The Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction EXperiment (ARCSIX) is a NASA field investigation aimed at quantifying the contributions of surface properties, clouds, aerosol particles, and precipitation to the Arctic summer surface radiation budget and sea ice melt during the early melt season. Based out of Greenland, ARCSIX completed two deployments from May – June 2024 and July - August 2024 utilizing the NASA P-3B, LaRC G-III, and SPEC-Learjet aircraft. The P-3B was equipped with in situ and remote sensing payloads to acquire measurements of aerosols, cloud, and radiation properties. The high-flying LaRC G-III was equipped with remote sensing instrumentation, including the HALO, and HSRL, along with the AVAPS dropsonde system. The SPEC-Learjet acquired measurements of cloud microphysics. Data were also collected at the Thule High Arctic Atmospheric Observatory (THAAO) in Pituffik, Greenland. The primary objective of ARCSIX was to enhance long-term space-based monitoring and predictive capabilities of Arctic sea ice, cloud, and aerosols by validating and improving remote sensing algorithms and model parameterizations in the Arctic. ARCSIX science questions focused on examining the impact of the predominant summer Arctic cloud types on the radiative surface energy budget, what processes control the evolution and maintenance of the predominant cloud types in the summertime Arctic, and how do the two-way interactions between surface properties and atmospheric forcings affect sea ice evolution?

For information regarding external datasets collected during ARCSIX, please visit ARCSIX Collaborator Data .

Project DOI: 10.5067/SUBORBITAL/ARCSIX/DATA001