NASA ER-2 Aircraft Navigation and Meteorological Data from ALOFT Campaign

June 15 to July 31, 2023, this dataset contains navigation and meteorological parameters recorded by the NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft during the ALOFT field campaign. The campaign aimed to study terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, gamma-ray glows, and lightning in tropical convection. Data is provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in ASCII format.

Use Cases

• Correlating aircraft position (latitude, longitude, altitude) with observed lightning or gamma-ray events.
• Analyzing the relationship between outside meteorological parameters (wind speed, wind direction, temperature) and thunderstorm activity.
• Validating satellite lightning observations (e.g., ISS LIS, GLM) using suborbital platform data.
• Studying flight patterns and environmental conditions in one of the most TGF-intense regions on the planet.

Strengths

• Provides a precise 1.5-month time range (June 15 to July 31, 2023) for the field campaign.
• Contains combined navigation and meteorological parameters from a specialized high-altitude research platform.
• Dataset is hosted by NASA, indicating authoritative collection and curation.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, reporting either 2023-07 31 or 2026-03-13.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Recorded by onboard navigation and data collection systems of the NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft.

Time Range

2023-06-15 to 2023-07-31

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:49:50.594212

Geography

Tropical convection regions, specifically areas intense in terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs).