CAR Kuwait Oil Fire BRDF V2 (CAR_KUWAITOILFIRE_BRDF) at GES DISC

CAR Kuwait Oil Fire BRDF V2 contains bidirectional reflectance factor measurements collected by NASA's CAR instrument during the Kuwait Oil Fire Smoke Experiment. The data set captures smoke from over 600 ignited oil wells in Kuwait, desert dust over Saudi Arabia, and aerosols over Persian Gulf waters between May 16 and June 12, 1991. This international research effort aimed to determine the chemical and physical nature of the smoke and investigate its effects on air quality, weather, and climate.

Use Cases

• Modeling smoke plume radiative properties based on bidirectional reflectance factor measurements
• Analyzing aerosol effects on regional air quality and climate based on spectral band observations
• Studying desert dust and marine aerosol interactions based on comparative measurements over different surfaces
• Investigating the physical and chemical nature of oil fire smoke as part of an environmental crisis response

Strengths

• Data originates from a NASA instrument (CAR) during a documented international research effort.
• Focuses on a specific, large-scale environmental event involving over 600 ignited oil wells.
• Contains measurements over three distinct environments: smoke plumes, desert dust, and marine aerosols.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data format includes JPEG, BIN, ISO, HTML, PDF, indicating heterogeneous files that may require specialized handling.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Observations made with the CAR instrument during the Kuwait Oil Fire Smoke Experiment.

Time Range

May 16 to June 12, 1991

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 10:14:03.074994; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Persian Gulf Region, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabian desert, and Persian Gulf waters.