TARFOX_UWC131A_SUNP: Aircraft Sun Photometer Aerosol Measurements

TARFOX_UWC131A_SUNP contains data from a 6-channel Sun Photometer aboard the University of Washington C-131A aircraft during the Tropospheric Aerosol Radiative Forcing Observational eXperiment (TARFOX). The intensive field campaign ran from July 10-31, 1996, sampling a variety of aerosol conditions over the US mid-Atlantic to measure optical properties and radiative forcing. Early results highlighted the importance of carbonaceous compounds and water in the haze plume, aiding aerosol effect isolation and satellite retrieval validation.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite aerosol optical depth retrievals based on coordinated multi-platform measurements.
• Analyzing gradients of aerosol optical thickness to isolate aerosol radiative effects.
• Studying the chemical apportionment of aerosol optical depth, particularly carbonaceous compounds.
• Constraining closure tests for atmospheric models using in-situ sun photometer data.
• Investigating the role of water condensed on aerosol particles in the mid-Atlantic haze plume.

Strengths

• Data originates from a coordinated multi-platform campaign involving four satellites, four aircraft, land sites, and ships.
• Covers a defined temporal range (July 10-31, 1996) with sampled aerosol optical depths exceeding 0.5.
• Campaign design sampled gradients in aerosol conditions to tightly constrain closure tests.

Limitations

• Column names and dataset size (rows, file size) are not specified in any source.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata exists between platforms (1996-07 31 vs. 2026-04-09).
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit details.

Provenance

Source

LARC_ASDC (NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center)

Collection Method

Collected from a 6-channel Sun Photometer flown on the University of Washington C-131A aircraft.

Time Range

1996-07-10 to 1996-07-31

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:20:05.979497

Geography

US mid-Atlantic region, specific flight paths not detailed.