NASA CAR Project: Airborne Atmospheric Measurements for Arctic and Climate Research

The NASA Cloud and Aerosol Research (CAR) project includes airborne measurements from multiple field campaigns. Data from the CAR instrument includes bidirectional reflectance factor values at varying spectral bands. Campaigns described include ARCTAS (2008), ARMCAS (1995), CLAMS (2001), and CLASIC, focusing on Arctic atmospheric composition, pollution transport, and aerosol radiative forcing.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived atmospheric composition products based on detailed aircraft observations mentioned in the description.
• Modeling aerosol radiative forcing and its impact on Arctic climate based on the campaign objectives.
• Analyzing spectral bidirectional reflectance factors for surface-atmosphere studies based on the CAR instrument data.
• Studying the transport of mid-latitude pollution to the Arctic region based on the ARCTAS campaign focus.

Strengths

• Data originates from NASA-operated airborne campaigns, suggesting authoritative collection methods.
• Covers multiple specific field campaigns (ARCTAS, ARMCAS, CLAMS, CLASIC) with clear scientific objectives.
• Released under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license, allowing for broad reuse.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count, file formats, and sample data are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description combines information from multiple campaigns; data structure for each may vary.

Provenance

Source

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and University of Washington CAR Group

Collection Method

Airborne measurements from research aircraft (e.g., Convair C-131A, ER-2) using the CAR instrument.

Time Range

Campaigns span from 1995 (ARMCAS) to at least 2008 (ARCTAS), with future flights planned for 2022-2025.

Freshness

Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Geography

Arctic region, North Slope of Alaska, Beaufort Sea, and Chesapeake Lighthouse area.