Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft & Satellites

The Arctic is a critical region in understanding climate change. The responses of the Arctic to environmental perturbations such as warming, pollution, and emissions from forest fires in boreal Eurasia and North America include key processes such as the melting of ice sheets and permafrost, a decrease in snow albedo, and the deposition of halogen radical chemistry from sea salt aerosols to ice. Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) was a field campaign that explored environmental processes related to the high degree of climate sensitivity in the Arctic. ARCTAS was part of NASA’s contribution to the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Polar Study using Aircraft, Remote Sensing, Surface Measurements, and Models of Climate, Chemistry, Aerosols, and Transport (POLARCAT) Experiment for the International Polar Year 2007-2008.

ARCTAS had four primary objectives. The first was to understand long-range transport of pollution to the Arctic. Pollution brought to the Arctic from northern mid-latitude continents has environmental consequences, such as modifying regional and global climate and affecting the ozone budget. Prior to ARCTAS, these pathways remained largely uncertain. The second objective was to understand the atmospheric composition and climate implications of boreal forest fires; the smoke emissions from which act as an atmospheric perturbation to the Arctic by impacting the radiation budget and cloud processes and contributing to the production of tropospheric ozone. The third objective was to understand aerosol radiative forcing from climate perturbations, as the Arctic is an important place for understanding radiative forcing due to the rapid pace of climate change in the region and its unique radiative environment. The fourth objective of ARCTAS was to understand chemical processes with a focus on ozone, aerosols, mercury, and halogens. Additionally, ARCTAS sought to develop capabilities for incorporating data from aircraft and satellites related to pollution and related environmental perturbations in the Arctic into earth science models, expanding the potential for those models to predict future environmental change.

ARCTAS consisted of two, three-week aircraft deployments conducted in April and July 2008. The spring deployment sought to explore arctic haze, stratosphere-troposphere exchange, and sunrise photochemistry. April was chosen for the deployment phase due to historically being the peak in the seasonal accumulation of pollution from northern mid-latitude continents in the Arctic. The summer deployment sought to understand boreal forest fires at their most active seasonal phase in addition to stratosphere-troposphere exchange and summertime photochemistry.

During ARCTAS, three NASA aircrafts, the DC-8, P-3B, and BE-200, conducted measurements and were equipped with suites of in-situ and remote sensing instrumentation. Airborne data was used in conjunction with satellite observations from AURA, AQUA, CloudSat, PARASOL, CALIPSO, and MISR.

The ASDC houses ARCTAS aircraft data, along with data related to MISR, a satellite instrument aboard the Terra satellite which provides measurements that provide information about the Earth’s environment and climate.

