TRACE-P: Merged Atmospheric Chemistry Data from the 2001 Pacific Campaign

March-April 2001 data from the NASA TRACE-P airborne campaign studying atmospheric chemistry over the Pacific. The dataset merges measurements from two research aircraft (DC-8 and P-3B) equipped with over 40 instruments, ground stations in China, and satellite imagery. It was created by NASA, NCAR, and several US universities as part of the Global Tropospheric Experiment.

Use Cases

• Modeling the transport and chemical evolution of Asian air masses based on aircraft and ground station measurements.
• Analyzing aerosol properties and composition based on nephelometer, DIAL, and PILS-Ion Chromatograph data.
• Studying tropospheric ozone and precursor gases based on GCMS, chemiluminescence, and DIAL measurements.
• Correlating in-situ atmospheric chemistry data with satellite observations of lightning and ocean color.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the campaign.
• Integrates measurements from multiple platforms: two aircraft with 19 and 21 instruments, ground sites, and satellites.
• Instruments captured a wide range of atmospheric properties, including specific compounds like CH4, CH3CHO, OH, H2SO4, and aerosol metrics.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data files are in specialized formats (BIN, PDF, ISO, HTML) which may require specific tools for access.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Merged data from instruments on NASA DC-8 and P-3B aircraft, ground stations, and satellites during the TRACE-P campaign.

Time Range

March - April 2001

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 20:47:14.320782; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Pacific region, focusing on air emerging from Asia to the western Pacific, with ground stations in China.