STRAT ER-2: Meteorological and Navigational Data from the 1995-1996 Campaign

From May 1995 to February 1996, NASA's STRAT campaign collected in-situ meteorological and navigational data using the ER-2 aircraft to study atmospheric transport and chemistry. The dataset features measurements from systems including the Meteorological Measurement System (MMS), a Nav Recorder, a Microwave Temperature Profiler (MTP), and the Composition and Photo-Dissociative Flux Measurement (CPFM). It was designed to quantify transport rates of trace gases and provide data for testing models assessing the impact of stratospheric aviation.

Use Cases

• Modeling global-scale transport of aircraft exhaust (HSCT emissions) based on tracer measurements.
• Analyzing dynamical coupling between tropical and higher latitude regions based on altitude, latitude, and season data.
• Testing 2D and 3D atmospheric chemistry and transport models based on in-situ measurements of HOx, NOy, ozone, and temperature.
• Studying conditions near the tropopause based on combined meteorological and navigational parameters.

Strengths

• Data collection is explicitly stated as complete across all sources.
• Covers a defined 10-month campaign period (May 1995 to February 1996) with a clear scientific mission.
• Integrates measurements from multiple specialized instruments (MMS, NavRec, MTP, CPFM) on a high-altitude aircraft.

Limitations

• Column names and dataset size (row count, file size) are not provided by any source, hindering technical assessment.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata (1996 vs. 2026) suggests potential provenance or versioning issues.
• License is specified only as 'other-license-specified' without clear terms for reuse.

Provenance

Source

NASA STRAT Science Team, likely from the Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center (LARC_ASDC).

Collection Method

In-situ measurements collected by instruments aboard the NASA ER-2 aircraft during dedicated flight campaigns.

Time Range

May 1995 to February 1996

Freshness

2026-04-09 20:28:29.193703

Geography

Northern Hemisphere, flights conducted just below the tropopause.