NASA ATom Mission Aerosol Microphysical Properties Measurements

Aerosol particle size distributions and concentrations are provided from NASA's Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) airborne campaigns. The dataset contains measurements from five instruments in the Aerosol Microphysical Properties package, offering high-resolution data for particles from 0.003 to 4.8 microns in diameter. It is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, with metadata indicating updates as recent as 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the size distribution of dry aerosol particles across a wide diameter range (0.003-4.8 microns).
• Studying number, surface area, and volume concentrations of atmospheric aerosols for climate modeling.
• Investigating aerosol microphysical properties with up to one-second time resolution from airborne campaigns.
• Comparing measurements from different spectrometer types (NMASS, UHSAS, LAS) within the same instrument package.

Strengths

• Data combines measurements from five specialized instruments, providing a multi-instrument perspective.
• Offers high temporal resolution with size distributions recorded at up to one-second intervals.
• Covers a broad particle size spectrum from 0.003 to 4.8 microns in diameter.

Limitations

• Key technical details like row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' date between platforms (2018 vs. 2026), casting doubt on data maintenance.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without clear terms for reuse.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission.

Collection Method

In situ measurements gathered by the Aerosol Microphysical Properties (AMP) instrument package during airborne campaigns.

Time Range

Coverage corresponds to the ATom mission airborne campaign periods.

Freshness

2026-03-13 08:30:06.199681

Geography

Global, from airborne campaigns conducted by NASA.