ARCTAS: In-situ Trace Gas Data from P-3B Aircraft Arctic Campaign

NASA's ARCTAS campaign collected in-situ trace gas data during two three-week deployments in April and July 2008. The data features measurements from the Carbon monOxide by Attenuated Laser Transmission (COBALT) instrument aboard a P-3B aircraft. The campaign aimed to understand pollution transport, boreal fire impacts, aerosol forcing, and chemical processes in the Arctic.

Use Cases

• Model long-range pollution transport to the Arctic based on trace gas concentration data.
• Study the atmospheric impact of boreal forest fires based on smoke emission perturbation data.
• Analyze aerosol radiative forcing in the Arctic climate based on in-situ measurement campaigns.
• Investigate chemical processes for ozone, aerosols, mercury, and halogens based on the campaign's fourth objective.

Strengths

• Data collection is explicitly stated as complete.
• Campaign had four defined scientific objectives focusing on key Arctic climate processes.
• Data originates from NASA, a authoritative space and science organization.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected via in-situ instruments aboard a P-3B aircraft during the ARCTAS field campaign.

Time Range

April and July 2008 deployments.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 10:41:35.241373; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Arctic region.