CAR TARFOX: Bidirectional Reflectance Factor Data for Tropospheric Aerosols

CAR TARFOX mission data collected by NASA in July 1996 over the western Atlantic Ocean and the Great Dismal Swamp. The dataset consists of observations from the CAR instrument aboard a University of Washington C-131A aircraft, measuring bidirectional reflectance factor at varying spectral bands. It includes measurements of the chemical, physical, and optical properties of tropospheric aerosols.

Use Cases

• Modeling aerosol radiative forcing based on measured chemical and optical properties.
• Analyzing surface reflectance anisotropy based on bidirectional reflectance factor (BRDF) observations.
• Studying the impact of tropospheric aerosols on radiation budgets in cloud-free skies as described in the mission.
• Validating satellite-derived aerosol and reflectance data with in-situ aircraft measurements.

Strengths

• Data collected by a NASA mission with a specific focus on aerosol-radiation interactions.
• Includes multiple measurement types: chemical, physical, and optical properties of aerosols.
• Covers a specific geographic transect over the Atlantic Ocean and a forested wetland area.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from a single campaign in July 1996; temporal coverage is limited.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Observations made with the CAR instrument aboard the University of Washington C-131A aircraft.

Time Range

July 1996

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 06:15:42.525618; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Western Atlantic Ocean and the forested Great Dismal Swamp wetlands south of Norfolk, Virginia.