, cloud, and aerosol monitoring.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-based atmospheric composition retrievals using in-situ airborne measurements.
• Analyzing the role of trace gases in the Arctic summer surface radiation budget.
• Studying the two-way interactions between atmospheric forcings and sea ice evolution.
• Improving parameterizations for Arctic cloud and aerosol processes in climate models.

Strengths

• Data collection is explicitly stated as complete, providing a finalized record.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals importance and curation.
• Specific instrumentation (PICARRO G2401-m, 2B Technologies Model 205) is documented, detailing measurement sources.

Limitations

• Column names and dataset size (rows, file size) are not specified in any source, limiting immediate usability.
• A license conflict exists: one source specifies 'other-license-specified', while another lists 'None'.
• Metadata for the companion dropsonde dataset is sparse, with no tags, size, or license information.

Provenance

Source

NASA ARCSIX campaign, LARC_CLOUD organization.

Collection Method

In-situ measurements collected from instruments onboard a NASA P-3B aircraft.

Time Range

May–August 2024

Freshness

2026-03-13 16:48:46.350184

Geography

Arctic region, based out of Greenland with flights over the study area.