DC3 DIAL: DC-8 Aircraft Lidar Data on Convective Clouds

DC3_AircraftRemoteSensing_DIAL_DC8_Data are remotely sensed data collected by the Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) onboard the DC-8 aircraft during the Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) field campaign. The campaign was conducted from May to June 2012 with a base in Salina, Kansas, and observations in Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) produced this dataset to investigate storm dynamics, lightning, and the impact of deep convection on upper tropospheric chemistry.

Use Cases

• Analyze vertical profiles of atmospheric constituents based on differential absorption lidar (DIAL) measurements.
• Study the impact of deep convective clouds on upper tropospheric chemistry based on the campaign's second science objective.
• Investigate storm dynamics and lightning production of nitrogen oxides based on the campaign's first science objective.
• Characterize the atmospheric column for flight planning and model validation as mentioned in the description.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete, as explicitly stated in the description.
• Campaign utilized multiple platforms including aircraft, ground-based radar, and satellite instruments for complementary observations.
• Temporal coverage is precisely defined as May to June 2012.
• Geographic coverage includes specific regions: northeastern Colorado, west Texas to central Oklahoma, and northern Alabama.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data formats include BIN and XML, which may require specialized tools for processing.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Remotely sensed data collected by the Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) onboard the DC-8 aircraft.

Time Range

May to June 2012

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:11:47.493522; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Observations in northeastern Colorado, west Texas to central Oklahoma, and northern Alabama, with a base in Salina, Kansas, USA.