ATom Aerosol Microphysical and Optical Properties Dataset

ATom: Comprehensive Aerosol Properties, 2016-2018, Version 2 contains in situ measurements of aerosol microphysical, chemical, and optical properties from four NASA ATom campaigns. The dataset includes composition-resolved size distributions for compounds like sulfate, organics, and black carbon, with optical parameters calculated for 10 wavelengths. Data is provided at 1-minute intervals and also averaged into 1-km vertical bins for each aircraft profile.

Use Cases

• Analyzing composition-resolved aerosol size distributions from 3 nm to 50 µm in diameter.
• Calculating extinction and absorption coefficients for specific species like sulfate or black carbon at dry and ambient conditions.
• Studying vertical profiles of aerosol properties using data averaged into 1-km bins.
• Modeling cloud condensation nuclei concentration across 5 supersaturations.
• Deriving integrated aerosol optical depth from aircraft profiles for atmospheric radiative transfer studies.

Strengths

• Data covers four separate ATom campaigns, providing a multi-year temporal scope.
• Measurements include detailed composition for 7+ aerosol species (sulfate, organics, nitrate, sea salt, dust, black carbon).
• Optical parameters are calculated for 10 wavelengths, from near UV to near IR.

Limitations

• Exact row count and dataset size are not specified on any platform.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' date between sources: Data.gov lists 2026-03-13, while NASA Earthdata lists 2018-05-22.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from in situ measurements made during aircraft campaigns.

Time Range

2016-2018

Freshness

2026-03-13 08:31:14.425923

Geography

Global, based on aircraft profiles from ATom campaigns.