CPEX-AW: Airborne Lidar and Satellite Data for Atmospheric Dynamics

A joint NASA-ESA campaign, CPEX-AW collected airborne lidar, dropsonde, and satellite data to calibrate the Aeolus wind satellite and study tropical atmospheric processes. The dataset includes measurements from the High Altitude Lidar Observatory (HALO) and Doppler Aerosol WiNd lidar (DAWN) onboard a DC-8 aircraft, targeting the Saharan Air Layer and Intertropical Convergence Zone. Its primary goal was validating satellite wind observations while investigating interactions between aerosols, clouds, winds, and convection over the tropical Atlantic.

Use Cases

• Validating wind profiles from the ESA ADM-Aeolus satellite using co-located airborne DAWN lidar measurements.
• Studying the vertical structure of the marine boundary layer in relation to convective cloud initiation using HALO aerosol and water vapor profiles.
• Analyzing the influence of Saharan Air Layer dust on convection suppression using combined aerosol, wind, and dropsonde data.
• Investigating long-range dust transport and its impact on air quality over the western Atlantic Ocean.

Strengths

• Data originates from a major joint campaign between NASA and the European Space Agency, indicating a high level of institutional coordination and scientific rigor.
• Includes multi-instrument observations (e.g., HALO, DAWN lidar, dropsondes, APR-3 radar) for a multifaceted view of atmospheric phenomena.
• Explicitly designed for the calibration and validation of a flagship Earth observation satellite (ADM-Aeolus), ensuring relevance for remote sensing quality assessment.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing: specific column names, row counts, file sizes, and precise temporal coverage are not provided in any source.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without details, creating potential usage uncertainty.
• Update timestamps conflict, with one source showing a last update in 2026, which may be a metadata error, while another shows 2021.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and European Space Agency (ESA)

Collection Method

Data collected via instruments onboard a NASA DC-8 aircraft during the CPEX-AW field campaign.

Time Range

Campaign is a follow-on to CPEX (summer 2017); CPEX-AW collection is stated as complete, but exact dates are not provided.

Freshness

2026-04-10 04:12:09.220435 (from datagov, though this future date may be an error; an alternative date is 2021-09-06)

Geography

Focused on the tropical Atlantic region, with calibration/validation activities centered on St. Croix and studies of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and western Atlantic.