ATom: Aircraft and Model Data on Dust and Cirrus Clouds

Four NASA ATom campaigns from 2016 to 2018 collected in situ dust aerosol concentration measurements over remote tropical Pacific and Atlantic Oceans aboard a DC8 aircraft. The dataset combines these observations with outputs from CESM and GEOS global transport models, NCEP forward trajectories, and parcel model simulations of cirrus cloud formation. This synthesis is applied to analyze the role of mineral dust in forming high-altitude ice clouds.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the relationship between in-situ dust concentration measurements and simulated cirrus cloud properties.
• Validating global transport model outputs (CESM, GEOS) against airborne campaign data.
• Studying the long-range transport of mineral dust from specific source regions to remote ocean areas.
• Tracing air parcel trajectories from flight paths to understand atmospheric circulation patterns.

Strengths

• Integrates multiple data types: direct airborne measurements, multiple global model outputs, and trajectory simulations.
• Provides a multi-year temporal coverage from four distinct campaign periods between 2016 and 2018.
• Has a cross-platform presence on datagov and nasa_earthdata, indicating established curation and reuse.

Limitations

• Key metadata is sparse: column names, row counts, and exact file sizes are unknown across all sources.
• Conflicting license information exists (datagov lists 'other-license-specified', nasa_earthdata lists 'None').
• A significant discrepancy exists in the 'last updated' field, with datagov showing a future date (2026-04-10).

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Collection Method

Airborne measurements from the NASA DC8 aircraft using PALMS and AMP instruments, combined with outputs from CESM, GEOS, and NCEP models.

Time Range

2016 to 2018

Freshness

Last updated date conflicts: datagov shows 2026-04-10, nasa_earthdata shows 2019-01-01.

Geography

Remote tropical Pacific and Atlantic Oceans