DCOTSS: NASA ER-2 Aircraft Campaign Reports for Summer Stratosphere

NASA's Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere (DCOTSS) sub-orbital campaign reports from deployments based in Salina, Kansas. The collection includes mission scientist reports, flight planning briefings, pilot reports, and science flight summaries, documenting instrument status, weather conditions, and key observations. Data collection for this product is complete.

Use Cases

• Analyze the impact of convective storms on stratospheric composition based on mission science objectives described in the reports
• Study flight planning and forecasting decision sequences for high-altitude research aircraft
• Review instrument performance and operational challenges during scientific aircraft deployments
• Document the temporal evolution of the North American Monsoon Anticyclone and associated weather events

Strengths

• Reports are from a defined NASA Earth Venture Suborbital research project with two ~8-week deployments
• Includes multiple structured report types: daily reports, science flight summaries, and pilot reports
• Data collection is explicitly stated as complete

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Generated as required documentation for all SMD aircraft flights during the DCOTSS campaign.

Time Range

Campaign spanned early to late summer during deployment years.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 03:00:37.895162; freshness should be verified

Geography

Focus on the North-Western Hemisphere, specifically the North American Monsoon Anticyclone region, with operations based in Salina, Kansas.