ATom Campaign Water Vapor Measurements from Diode Laser Hygrometer

2016 to 2018 data from the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the ATom 1-4 campaigns provides in-situ atmospheric water vapor concentrations. The Diode Laser Hygrometer (DLH) used wavelength modulated differential absorption spectroscopy to measure water vapor mixing ratio in ppmv and derived relative humidity with respect to liquid water and ice. This dataset is produced by the ORNL_CLOUD organization.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical and horizontal distribution of water vapor mixing ratio (ppmv) across global flight tracks.
• Studying relative humidity with respect to ice for cloud microphysics and cirrus cloud formation research.
• Investigating atmospheric thermodynamics by combining water vapor data with concurrent ambient temperature and pressure measurements.
• Validating and improving satellite retrievals and climate model simulations of atmospheric humidity.

Strengths

• Provides data from four distinct ATom campaigns spanning a multi-year period from 2016 to 2018.
• Measurements are derived from a specific, high-precision spectroscopic method (wavelength modulated differential absorption spectroscopy).
• Dataset is hosted on multiple authoritative platforms (NASA EarthData and Data.gov), indicating recognized importance.

Limitations

• Key structural details like column names, row count, and dataset size are unknown across all sources.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, reporting both 2018-05-21 and 2026-03-13.
• License is ambiguously specified as 'other-license-specified', requiring further investigation for reuse.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD organization, measurements from the NASA DC-8 aircraft.

Collection Method

In-situ airborne measurements using a Diode Laser Hygrometer (DLH) via wavelength modulated differential absorption spectroscopy.

Time Range

2016 - 2018

Freshness

2026-03-13 08:32:57.876153

Geography

Global, based on ATom campaign flight tracks.