TARFOX_WALLOPS_SONDE: Radiosonde Atmospheric Profiles from 1996 Field Campaign

July 10-31, 1996, the TARFOX campaign launched Vaisala radiosonde balloons from the Wallops ground station to profile atmospheric conditions. The coordinated experiment sampled a variety of aerosol states, from clean air to polluted haze with optical depths exceeding 0.5, to study aerosol radiative forcing. Early results highlighted the role of carbonaceous compounds and condensed water in the Mid-Atlantic haze plume.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite aerosol retrievals based on coordinated measurements from GOES-8, NOAA-14, ERS-2, and LANDSAT.
• Constraining radiative closure tests by analyzing gradients of sampled aerosol optical thickness.
• Profiling atmospheric water vapor and pressure to characterize the state of the US mid-Atlantic haze plume.
• Apportioning aerosol optical depth to chemical components based on campaign findings.

Strengths

• Data originates from a coordinated, multi-platform field campaign involving four satellites and four aircraft.
• Captures a gradient of atmospheric conditions, including aerosol optical depths exceeding 0.5.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA EarthData and Data.gov signals recognized scientific importance.

Limitations

• Column names and dataset size (row count, file size) are unspecified across all sources.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata (1996 vs. 2026) suggests potential provenance or maintenance issues.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' or 'None', requiring further investigation for reuse.

Provenance

Source

LARC_ASDC (NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center)

Collection Method

Measurements from Vaisala radiosondes launched via balloon from Wallops ground station.

Time Range

1996-07 10 to 1996-07-31

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:33:08.292589

Geography

Wallops ground station, US Mid-Atlantic region.