CPEXCV-Dropsondes_1 is the dropsonde data files collected during the Convective Processes Experiment - Cabo Verde (CPEX-CV). Data collection for this product is complete.Seeking to better understand atmospheric processes in regions with little data, the Convective Processes Experiment – Cabo Verde (CPEX-CV) campaign conducted by NASA is a continuation of the CPEX – Aerosols & Winds (CPEX-AW) campaign that took place between August to September 2021. The campaign will take place between 1-30 September 2022 and will operate out of Sal Island, Cabo Verde with the primary goal of investigating atmospheric dynamics, marine boundary layer properties, convection, the dust-laden Saharan Air Layer, and their interactions across various spatial scales to improve understanding and predictability of process-level lifecycles in the data-sparse tropical East Atlantic region.CPEX-CV will work towards its goal by addressing four main science objectives. The first goal is to improve understanding of the interaction between large-scale environmental forcings such as the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), Saharan Air Layer, African easterly waves, and mid-level African easterly jet, and the lifecycle and properties of convective cloud systems, including tropical cyclone precursors, in the tropical East Atlantic region. Next, observations will be made about how local kinematic and thermodynamic conditions, including the vertical structure and variability of the marine boundary layer, relate to the initiation and lifecycle of convective cloud systems and their processes. Third, CPEX-CV will investigate how dynamical and convective processes affect size dependent Saharan dust vertical structure, long-range Saharan dust transport, and boundary layer exchange pathways. The last objective will be to assess the impact of CPEX-CV observations of atmospheric winds, thermodynamics, clouds, and aerosols on the prediction of tropical Atlantic weather systems and validate and interpret spaceborne remote sensors that provide similar measurements.To achieve these objectives, the NASA DC-8 aircraft will be deployed with remote sensing instruments and dropsondes that will allow for the measurement of tropospheric aerosols, winds, temperature, water vapor, and precipitation. Instruments onboard the aircraft include the Airborne Third Generation Precipitation Radar (APR-3), lidars such as the Doppler Aerosol WiNd Lidar (DAWN), High Altitude Lidar Observatory (HALO), High Altitude Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR), Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS) dropsonde system, Cloud Aerosol and Precipitation Spectrometer (CAPS), and the Airborne In-situ and Radio Occultation (AIRO) instrument. Measurements taken by CPEX-CV will assist in moving science forward from previous CPEX and CPEX-AW missions, the calibration and validation of satellite measurements, and the development of airborne sensors, especially those with potential for satellite deployment.

CPEXAW-Dropsondes_1 is the dropsonde data files collected during the Convective Processes Experiment - Aerosols & Winds (CPEX-AW). Data collection for this product is complete.The Convective Processes Experiment – Aerosols & Winds (CPEX-AW) campaign was a joint effort between the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) with the primary goal of conducting a post-launch calibration and validation activities of the Atmospheric Dynamics Mission-Aeolus (ADM-AEOLUS) Earth observation wind Lidar satellite in St. Croix. CPEX-AW is a follow-on to the Convective Processes Experiment (CPEX) field campaign which took place in the summer of 2017. In addition to joint calibration/validation of ADM-AEOLUS, CPEX-AW studied the dynamics related to the Saharan Air Layer, African Easterly Waves and Jets, Tropical Easterly Jet, and deep convection in the InterTropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). CPEX-AW science goals include:• Better understanding interactions of convective cloud systems and tropospheric winds as part of the joint NASA-ESA Aeolus Cal/Val effort over the tropical Atlantic;• Observing the vertical structure and variability of the marine boundary layer in relation to initiation and lifecycle of the convective cloud systems, convective processes (e.g., cold pools), and environmental conditions within and across the ITCZ;• Investigating how the African easterly waves and dry air and dust associated with Sahara Air Layer control the convectively suppressed and active periods of the ITCZ;• Investigating interactions of wind, aerosol, clouds, and precipitation and effects on long range dust transport and air quality over the western Atlantic.In order to successfully achieve the objectives of the campaign, NASA deployed its DC-8 aircraft equipped with an Airborne Third Generation Precipitation Radar (APR-3), Doppler Aerosol WiNd Lidar (DAWN), High Altitude Lidar Observatory (HALO), High Altitude Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR), and dropsondes. This campaign aims to provide useful material to atmospheric scientists, meteorologists, lidar experts, air quality experts, professors, and students. The Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) archives the dropsonde, HALO, and DAWN data products for CPEX-AW. For additional datasets please visit the Global Hydrometeorology Resource Center (GHRC).

CPEXAW-DAWN_DC8_1 are the Doppler Aerosol WiNd lidar (DAWN) image and NetCDF data files collected during the Convective Processes Experiment - Aerosols & Winds (CPEX-AW) onboard the DC-8 aircraft. Data collection for this product is complete.The Convective Processes Experiment – Aerosols & Winds (CPEX-AW) campaign was a joint effort between the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) with the primary goal of conducting a post-launch calibration and validation activities of the Atmospheric Dynamics Mission-Aeolus (ADM-AEOLUS) Earth observation wind Lidar satellite in St. Croix. CPEX-AW is a follow-on to the Convective Processes Experiment (CPEX) field campaign which took place in the summer of 2017. In addition to joint calibration/validation of ADM-AEOLUS, CPEX-AW studied the dynamics related to the Saharan Air Layer, African Easterly Waves and Jets, Tropical Easterly Jet, and deep convection in the InterTropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). CPEX-AW science goals include:• Better understanding interactions of convective cloud systems and tropospheric winds as part of the joint NASA-ESA Aeolus Cal/Val effort over the tropical Atlantic;• Observing the vertical structure and variability of the marine boundary layer in relation to initiation and lifecycle of the convective cloud systems, convective processes (e.g., cold pools), and environmental conditions within and across the ITCZ;• Investigating how the African easterly waves and dry air and dust associated with Sahara Air Layer control the convectively suppressed and active periods of the ITCZ;• Investigating interactions of wind, aerosol, clouds, and precipitation and effects on long range dust transport and air quality over the western Atlantic.In order to successfully achieve the objectives of the campaign, NASA deployed its DC-8 aircraft equipped with an Airborne Third Generation Precipitation Radar (APR-3), Doppler Aerosol WiNd Lidar (DAWN), High Altitude Lidar Observatory (HALO), High Altitude Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR), and dropsondes. This campaign aims to provide useful material to atmospheric scientists, meteorologists, lidar experts, air quality experts, professors, and students. The Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) archives the dropsonde, HALO, and DAWN data products for CPEX-AW. For additional datasets please visit the Global Hydrometeorology Resource Center (GHRC).

