BRW Aerosol Absorption Measurements from Barrow Observatory, 2009-2022

NOAA's Barrow Atmospheric Baseline Observatory (BRW) provides hourly averaged PM10 aerosol absorption data from 2009 to 2022. The dataset includes measurements from a Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP) until August 2014 and a Continuous Light Absorption Photometer (CLAP) thereafter, with standard corrections applied but not screened for local contamination. Elisabeth Andrews authored this dataset, which was last updated in May 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term trends in Arctic aerosol absorption based on the 14-year time series.
• Studying spectral properties of aerosols based on blue, green, and red wavelength absorption data.
• Investigating the impact of local contamination from Utqiagvik, Alaska, using unscreened wind direction data.
• Benchmarking or validating climate models with in-situ aerosol absorption measurements.

Strengths

• 14 years of continuous hourly measurements from 2009 to 2022.
• Data includes measurements from two established instruments (PSAP and CLAP) with standard corrections applied.
• File size is 4.6 MB, indicating a manageable dataset for analysis.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data includes local contamination from specific wind sectors, requiring user screening for certain analyses.

Provenance

Source

NOAA's Barrow Atmospheric Baseline Observatory (BRW)

Collection Method

In-situ measurements from a Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP) and a Continuous Light Absorption Photometer (CLAP).

Time Range

2009-01-01 to 2022-12-31

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-16 18:39:57

Geography

Barrow (Utqiagvik), Alaska, USA