SEAC4RS: DC-8 Aircraft Lidar Atmospheric Profiles

August and September 2013 airborne field study based in Houston, Texas, collected remotely sensed atmospheric data. The dataset contains Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) measurements from the NASA DC-8 aircraft, focusing on trace gases, aerosol properties, and cloud properties. It was designed to study pollutant redistribution, aerosol-climate feedbacks, and to validate future satellite missions.

Use Cases

• Tracking pollutant transport via deep convection based on vertical profile data.
• Analyzing aerosol optical properties and backscatter for climate model validation.
• Studying the evolution of gases in convective outflow for UT/LS chemistry.
• Calibrating satellite-based atmospheric composition instruments using airborne lidar data.

Strengths

• Data collection involved three coordinated aircraft platforms (NASA DC-8, ER-2, SPEC LearJet) for multi-regime sampling.
• The study had defined primary science objectives focusing on emissions, composition, and climate coupling.
• Platform presence on multiple government data portals indicates established provenance and importance.

Limitations

• Column names and dataset size (rows, file size) are unspecified across all sources, limiting technical assessment.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata (2013-09-23 vs. 2026-04-09) suggests potential metadata errors.
• Documentation gaps exist, as specific measured parameters must be inferred from tags and descriptions.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Remotely sensed data collected by Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) onboard the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the SEAC4RS field campaign.

Time Range

August to September 2013

Freshness

Data collection was completed in September 2013, though metadata shows a conflicting last update of 2026-04-09.

Geography

Field operation based in Houston, Texas, with flights targeting regions of biomass burning and pollution influence.