STRAT ER-2 Campaign: In-situ Trace Gas and Aerosol Measurements

From May 1995 to February 1996, NASA's Stratospheric Tracers of Atmospheric Transport (STRAT) campaign collected in-situ atmospheric data using the ER-2 high-altitude aircraft. The dataset includes measurements of trace gases, aerosols, and photolysis frequencies to study transport and chemistry in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. It was designed to assess the potential impact of high-speed civil transport (HSCT) exhaust and to provide data for testing 2D and 3D atmospheric models.

Use Cases

• Modeling global-scale transport rates of aircraft exhaust based on measured long-lived tracers.
• Analyzing chemistry in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere using in-situ measurements of HOx, NOy, and ozone.
• Testing two-dimensional and three-dimensional atmospheric models with a coordinated set of aircraft, balloon, and satellite observations.
• Studying aerosol particle properties and size distribution in the lower stratosphere using CNC and FCAS instrument data.
• Calculating photolysis frequencies (j-values) for atmospheric chemical reactions using CPFM instrument data.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for a focused, 10-month NASA field campaign with clear scientific objectives.
• Integrates multiple measurement platforms (aircraft, balloons, satellites) for a multi-faceted view of atmospheric processes.
• Includes data from several specialized instruments (e.g., ACATS, ALIAS, ATLAS) for a wide range of chemical species.

Limitations

• Column names and specific data structure are not provided in the available metadata, complicating direct analysis.
• Key metadata like row counts, file sizes, and precise data formats are listed as 'unknown' or 'None'.
• The listed 'last updated' dates on Data.gov (2026) are implausibly in the future and conflict with the campaign end date (1996), indicating metadata errors.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected via in-situ instruments aboard the ER-2 aircraft, supplemented by balloon sondes and satellite imagery.

Time Range

May 1995 to February 1996

Freshness

The underlying data is from 1995-1996. The most recent plausible platform update is from NASA Earthdata on 1996-12-20.

Geography

Northern Hemisphere, flights conducted just below the tropopause.