Airborne Spectrometer Data for PACE Satellite Validation

Sixty flight hours of merged Level-1C data were collected from the PRISM and PICARD instruments aboard the NASA ER-2 aircraft during the September 2024 PACE-PAX campaign. The data was gathered over Southern and Central California to validate and refine products from the PACE satellite mission. This dataset is produced by the LARC_CLOUD organization and was last updated in October 2024.

Use Cases

• Validate PACE satellite radiometric properties using calibrated radiance measurements from the PRISM and PICARD instruments.
• Assess spatial scale impacts on validation by analyzing data collected within the instrument swath of all PACE instruments.
• Study high-aerosol load phenomena over land and ocean by examining spectral signatures from the airborne campaign.
• Refine atmospheric correction algorithms for ocean color by comparing airborne spectrometer data with coordinated ground and ocean-based observations.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the defined September 2024 campaign.
• Campaign involved coordinated flights between two aircraft, satellite overpasses, and ground observations for robust validation.
• Focuses on specific validation objectives including new retrieval parameters and target geometries.

Limitations

• The exact number of data rows, file size, and specific column structure are unknown.
• Geographic coverage is limited to flights over Southern and Central California and nearby coastal regions.
• Temporal coverage is confined to the campaign period in September 2024.

Provenance

Source

NASA Earthdata (nasa_earthdata), produced by LARC_CLOUD.

Collection Method

Airborne remote sensing data collected from the PRISM and PICARD instruments onboard the NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft.

Time Range

September 2024.

Freshness

Data from September 2024, last updated October 2024.

Geography

Southern and Central California and nearby coastal regions.