NASA ATom Stratospheric Age of Air and Trace Gas Measurements

ATom data provides calculated age of air and argon/nitrogen ratios from 235 stratospheric flask samples, alongside high-frequency measurements of N2O, CO2, O3, CH4, and CO. This dataset was compiled by NASA from three airborne projects using the Medusa Whole Air Sampler. Measurements span latitudes poleward of 40 degrees in both hemispheres from 2009-01-10 to 2018-05-21.

Use Cases

• Analyzing stratospheric transport timescales using the calculated Age of Air (AoA) metric.
• Studying correlations between trace gases like N2O, CH4, and CO2 to identify atmospheric influence.
• Investigating latitudinal gradients in atmospheric composition using samples from poleward of 40 degrees in both hemispheres.
• Calibrating or validating climate models with observed Ar/N2 ratio (per meg) data from flask samples.
• Examining temporal trends in ozone (O3) and carbon monoxide (CO) within the stratosphere over the 2009-2018 period.

Strengths

• Dataset contains 235 identified stratospheric flask samples, providing a specific sample size for analysis.
• Covers a wide latitudinal range (poleward of 40° in both hemispheres) and a multi-year period (over 9 years).
• AoA calculations use a novel N2O-AoA relationship developed with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData indicates institutional importance and curation.

Limitations

• Column names and exact row counts are not provided by any source, limiting structural understanding.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: Data.gov lists 2026-03 13 (likely a placeholder), while NASA EarthData lists 2018-05-21.
• The license is specified only as 'other-license-specified' on Data.gov, with no details on NASA EarthData.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Compiled from three airborne projects using flask samples collected by the Medusa Whole Air Sampler and high-frequency in-situ measurements.

Time Range

2009-01 10 to 2018-05-21

Freshness

2018-05-21

Geography

Latitudes poleward of 40 degrees in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.