FIREX-AQ: Merged Aircraft Data on Wildfire Emissions and Air Quality

Summer 2019 data from the FIREX-AQ campaign, a NOAA/NASA interagency study of North American fires. The dataset contains merged data products from the NASA DC-8 aircraft, which completed 23 science flights measuring over 200 trace gas species and aerosol properties, alongside data from the NASA ER-2, NOAA Twin Otters, and ground stations. The goal was to understand the impact of fire emissions on tropospheric chemistry and assess satellite detection capabilities.

Use Cases

• Modeling trace gas emissions from wildfires based on the over 200 species measured by the DC-8 payload.
• Analyzing chemical transformation in fire plumes downwind using data from the NOAA-CHEM Twin Otter's nighttime plume chemistry measurements.
• Validating satellite fire detection algorithms based on fire temperature and plume height data from the ER-2's satellite analog instruments.
• Studying aerosol microphysical and optical properties from in-situ measurements by mobile laboratories and ground stations.
• Investigating local weather impacts of fires using air movement data collected by the NOAA-MET Twin Otter at fire boundaries.

Strengths

• Data collection involved multiple platforms: 23 DC-8 flights, 11 ER-2 flights, and two NOAA Twin Otter aircraft, providing multi-perspective observations.
• The DC-8 instrument payload was capable of measuring over 200 trace gas species alongside detailed aerosol properties.
• Campaign design aimed to relate emissions to fuel conditions, characterize plume rise, and track chemical transformation downwind.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset scale are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• File formats include BIN, PDF, ISO, and HTML, suggesting heterogeneous data structures that may require specialized tools to process.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected onboard the DC-8 aircraft and other platforms during the FIREX-AQ field campaign.

Time Range

Summer 2019

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:57:02.203978; freshness should be verified.

Geography

North America, with specific operations from Boise, Idaho and Salina, Kansas.