Aircraft-based measurements of Arctic clouds collected by the University of Washington's CV580 aircraft during the FIRE Arctic Cloud Experiment (ACE) and Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) field campaign. The data set was designed to improve understanding of cloud physical processes and their representation in general circulation models. It was published by the NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center in 1998.
Use Cases
- Validate cloud property simulations in general circulation models using in-situ aircraft measurements of parameters like cloud particle size and concentration.
- Analyze the life cycle and radiative properties of Arctic clouds by correlating time-series data from different onboard instruments.
- Study the interaction between cloud microphysics and surface radiation budgets in the Arctic using coordinated SHEBA and aircraft data.
- Improve satellite cloud retrieval algorithms from the ISCCP program by comparing them with higher-resolution in-situ aircraft observations.
Strengths
- Data originates from a coordinated, major international field campaign (FIRE ACE/SHEBA) designed for model validation.
- Measurements provide in-situ, high-resolution observations critical for process studies in a key climate region.
Limitations
- Data is temporally stale, with the last update recorded in 1998, limiting analysis of recent Arctic changes.
- Specific data volume, row count, and complete column schema are unknown, complicating assessment of scope and usability.
Provenance
- Source
- NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center (LARC_ASDC).
- Collection Method
- Collected via instruments onboard the University of Washington's CV580 research aircraft during field campaigns.
- Time Range
- Coverage corresponds to the FIRE ACE/SHEBA field campaign period, circa 1998.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Arctic region, specifically areas covered by the SHEBA ice station and related flight paths.