NAAMES Aircraft Remote Sensing Data for Aerosols and Clouds

Four deployments from 2015 to 2018 collected remotely sensed cloud, aerosol, and ocean optical measurements over the North Atlantic. The data were gathered onboard a NASA C-130 aircraft as part of the North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) mission. It was produced by the LARC_ASDC organization.

Use Cases

• Analyze seasonal aerosol optical depth variations across the four NAAMES deployment phases. Model cloud condensation nuclei concentrations using remote sensing lidar and spectrometer data. Correlate ocean optical properties from airborne sensors with concurrent ship-based phytoplankton measurements.

Strengths

• Data covers four distinct seasonal deployments over a 4-year period (2015-2018). Measurements integrate multiple remote sensing platforms including aircraft, ship, and satellite.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, column details, and sample sizes for individual data products are not provided. Most ocean data products are stored in a separate archive (SeaBass), not within this primary dataset. The dataset has not been updated since the mission concluded in March 2018.

Provenance

Source

NASA Earth Venture Suborbital (EVS) mission, North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES).

Collection Method

Remotely sensed measurements collected onboard a NASA C-130 Hercules aircraft using instruments like high-spectral resolution lidar.

Time Range

Four deployments: November-December 2015, May-June 2016, August-September 2017, March-April 2018.

Freshness

Final update was in March 2018; no ongoing updates expected as the mission is complete.

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean, with aircraft based from St. John's International Airport, Newfoundland, Canada.