SEAC4RS: ER-2 Aircraft Polarimeter Aerosol and Cloud Data

August–September 2013 data from the SEAC4RS airborne field study, collected by the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) aboard the NASA ER-2 aircraft operating from Houston, Texas. The dataset contains remotely sensed measurements of aerosol and cloud properties, designed to study pollutant redistribution, aerosol-cloud interactions, and to serve as a calibration testbed for satellite missions. Observations focus on the lower stratospheric regime, complementing tropospheric sampling from other aircraft in the campaign.

Use Cases

• Analyzing aerosol optical properties (e.g., extinction, backscatter) for climate model evaluation.
• Studying cloud microphysical properties (e.g., droplet distribution, optical depth) to assess indirect effects.
• Validating and calibrating future satellite-based polarimetric instruments.
• Investigating the evolution of gases and aerosols in deep convective outflow from biomass burning and pollution.
• Assessing the semi-direct effect of aerosols on the atmospheric heat budget using radiative flux context.

Strengths

• Data originates from a major, well-documented NASA field campaign (SEAC4RS) with clear science objectives.
• Provides specialized polarimetric remote sensing from a high-altitude aircraft platform (ER-2), offering a unique stratospheric perspective.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals institutional importance and curation.

Limitations

• Column names and data structure are unspecified across all sources, complicating initial data exploration.
• Exact file size and row counts are unknown, limiting assessment of dataset scale.
• License is inconsistently reported as 'other-license-specified' or null, requiring manual verification.

Provenance

Source

NASA Langley Research Center, Atmospheric Science Data Center (LARC_ASDC).

Collection Method

Remotely sensed data collected by the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) onboard the ER-2 aircraft during flight operations.

Time Range

August 2013 to September 2013

Freshness

Metadata was last updated on 2026-04-09 on some platforms, though the underlying data collection ended in 2013.

Geography

Operations based in Houston, Texas; flight paths over regional survey areas.