SONEX: Supplementary Lightning and Atmospheric Data

October-November 1997 data from the North Atlantic Flight Corridor provides supplementary imagery from the National Lightning Data Network (NLDN) and Optical Transient Detector (OTD). This dataset supports the SASS Ozone and NOx Experiment (SONEX), an international campaign studying the impact of subsonic aircraft emissions on atmospheric composition. The mission involved targeted sampling of air parcels affected by aircraft emissions, convection, lightning, and stratospheric intrusions.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial and temporal patterns of lightning activity over the North Atlantic using NLDN and OTD imagery.
• Correlating aircraft emission plumes with perturbations in NOx and ozone levels as described in the campaign objectives.
• Studying the influence of meteorological events like convection and stratospheric intrusions on atmospheric chemistry.
• Validating atmospheric models of the North Atlantic Flight Corridor using in-situ measurement references from the DC-8 and Falcon 20 aircraft.

Strengths

• Data is associated with a well-documented, international multi-organizational campaign (SONEX/POLINAT-2) involving NASA and DLR.
• Combines specialized lightning detection imagery (NLDN, OTD) with a detailed context of targeted atmospheric sampling strategies.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing: specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are unknown across all sources.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (1997-11-13 vs. 2026-04-09) create uncertainty about data currency and maintenance.
• The dataset's structure and the exact relationship between the imagery files and other campaign data are not described.

Provenance

Source

NASA/LARC_ASDC, in partnership with German Aerospace Agency (DLR) for the POLINAT-2 campaign.

Collection Method

Collected via aircraft-based in-situ measurements (DC-8, Falcon 20) and remote sensing imagery (NLDN, OTD) during the SONEX campaign.

Time Range

October-November 1997

Freshness

2026-04-09 22:43:50.312575

Geography

North Atlantic Flight Corridor, with primary staging in Bangor, Maine (USA) and Shannon, Ireland.