ASDC | ORACLES_Cloud_AircraftInSitu_Data

ORACLES Level 2

Entry Title: ORACLES Cloud Aircraft InSitu Data

Entry ID: ORACLES_Cloud_AircraftInSitu_Data_1

Clouds Radiation Budget

Description

ORACLES_Cloud_AircraftInSitu_Data are in situ cloud measurements collected onboard the P-3 Orion or ER-2 aircraft during the ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) campaign. These measurements were collected from August 19, 2016 – October 27, 2016, August 1, 2017 – September 4, 2017 and September 21, 2018 – October 27, 2018. ORACLES provides multi-year airborne observations over the complete vertical column of key parameters that drive aerosol-cloud interactions in the southeast Atlantic, an area with some of the largest inter-model differences in aerosol forcing assessments on the planet. The P-3 Orion aircraft was utilized as a low-flying platform for simultaneous in situ and remote sensing measurements of aerosols and clouds and was supplemented by ER-2 remote sensing during the 2016 campaign. Data collection for this product is complete.

Southern Africa produces almost one-third of the Earth’s biomass burning aerosol particles. The ORACLES (ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS) experiment was a five year investigation with three intensive observation periods (August 19, 2016 – October 27, 2016; August 1, 2017 – September 4, 2017; September 21, 2018 – October 27, 2018) and was designed to study key processes that determine the climate impacts of African biomass burning aerosols. ORACLES provided multi-year airborne observations over the complete vertical column of the key parameters that drive aerosol-cloud interactions in the southeast Atlantic, an area with some of the largest inter-model differences in aerosol forcing assessments. These inter-model differences in aerosol and cloud distributions, as well as their combined climatic effects in the SE Atlantic are partly due to the persistence of aerosols above clouds. The varying separation of cloud and aerosol layers sampled during ORACLES allow for a process-oriented understanding of how variations in radiative heating profiles impact cloud properties, which is expected to improve model simulations for other remote regions experience long-range aerosol transport above clouds. ORACLES utilized two NASA aircraft, the P-3 and ER-2. The P-3 was used as a low-flying platform for simultaneous in situ and remote sensing measurements of aerosols and clouds in all three campaigns, supplemented by ER-2 remote sensing in 2016. ER-2 observations will be used to enhance satellite-based remote sensing by resolving variability within a particular scene, and by guiding the development of new and improved remote sensing techniques.

DOI

10.5067/ASDC_DAAC/ORACLES_Cloud_AircraftInSitu_Data_1

Citation Styles for this Dataset

Resources and Documentation

Earthdata Forum

PROJECT HOME PAGE

ESPO home page for ORACLES

ORACLES Enhanced Modis Airborne Simulator (eMAS) Data

VIEW RELATED INFORMATION

DATA CITATION GUIDELINES

How to cite ASDC data

GENERAL DOCUMENTATION

NASA Airborne Science ORACLES Posts
ORACLES 2016 Data on the Sub-Orbital Order Tool (SOOT) Power User Interface (UI)

PUBLICATIONS

NASA Earth Expeditions ORACLES Posts

NASA.gov Article “Looking back at the science and lessons learned from ORACLES”

NASA.gov Article “Making It Work in the Field with ORACLES”

ORACLES Mission Overview

From GCMD Science Keywords:

CLOUD TOP HEIGHT > CLOUD PROPERTIES
SCATTERING > CLOUD RADIATIVE TRANSFER
CLOUD PROPERTIES
CLOUD MICROPHYSICS
CLOUD DROPLET DISTRIBUTION
RAIN WATER PATH > PRECIPITATION PROFILES
CLOUD DROPLET CONCENTRATION/SIZE > CLOUD MICROPHYSICS
CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESS > CLOUD MICROPHYSICS
CLOUD WATER PATH > PRECIPITATION PROFILES
CLOUD CONDENSATION NUCLEI > CLOUD MICROPHYSICS
PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION > CLOUD MICROPHYSICS
CLOUDS

Data Distribution

File Format(s):

ICARTT

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Spatial Information

Spatial Coverage: (S: -27.06, N: 37.95), (W: -77.62, E: 14.94)
Spatial Coverage Type: Horizontal
Coordinate System: Cartesian
Granule Spatial Representation: Cartesian

Locations

AFRICA SOUTHERN AFRICA SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE ATLANTIC OCEAN SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE ASCENSION ISLAND NAMIBIA

Temporal Information

Temporal Coverage: 2016-08-24 - 2018-10-28

Platforms

Propeller

NASA P-3

4STAR

Spectrometers for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research

FPDR-PDI

Flight Probe Dual Range Phase Doppler Interferometer

2DS

2D-STEREO PARTICLE PROBE (2DS)

CAPS

Cloud, Aerosol, Precipitation Spectrometer

CAS

Cloud and Aerosol Spectrometer

CIP

Cloud Imaging Probe

HVPS

High Volume Particle Sampler

CDP

Cloud Droplet Probe

Metadata Dates

Created on 2020-02-12

Last updated on 2023-05-23