ARCTAS: In-Situ Cloud Data from DC-8 Aircraft Campaign

The Arctic region is the focus of this in-situ cloud data collected by the DC-8 aircraft during the NASA ARCTAS campaign in 2008. Data from the CAPS instrument is featured, with collection complete. The campaign aimed to understand pollution transport, boreal forest fire impacts, aerosol radiative forcing, and chemical processes in the Arctic troposphere.

Use Cases

• Modeling cloud microphysics and radiative forcing based on in-situ cloud measurements.
• Analyzing long-range pollution transport pathways to the Arctic based on atmospheric composition data.
• Studying the impact of boreal forest fire emissions on Arctic clouds and radiation budgets.
• Investigating chemical processes involving ozone, aerosols, and halogens in the Arctic troposphere.

Strengths

• Data collection is explicitly stated as complete.
• Produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
• Campaign had four defined scientific objectives targeting key Arctic climate processes.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• File formats include BIN, PDF, ISO, and HTML, which may require specialized tools for analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

In-situ measurements from the DC-8 aircraft using the CAPS instrument.

Time Range

Campaign deployments in April and July 2008.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 14:23:02.786493; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Arctic region.