Measurements of chemical, physical, and optical properties of tropospheric aerosols and their effects on radiation budgets in cloud-free skies. Data was collected during the CAR TARFOX mission over the western Atlantic Ocean. The dataset is provided by the GES DISC and was last updated in July 1996.
Use Cases
- Analyze relationships between aerosol chemical properties and measured optical properties to refine climate models.
- Validate satellite-derived aerosol optical depth using the mission's direct in-situ measurements.
- Study the spatial and temporal variability of aerosol radiative forcing over the western Atlantic Ocean.
- Correlate aerosol physical properties like size distribution with observed impacts on radiation budgets.
Strengths
- Data from a dedicated NASA field campaign (CAR TARFOX) with controlled measurement protocols.
- Focuses on a specific, climatically important region (western Atlantic Ocean).
Limitations
- Dataset is temporally limited to the 1996 mission period.
- Spatial coverage is restricted to the campaign's flight paths over the western Atlantic.
- Unknown sample size and granularity of individual measurements.
Provenance
- Source
- GES DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center).
- Collection Method
- Data collected via aircraft-based instruments during the CAR TARFOX field campaign.
- Time Range
- 1996 (specific mission period).
- Freshness
- Data is from 1996; no recent updates indicated.
- Geography
- Western Atlantic Ocean.