CARAFE Airborne Greenhouse Gas Flux Measurements for the Mid-Atlantic

NASA's CARAFE dataset provides airborne eddy covariance flux measurements of carbon dioxide, methane, sensible heat, and latent heat across the Mid-Atlantic Region. Data were collected during two campaigns in 2016 and 2017 using a NASA C-23 Sherpa aircraft equipped with commercial and custom instrumentation. The dataset also includes auxiliary measurements of downwelling radiation, water vapor, pressure, temperature, wind, and aircraft navigation data.

Use Cases

• Quantifying regional surface fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane to bridge top-down and bottom-up emission estimates.
• Analyzing the relationship between biophysical processes and trace gas fluxes using concurrent measurements of radiation, temperature, and water vapor.
• Studying local to regional atmospheric transport and mixing using high-resolution wind and navigation data alongside flux measurements.
• Investigating seasonal variations in greenhouse gas exchange between the surface and atmosphere across the 2016 and 2017 campaigns.

Strengths

• Data collection employed the eddy covariance method from an aircraft, providing high spatial resolution flux measurements.
• Campaigns cover two distinct time periods: September 2016 and May 2017, allowing for seasonal comparison.
• Measurements include multiple key greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4) and energy fluxes (sensible and latent heat).
• Dataset is produced and hosted by NASA, indicating a high standard of data collection and curation.

Limitations

• Exact row count, file size, and detailed column names are not provided by any source.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' metadata: Data.gov lists 2026-03-13, while NASA Earthdata lists 2017-05 -26.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Airborne measurements collected via a NASA C-23 Sherpa aircraft using a suite of commercial and custom instrumentation.

Time Range

2016-09-07 to 2016-09-26 and 2017-05-03 to 2017 05-26

Freshness

2026-03-13 10:11:25.678547

Geography

Mid-Atlantic Region