ACEPOL Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) Remotely Sensed Data (ACEPOL_AircraftRemoteSensing_CPL_Data) are remotely sensed measurements collected by the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) onboard the ER-2 during ACEPOL. In order to improve our understanding of the effect of aerosols on climate and air quality, measurements of aerosol chemical composition, size distribution, height profile, and optical properties are of crucial importance. In terms of remotely sensed instrumentation, the most extensive set of aerosol properties can be obtained by combining passive multi-angle, multi-spectral measurements of intensity and polarization with active measurements performed by a High Spectral Resolution Lidar. During Fall 2017, the Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeter and Lidar (ACEPOL) campaign, jointly sponsored by NASA and the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), performed aerosol and cloud measurements over the United States from the NASA high altitude ER-2 aircraft. Six instruments were deployed on the aircraft. Four of these instruments were multi-angle polarimeters: the Airborne Hyper Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (AirHARP), the Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI), the Airborne Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration (SPEX Airborne) and the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP). The other two instruments were lidars: the High Spectral Resolution Lidar 2 (HSRL-2) and the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL). The ACEPOL operation was based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale California, which enabled observations of a wide variety of scene types, including urban, desert, forest, coastal ocean and agricultural areas, with clear, cloudy, polluted and pristine atmospheric conditions. The primary goal of ACEPOL was to assess the capabilities of the different polarimeters for retrieval of aerosol and cloud microphysical and optical parameters, as well as their capabilities to derive aerosol layer height (near-UV polarimetry, O2 A-band). ACEPOL also focused on the development and evaluation of aerosol retrieval algorithms that combine data from both active (lidar) and passive (polarimeter) instruments. ACEPOL data are appropriate for algorithm development and testing, instrument intercomparison, and investigations of active and passive instrument data fusion, which make them valuable resources for remote sensing communities as they prepare for the next generation of spaceborne MAP and lidar missions.

ACEPOL_AircraftRemoteSensing_AirSPEX_Data are remotely sensed measurements collected by the Airborne Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration (SPEX Airborne) onboard the ER-2 during the Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeter and Lidar (ACEPOL) campaign. In order to improve our understanding of the effect of aerosols on climate and air quality, measurements of aerosol chemical composition, size distribution, height profile, and optical properties are of crucial importance. In terms of remotely sensed instrumentation, the most extensive set of aerosol properties can be obtained by combining passive multi-angle, multi-spectral measurements of intensity and polarization with active measurements performed by a High Spectral Resolution Lidar. During Fall 2017, the Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeter and Lidar (ACEPOL) campaign, jointly sponsored by NASA and the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), performed aerosol and cloud measurements over the United States from the NASA high altitude ER-2 aircraft. Six instruments were deployed on the aircraft. Four of these instruments were multi-angle polarimeters: the Airborne Hyper Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (AirHARP), the Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI), the Airborne Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration (SPEX Airborne) and the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP). The other two instruments were lidars: the High Spectral Resolution Lidar 2 (HSRL-2) and the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL). The ACEPOL operation was based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale California, which enabled observations of a wide variety of scene types, including urban, desert, forest, coastal ocean and agricultural areas, with clear, cloudy, polluted and pristine atmospheric conditions. The primary goal of ACEPOL was to assess the capabilities of the different polarimeters for retrieval of aerosol and cloud microphysical and optical parameters, as well as their capabilities to derive aerosol layer height (near-UV polarimetry, O2 A-band). ACEPOL also focused on the development and evaluation of aerosol retrieval algorithms that combine data from both active (lidar) and passive (polarimeter) instruments. ACEPOL data are appropriate for algorithm development and testing, instrument intercomparison, and investigations of active and passive instrument data fusion, which make them valuable resources for remote sensing communities as they prepare for the next generation of spaceborne MAP and lidar missions.

ACEPOL High Spectral Resolution Lidar 2 (HSRL-2) Remotely Sensed Data (ACEPOL_AircraftRemoteSensing_HSRL2_Data) are remotely sensed measurements collected by the High-Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL-2) onboard the ER-2 during the Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeter and Lidar (ACEPOL) campaign. In order to improve our understanding of the effect of aerosols on climate and air quality, measurements of aerosol chemical composition, size distribution, height profile, and optical properties are of crucial importance. In terms of remotely sensed instrumentation, the most extensive set of aerosol properties can be obtained by combining passive multi-angle, multi-spectral measurements of intensity and polarization with active measurements performed by a High Spectral Resolution Lidar. During Fall 2017, the Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeter and Lidar (ACEPOL) campaign, jointly sponsored by NASA and the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), performed aerosol and cloud measurements over the United States from the NASA high altitude ER-2 aircraft. Six instruments were deployed on the aircraft. Four of these instruments were multi-angle polarimeters: the Airborne Hyper Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (AirHARP), the Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI), the Airborne Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration (SPEX Airborne) and the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP). The other two instruments were lidars: the High Spectral Resolution Lidar 2 (HSRL-2) and the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL). The ACEPOL operation was based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale California, which enabled observations of a wide variety of scene types, including urban, desert, forest, coastal ocean and agricultural areas, with clear, cloudy, polluted and pristine atmospheric conditions. The primary goal of ACEPOL was to assess the capabilities of the different polarimeters for retrieval of aerosol and cloud microphysical and optical parameters, as well as their capabilities to derive aerosol layer height (near-UV polarimetry, O2 A-band). ACEPOL also focused on the development and evaluation of aerosol retrieval algorithms that combine data from both active (lidar) and passive (polarimeter) instruments. ACEPOL data are appropriate for algorithm development and testing, instrument intercomparison, and investigations of active and passive instrument data fusion, which make them valuable resources for remote sensing communities as they prepare for the next generation of spaceborne MAP and lidar missions.

