Doppler Aerosol Wind Lidar Measurements from CPEX-CV Aircraft Campaign

September 2022 data from the Convective Processes Experiment - Cabo Verde (CPEX-CV) campaign, collected by NASA's DC-8 aircraft. The dataset contains Doppler Aerosol WiNd lidar (DAWN) image and NetCDF files measuring tropospheric aerosols and winds. It was produced by the LARC_ASDC organization to study atmospheric dynamics and convection in the tropical East Atlantic.

Use Cases

• Analyze vertical wind profiles from DAWN lidar data to study interactions between the Saharan Air Layer and convective cloud systems.
• Correlate aerosol measurements with dropsonde thermodynamic data to investigate dust vertical structure and long-range transport pathways.
• Use geospatial lidar imagery to validate and calibrate spaceborne remote sensors providing similar atmospheric measurements.
• Study time-series data of marine boundary layer properties to relate local conditions to the initiation of convective cloud lifecycles.

Strengths

• Data collected during a dedicated NASA field campaign (CPEX-CV) from September 1-30, 2022.
• Includes measurements from multiple coordinated instruments (DAWN, HALO, APR-3, dropsondes) for multi-parameter analysis.
• Focuses on the data-sparse tropical East Atlantic region, addressing a key observational gap.

Limitations

• Sample size and specific row/column counts are unknown, limiting assessment of statistical power.
• Geographic coverage is limited to the flight paths of the DC-8 aircraft operating from Sal Island, Cabo Verde.
• Data collection is complete with no stated plan for future updates, representing a single campaign snapshot.

Provenance

Source

NASA/LARC_ASDC, collected during the CPEX-CV campaign.

Collection Method

Airborne remote sensing using the Doppler Aerosol WiNd lidar (DAWN) instrument onboard the NASA DC-8 aircraft.

Time Range

September 1-30, 2022.

Freshness

Data collection was completed in September 2022, with a last updated timestamp of 2022-09-30.

Geography

Tropical East Atlantic region, operating from Sal Island, Cabo Verde.