ATom SAGA Dataset: High-Resolution Atmospheric Acidic Gas and Aerosol Measurements

Soluble acidic gases and aerosols (SAGA) were collected using a mist chamber/ion chromatography system and a paired bulk aerosol filter system. The dataset includes in-situ atmospheric distributions of nitric acid and fine aerosol sulfate at approximately 80-second intervals, along with filter-based measurements of soluble ions and light absorption spectra from 300 to 700 nm. The SAGA system is provided by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and the data is associated with the ORNL_CLOUD organization.

Use Cases

• Analyzing temporal trends of nitric acid and fine sulfate aerosol concentrations using the 80-second interval MC/IC measurements.
• Quantifying the soluble ionic composition (Cl-, Br-, NO3-, SO42-, C2O42-, Na+, NH4+, K+, Ca+, Mg+) of bulk aerosols from Teflon filter extracts.
• Studying the light-absorbing properties of water-soluble and methanol-soluble aerosol fractions via absorption spectra from 300 to 700 nm.
• Investigating the partitioning of nitrate between gas-phase nitric acid and sub-micron aerosol particles.
• Validating atmospheric chemistry models with in-situ measurements of acidic gases and speciated aerosol ions.

Strengths

• Provides high-temporal-resolution (approx. 80-second) in-situ measurements of nitric acid and fine aerosol sulfate.
• Includes detailed aerosol speciation via ion chromatography for 10+ soluble ions (Cl-, Br-, NO3-, SO42-, C2O42-, Na+, NH4+, K+, Ca+, Mg+).
• Data is hosted on multiple authoritative platforms (NASA EarthData, Data.gov), indicating recognized importance.
• Complements ion data with optical measurements of light absorption across a broad spectral range (300-700 nm).

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, dataset size, and specific temporal coverage are unavailable from all sources.
• Conflicting license and update information exists: one source lists 'other-license-specified' and a 2026 update, while another shows no license and a 2018 update.
• The specific geographic scope and time range of the data collection are not provided.

Provenance

Source

University of New Hampshire (UNH), ORNL_CLOUD

Collection Method

Collected using a SAGA system with a mist chamber/ion chromatography (MC/IC) unit for in-situ measurement and a paired bulk aerosol system using Teflon filters for subsequent laboratory extraction and analysis (ion chromatography, light absorption).

Time Range

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Freshness

2026-03-13 13:58:24.042815

Geography

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