CARVE Airborne Greenhouse Gas Concentrations Over Arctic Alaska

Harvard CRDS instrument data provides atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and carbon monoxide (CO) at 5-second intervals during flights. Measurements were collected from 2012 to 2014 over Alaskan and Canadian Arctic regions as part of the CARVE experiment. This dataset is designed to investigate seasonal and inter-annual variability in Arctic carbon cycling.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial gradients of CO2 and CH4 concentrations across the Arctic landscape using latitude and longitude columns.
• Investigating seasonal variability in atmospheric gas content by correlating measurements with flight dates from March to November.
• Studying vertical profiles of greenhouse gases by linking concentration data with the provided aircraft altitude.
• Calibrating or validating regional-scale carbon cycle models with precise, airborne in-situ observations.

Strengths

• Data provides high-temporal-resolution measurements recorded at 5-second intervals throughout each flight.
• Coverage spans multiple years (2012-2014) and seasons (March-November) enabling analysis of temporal variability.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA EarthData and Data.gov signals recognized scientific importance.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and complete column names are unavailable from all sources.
• A conflict exists on the last updated date, with one source reporting 2014 and another reporting 2026.
• The Harvard CRDS instrument data is unavailable for the final year (2015) of the CARVE campaign.

Provenance

Source

Harvard University four-species cavity ring-down spectrometer system (CRDS; Picarro Inc.) deployed on CARVE aircraft.

Collection Method

In-situ airborne measurements collected during the Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE).

Time Range

2012 to 2014

Freshness

2026-03-13 05:55:32.114737

Geography

Alaskan and Canadian Arctic