July 1996 data from the CAR TARFOX mission measuring tropospheric aerosol effects on radiation budgets. Observations include bidirectional reflectance factor values at varying spectral bands, collected by the CAR instrument aboard a University of Washington C-131A aircraft. The data were gathered over the western Atlantic Ocean and the Great Dismal Swamp wetlands.
Use Cases
- Modeling aerosol radiative forcing by analyzing bidirectional reflectance factor across spectral bands.
- Studying aerosol optical properties over ocean and wetland surfaces using the spectral reflectance data.
- Validating satellite aerosol retrievals with in-situ airborne measurements of bidirectional reflectance.
- Analyzing spatial variability of aerosol effects from coastal to open-ocean flight tracks.
Strengths
- Data collected during a dedicated field campaign (CAR TARFOX) in July 1996.
- Includes measurements over distinct environments: forested wetlands and open Atlantic Ocean.
Limitations
- Dataset is from a single month in 1996, limiting temporal analysis.
- Specific row counts, column details, and sample sizes are unknown.
- Geographic coverage is limited to two specific regions off the U.S. East Coast.
Provenance
- Source
- GES DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center).
- Collection Method
- Airborne observations collected by the CAR instrument aboard the University of Washington C-131A aircraft.
- Time Range
- July 1996.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Western Atlantic Ocean (approximately 340 km offshore of Richmond, Virginia) and the forested Great Dismal Swamp wetlands south of Norfolk, Virginia.