Airborne Spectro-Polarimeter Data for PACE Satellite Validation

Southern and Central California coastal regions were surveyed by the SPEX Airborne instrument aboard NASA's ER-2 aircraft during the September 2024 PACE-PAX campaign. This dataset contains spectro-polarimetric measurements collected for validating and refining data products from the PACE satellite mission. The data collection was managed by the LARC_CLOUD organization and is now complete.

Use Cases

• Validate PACE satellite aerosol optical depth retrievals using airborne-measured polarimetric signatures over ocean and land.
• Assess spatial representativeness of satellite data by comparing SPEX Airborne swath measurements with coordinated ground-based observations.
• Refine ocean color algorithms by correlating airborne hyperspectral polarimetry with in-situ water sampling from the Twin Otter aircraft.
• Analyze aerosol layer properties by examining spectro-polarimetric data for specific flight geometries and high-aerosol load targets.

Strengths

• Data collected during a dedicated 60-flight-hour campaign for the ER-2 aircraft in September 2024.
• Measurements are coordinated with satellite overpasses, a second aircraft, and ground/ocean observations for validation.

Limitations

• Specific data volume (rows), file formats, and column schema are not documented.
• Geographic scope is limited to Southern/Central California and nearby coastal regions from a single month.

Provenance

Source

NASA's LARC_CLOUD organization via the nasa_earthdata platform.

Collection Method

Airborne remote sensing using the SPEX Airborne spectro-polarimeter instrument onboard the ER-2 high-altitude aircraft.

Time Range

September 2024.

Freshness

Data collection is complete; last metadata update was October 2024.

Geography

Southern and Central California, USA, and nearby coastal ocean regions.