ORACLES: Airborne Remote Sensing of Aerosols Above Clouds

Southern Africa produces almost one-third of Earth's biomass burning aerosol particles. The ORACLES campaign collected multi-year airborne remote sensing and in-situ measurements over the southeast Atlantic to study the climate impacts of these aerosols above clouds. Data from three intensive observation periods between 2016 and 2018 capture the complete vertical column of parameters driving aerosol-cloud interactions.

Use Cases

• Validating climate model aerosol forcing assessments in the southeast Atlantic region.
• Analyzing the process-oriented impact of aerosol layer separation from clouds on radiative heating profiles.
• Studying the vertical distribution and interaction of biomass burning aerosols with marine stratocumulus clouds.

Strengths

• Covers three distinct field campaigns over a multi-year period (2016-2018).
• Provides observations over the complete vertical atmospheric column, a key design goal of the ORACLES experiment.
• Combines data from two specialized aircraft platforms (P-3 Orion and ER-2).

Limitations

• Column names and dataset size are unspecified across all sources, limiting technical assessment.
• Metadata freshness is conflicting: one source lists an improbable future update date (2026), while another shows 2019.
• Specific license terms under 'other-license-specified' are not detailed.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

In-situ and remote sensing measurements collected onboard P-3 Orion and ER-2 aircraft.

Time Range

August 19, 2016 – October 27, 2018

Freshness

Last updated dates conflict: one source shows 2026-04-09, another shows 2019-03-23.

Geography

Southeast Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Southern Africa.