Project DOI: 10.5067/SUBORBITAL/ARCTAS2008/DATA001
Disciplines:   Field Campaigns
Collection Disciplines Spatial Temporal
ARCTAS_Model_Data_1
ARCTAS Model Data
Aerosols,  Clouds,  Tropospheric Composition Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-30 - 2008-07-14
ARCTAS_Trajectory_Data_1
ARCTAS Kinematic Trajectories
Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 7.5, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-30 - 2008-07-14
Collection Disciplines Spatial Temporal
ARCTAS_Merge_DC8-Aircraft_Data_1
ARCTAS DC-8 Aircraft Merge Data
Aerosols Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-30 - 2008-07-15
ARCTAS_Merge_P3B-Aircraft_Data_1
ARCTAS P-3B Aircraft Merge Data
Aerosols,  Clouds,  Radiation Budget,  Tropospheric Composition Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 90), (W: -167, E: -60)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-31 - 2008-07-13
Collection Disciplines Spatial Temporal
ARCTAS_Aerosol_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data_1
ARCTAS DC-8 Aircraft In-situ Aerosol Data
Aerosols Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 64.76), (W: -169.5, E: -179.8933)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-16 - 2008-07-15
ARCTAS_Aerosol_AircraftInSitu_P3B_Data_1
ARCTAS P-3B Aircraft Aerosol In-situ Data
Aerosols,  Clouds Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 81), (W: -164, E: -68)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-25 - 2008-07-13
ARCTAS_AerosolTraceGas_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data_1
ARCTAS DC-8 Aircraft In-situ Aerosol Trace Gas Data
Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-18 - 2008-07-14
ARCTAS_AircraftRemoteSensing_BE200_HSRL_Data_1
ARCTAS BE-200 Aircraft HSRL Data
Aerosols Spatial Coverage:
(S: 36.5, N: 76), (W: -168, E: -76.5)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-30 - 2008-07-14
ARCTAS_AircraftRemoteSensing_DC8_DIAL_Data_1
ARCTAS Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) Remotely Sensed Data
Aerosols,  Tropospheric Composition Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-31 - 2008-07-15
ARCTAS_AircraftRemoteSensing_P3B_AATS14_Data_1
ARCTAS P-3B Aircraft AATS14 Data
Aerosols,  Tropospheric Composition Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 81), (W: -164, E: -68)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-25 - 2008-07-13
ARCTAS_AircraftRemoteSensing_P3B_CAR_Data_1
ARCTAS P-3B Aircraft CAR Data
Clouds,  Radiation Budget Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 81), (W: -164, E: -46.5)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-25 - 2008-07-13
ARCTAS_Cloud_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data_1
ARCTAS DC-8 Aircraft In-situ Cloud Data
Clouds Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-16 - 2008-07-15
ARCTAS_Ground_Data_1
ARCTAS Ground Site Data
Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 86), (W: -169.5, E: -36.5)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-05 - 2008-05-01
ARCTAS_JValue_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data_1
ARCTAS DC-8 Aircraft In-situ Photolysis Rate Data
Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-17 - 2008-07-14
ARCTAS_MetNav_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data_1
ARCTAS DC-8 Aircraft In-situ Meteorological and Navigational Data
Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-16 - 2008-07-15
ARCTAS_MetNav_AircraftInSitu_P3B_Data_1
ARCTAS P-3B Aircraft In-situ Meteorological and Navigational Data
Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 81), (W: -164, E: -68)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-23 - 2008-07-14
ARCTAS_Ozonesondes_Data_1
ARCTAS Ozonesondes Data
Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 39.5, N: 80.5), (W: -157, E: 158)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-04-01 - 2008-07-13
ARCTAS_Radiation_AircraftInSitu_P3B_Data_1
ARCTAS P-3B Aircraft Radiation In-situ Data
Radiation Budget Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 81), (W: -164, E: -68)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-29 - 2008-07-12
ARCTAS_Satellite_Data_1
ARCTAS Supplementary Satellite Data Products
Tropospheric Composition Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-01 - 2008-07-31
ARCTAS_TraceGas_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data_1
ARCTAS DC-8 Aircraft In-situ Trace Gas Data
Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-18 - 2008-07-14
ARCTAS_TraceGas_AircraftInSitu_P3B_Data_1
ARCTAS P-3B Aircraft In-situ Trace Gas Data
Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 32, N: 81), (W: -164, E: -68)
Temporal Coverage:
2008-03-23 - 2008-07-14

ARCTAS Mission Publications

Nair, Arshad Arjunan; Yu, Fangqun; Campuzano‐Jost, Pedro; DeMott, Paul J.; Levin, Ezra J. T.; Jimenez, Jose L.; Peischl, Jeff; Pollack, Ilana B.; Fredrickson, Carley D.; Beyersdorf, Andreas J.; Nault, Benjamin A.; Park, Minsu; Yum, Seong Soo; Palm, Brett B.; Xu, Lu; Bourgeois, Ilann; Anderson, Bruce E.; Nenes, Athanasios; Ziemba, Luke D.; Moore, Richard H.; Lee, Taehyoung; Park, Taehyun; Thompson, Chelsea R.; Flocke, Frank; Huey, Lewis Gregory; Kim, Michelle J.; Peng, Qiaoyun (2021). Machine Learning Uncovers Aerosol Size Information From Chemistry and Meteorology to Quantify Potential Cloud‐Forming Particles.


Nault, Benjamin A.; Campuzano-Jost, Pedro; Day, Douglas A.; Guo, Hongyu; Jo, Duseong S.; Handschy, Anne V.; Pagonis, Demetrios; Schroder, Jason C.; Schueneman, Melinda K.; Cubison, Michael J.; Dibb, Jack E.; Hodzic, Alma; Hu, Weiwei; Palm, Brett B.; Jimenez, Jose L. (2021). Interferences with aerosol acidity quantification due to gas-phase ammonia uptake onto acidic sulfate filter samples.


Pai, Sidhant J.; Heald, Colette L.; Pierce, Jeffrey R.; Farina, Salvatore C.; Marais, Eloise A.; Jimenez, Jose L.; Campuzano-Jost, Pedro; Nault, Benjamin A.; Middlebrook, Ann M.; Coe, Hugh; Shilling, John E.; Bahreini, Roya; Dingle, Justin H.; Vu, Kennedy (2021). An evaluation of global organic aerosol schemes using airborne observations.