ACCLIP_AerosolCloud_AircraftRemoteSensing_WB57_Data is the cloud and aerosol remote sensing data from the Roscoe lidar collected during the Asian Summer Monsoon Chemical & Climate Impact Project (ACCLIP). Data collection for this product is complete.ACCLIP is an international, multi-organizational suborbital campaign that aims to study aerosols and chemical transport that is associated with the Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM) in the Western Pacific region from 15 July 2022 to 31 August 2022. The ASM is the largest meteorological pattern in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) during the summer and is associated with persistent convection and large anticyclonic flow patterns in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). This leads to significant enhancements in the UTLS of trace species that originate from pollution or biomass burning. Convection connected to the ASM occurs over South, Southeast, and East Asia, a region with complex and rapidly changing emissions due to its high population density and economic growth. Pollution that reaches the UTLS from this region can have significant effects on the climate and chemistry of the atmosphere, making it important to have an accurate representation and understanding of ASM transport, chemical, and microphysical processes for chemistry-climate models to characterize these interactions and for predicting future impacts on climate. The ACCLIP campaign is conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) with the primary goal of investigating the impacts of Asian gas and aerosol emissions on global chemistry and climate. The NASA WB-57 and NCAR G-V aircraft are outfitted with state-of-the-art sensors to accomplish this. ACCLIP seeks to address four scientific objectives related to its main goal. The first is to investigate the transport pathways of ASM uplifted air from inside of the anticyclone to the global UTLS. Another objective is to sample the chemical content of air processed in the ASM in order to quantify the role of the ASM in transporting chemically active species and short-lived climate forcing agents to the UTLS to determine their impact on stratospheric ozone chemistry and global climate. Third, information is obtained on aerosol size, mass, and chemical composition that is necessary for determining the radiative effects of the ASM to constrain models of aerosol formation and for contrasting the organic-rich ASM UTLS aerosol population with that of the background aerosols. Last, ACCLIP seeks to measure the water vapor distribution associated with the monsoon dynamical structure to evaluate transport across the tropopause and determine the role of the ASM in water vapor transport in the stratosphere.

NAAMES_AerosolCloud_AircraftRemoteSensing_Data are remotely sensed cloud, aerosol and ocean optical measurements collected onboard the C-130 aircraft during the North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES). NAAMES was a NASA funded Earth-Venture Suborbital (EVS) mission with 4 deployments occurring from 2015-2018.The NASA North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) project was the first NASA Earth Venture – Suborbital mission focused on studying the coupled ocean ecosystem and atmosphere. NAAMES utilizes a combination of ship-based, airborne, autonomous sensor, and remote sensing measurements that directly link ocean ecosystem processes, emissions of ocean-generated aerosols and precursor gases, and subsequent atmospheric evolution and processing. Four deployments coincide with the seasonal cycle of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean: the Winter Transition (November 5 – December 2, 2015), the Bloom Climax (May 11 – June 5, 2016), the Deceleration Phase (August 30 – September 24, 2017), and the Acceleration Phase (March 20 – April 13, 2018). Ship-based measurements were conducted from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Research Vessel Atlantis in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, while airborne measurements were conducted on a NASA Wallops Flight Facility C-130 Hercules that was based at St. John's International Airport, Newfoundland, Canada. Data products in the ASDC archive focus on the NAAMES atmospheric aerosol, cloud, and trace gas data from the ship and aircraft, as well as related satellite and model data subsets. While a few ocean-remote sensing data products (e.g., from the high-spectral resolution lidar) are also included in the ASDC archive, most ocean data products reside in a companion archive at SeaBass.

ACEPOL Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) Remotely Sensed Data (ACEPOL_AircraftRemoteSensing_RSP_Data) are remotely sensed measurements collected by the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) onboard the ER-2 during the Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeter and Lidar (ACEPOL) campaign. In order to improve our understanding of the effect of aerosols on climate and air quality, measurements of aerosol chemical composition, size distribution, height profile, and optical properties are of crucial importance. In terms of remotely sensed instrumentation, the most extensive set of aerosol properties can be obtained by combining passive multi-angle, multi-spectral measurements of intensity and polarization with active measurements performed by a High Spectral Resolution Lidar. During Fall 2017, the Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeter and Lidar (ACEPOL) campaign, jointly sponsored by NASA and the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), performed aerosol and cloud measurements over the United States from the NASA high altitude ER-2 aircraft. Six instruments were deployed on the aircraft. Four of these instruments were multi-angle polarimeters: the Airborne Hyper Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (AirHARP), the Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI), the Airborne Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration (SPEX Airborne) and the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP). The other two instruments were lidars: the High Spectral Resolution Lidar 2 (HSRL-2) and the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL). The ACEPOL operation was based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale California, which enabled observations of a wide variety of scene types, including urban, desert, forest, coastal ocean and agricultural areas, with clear, cloudy, polluted and pristine atmospheric conditions. The primary goal of ACEPOL was to assess the capabilities of the different polarimeters for retrieval of aerosol and cloud microphysical and optical parameters, as well as their capabilities to derive aerosol layer height (near-UV polarimetry, O2 A-band). ACEPOL also focused on the development and evaluation of aerosol retrieval algorithms that combine data from both active (lidar) and passive (polarimeter) instruments. ACEPOL data are appropriate for algorithm development and testing, instrument intercomparison, and investigations of active and passive instrument data fusion, which is a valuable resource for remote sensing communities as they prepare for the next generation of spaceborne MAP and lidar missions.