NAAMES C-130 Trace Gas In Situ Data: North Atlantic Atmospheric Measurements

In situ trace gas measurements collected onboard a C-130 aircraft during the North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES). The data were gathered during three deployments from November 2015 to September 2017 over the North Atlantic Ocean. NASA produced this dataset to link ocean ecosystem processes with atmospheric aerosol and cloud formation.

Use Cases

• Modeling atmospheric aerosol evolution based on trace gas concentrations mentioned in the description
• Studying seasonal phytoplankton bloom impacts on atmospheric chemistry based on the described deployment phases
• Correlating ship-based ocean measurements with airborne atmospheric data as part of the NAAMES mission design
• Validating satellite-derived atmospheric composition data using the in situ airborne measurements described

Strengths

• Data collected during three distinct seasonal deployments (2015-2017) targeting key phytoplankton cycles
• Measurements are part of a coordinated mission combining ship, airborne, autonomous, and remote sensing platforms
• Produced by NASA as part of its first Earth Venture – Suborbital mission, indicating a structured scientific campaign

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

In situ measurements collected onboard a NASA C-130 Hercules aircraft

Time Range

November 4, 2015 – November 29, 2015, May 11, 2016 – June 5, 2016, August 30, 2017 – September 22, 2017

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:03:38.950198; freshness should be verified

Geography

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