ARCTAS: In-situ Meteorological and Navigational Data from DC-8 Aircraft

Two three-week deployments in April and July 2008 collected this in-situ meteorological and navigational data from a DC-8 aircraft during the ARCTAS campaign. The dataset, produced by NASA, includes water vapor measurements and was designed to study pollution transport, boreal forest fires, aerosol forcing, and chemical processes in the Arctic. Data collection for this product is complete.

Use Cases

• Modeling long-range pollution transport to the Arctic based on in-situ meteorological data.
• Analyzing the impact of boreal forest fire emissions on atmospheric composition and climate based on campaign objectives.
• Studying aerosol radiative forcing in the unique Arctic environment based on the dataset's stated purpose.
• Investigating chemical processes involving ozone, aerosols, mercury, and halogens as outlined in the ARCTAS objectives.

Strengths

• Data collected by NASA during a dedicated, multi-objective international field campaign (ARCTAS/POLARCAT).
• Includes specific water vapor data from the DLH instrument.
• Temporal coverage is explicitly defined as two deployments in April and July 2008.

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 access and processing.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

In-situ measurements collected from a DC-8 aircraft during the ARCTAS field campaign.

Time Range

April and July 2008

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 14:21:58.389632; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Arctic region