POLARIS: 1997 Arctic Stratospheric Ozone Campaign ER-2 Aircraft Data

NASA and NOAA's 1997 POLARIS campaign collected in-situ atmospheric data to study summer ozone loss in the Arctic stratosphere. The dataset includes trace gas concentrations, meteorological variables, aerosol properties, and photolysis frequencies measured from the ER-2 high-altitude aircraft, supplemented by satellite, balloon, and ground-site observations. Measurements target long-lived tracers and reactive species from nitrogen, halogen, and hydrogen reservoirs to analyze photochemical and transport processes.

Use Cases

• Modeling stratospheric ozone changes due to chemistry and transport based on in-situ trace gas and meteorological constraints.
• Analyzing the composition of reactive nitrogen (NOy), halogen (Cly), and hydrogen (HOx) reservoirs from aircraft-based instrument data.
• Studying summertime transport processes in the mid- to high-latitude stratosphere using long-lived tracer measurements like N2O and CH4.
• Investigating aerosol size distribution and sulfate concentrations in the Arctic stratosphere from particle spectrometer data.
• Calculating photolysis frequencies (j-values) for atmospheric chemistry models using aircraft-collected photo-dissociative flux measurements.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for a focused, joint NASA-NOAA mission with a clear scientific objective.
• Integrates measurements from multiple platforms (aircraft, balloons, satellites, ground-sites) for a multi-faceted view of the atmosphere.
• Includes data from over ten specialized instruments (e.g., ACATS, ATLAS, ALIAS, MASP) using advanced techniques like laser absorption and gas chromatography.

Limitations

• Column names and detailed schema are not provided in the available metadata, limiting immediate usability.
• Dataset size, row counts, and specific file structures are unknown across all platform entries.
• The most recent update date (2026-04 09) on data.gov is inconsistent with the campaign year (1997), suggesting metadata management anomalies.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

In-situ measurements collected via instruments aboard the NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft during dedicated flight campaigns, supplemented by balloon, satellite, and ground-based observations.

Time Range

1997, between the summer solstice and fall equinox.

Freshness

1997-09-26 23:23:59.999000

Geography

Mid- to high latitudes, primarily based in Fairbanks, Alaska, with flights also conducted from California and Hawaii.