FIREX-AQ DC-8 HSRL Lidar Data on Wildfire Plumes, Summer 2019

Summer 2019 remotely sensed data collected by the High-Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) onboard the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the FIREX-AQ campaign. The campaign was a NOAA/NASA interagency study of North American fires, with the DC-8 completing 23 science flights from Boise, Idaho and Salina, Kansas. The overarching goal was to provide detailed measurements of trace gas and aerosol emissions from wildfires and prescribed fires to understand chemical transformation and air quality impacts.

Use Cases

• Modeling aerosol optical properties and concentrations based on HSRL measurements of backscatter and extinction.
• Analyzing wildfire plume rise and dispersion patterns based on detailed fire plume sampling.
• Assessing satellite capabilities for fire detection and emission estimation by comparing with high-resolution airborne data.
• Studying the chemical transformation of emissions downwind based on the campaign's focus on trace gases and aerosols.

Strengths

• Data collected during 23 dedicated science flights by a NASA DC-8 aircraft with a comprehensive instrument payload.
• Part of a major interagency campaign (FIREX-AQ) combining aircraft, satellite, and ground-based measurements for integrated analysis.
• Focus on detailed sampling of over 200 trace gas species and aerosol microphysical, optical, and chemical properties.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data collection is complete for summer 2019; temporal coverage is not ongoing.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Remotely sensed data collected by the High-Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) onboard the DC-8 aircraft.

Time Range

Summer 2019

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:49:09.471574; freshness should be verified.

Geography

North America, with flights originating from Boise, Idaho and Salina, Kansas.