Aeolus-CalVal-MetNav_DC8_1 is the Aeolus CalVal Meteorological and Navigational data product. Data was collected using the Global Positioning System (GPS) instrument on the Douglas (DC-8) Aircraft. Data collection for this product is complete. NASA conducted an airborne campaign from 17 April to 30 April 2019 to: 1) demonstrate the performance of the Doppler Aerosol WiNd Lidar (DAWN) and High Altitude Lidar Observatory (HALO) instruments across a range of aerosol, cloud, and weather conditions; 2) compare these measurements with the European Space Agency Aeolus mission to gain an initial perspective of Aeolus performance in preparation for a future international Aeolus Cal/Val airborne campaign; and 3) demonstrate how weather processes can be resolved and better understood through simultaneous airborne wind, water vapor (WV), and aerosol profile observations, coupled with numerical model and other remote sensing observations. Five NASA DC-8 aircraft flights, comprising 46 flight hours, were conducted over the Eastern Pacific and Southwest U.S., based out of NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, CA and Kona, HI. Yankee Environmental Systems, Inc High Definition Sounding System (HDSS) eXpendable Digitial Dropsondes (XDD) were used to validate the DAWN and Aeolus wind observations. The LaRC Diode Laser Hygrometer instrument, which was integrated on the DC-8 in preparation for another NASA airborne campaign, provided in-situ WV measurements used during one flight to validate HALO and dropsonde WV profile products.

During 25 May – 24 June 2017, NASA funded and conducted the Convective Processes Experiment (CPEX) which was based out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL and used a suite of instruments aboard a NASA DC-8 aircraft to investigate convective process and circulations over tropical waters. A main objective of CPEX was to obtain a comprehensive set of temperature, humidity and, particularly, wind observations in the vicinity of scattered and organized deep convection in all phases of the convective life cycle.The featured instrument of the airborne campaign was NASA’s Doppler Aerosol WiNd (DAWN) lidar but also included dropsondes, the Airborne Second Generation Precipitation Radar (APR-2), the High Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR), the Microwave Temperature and Humidity Profiler (MTHP), and the Microwave Atmospheric Sounder for Cubesat (MASC).In total, the CPEX campaign flew 16 missions over the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of America and included missions investigating undisturbed conditions, scattered convection, organized convection and the environment of a tropical storm. The DAWN (and Dropsonde) wind measurement collected during CPEX have provided a unique set of wind profiles to be used in analysis and model assimilation and prediction studies. CPEX also utilized the High Definition Sounding System (HDSS) dropsonde delivery system developed by Yankee Environmental Services to drop almost 300 dropsondes to obtain additional high-resolution vertical wind profiles during most missions. These dropsondes also provided needed calibration/validation for the much newer DAWN measurements.

TL2H2OLN_7 is the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES)/Aura Level 2 Water Vapor Lite Nadir Version 7 data product. TES was an instrument aboard NASA's Aura satellite and was launched from California on July 15, 2004. Data collection for TES is complete. TES Level 2 data contain retrieved species (or temperature) profiles at the observation targets and the estimated errors. The geolocation, quality, and other data (e.g., surface characteristics for nadir observations) were also provided. L2 modeled spectra were evaluated using radiative transfer modeling algorithms. The process, referred to as retrieval, compared observed spectra to the modeled spectra and iteratively updated the atmospheric parameters. L2 standard product files included information for one molecular species (or temperature) for an entire global survey or special observation run. A global survey consisted of a maximum of 16 consecutive orbits.A nadir sequence within the TES Global Survey was a fixed number of observations within an orbit for a Global Survey. Prior to April 24, 2005, it consisted of two low resolution scans over the same ground locations. After April 24, 2005, Global Survey data consisted of three low resolution scans. The Nadir standard product consisted of four files, where each file was composed of the Global Survey Nadir observations from one of four focal planes for a single orbit, i.e. 72 orbit sequences. The Global Survey Nadir observations only used a single set of filter mix. A Global Survey consisted of observations along 16 consecutive orbits at the start of a two day cycle, over which 3,200 retrievals were performed. Each observation was the input for retrievals of species volume mixing ratios (VMRs), temperature profiles, surface temperature and other data parameters with associated pressure levels, precision, total error, vertical resolution, total column density, and other diagnostic quantities. Each TES Level 2 standard product reported information in a swath format conforming to the HDF-EOS Aura File Format Guidelines. Each Swath object was bounded by the number of observations in a global survey and a predefined set of pressure levels representing slices through the atmosphere. Each standard product could have had a variable number of observations depending upon the Global Survey configuration and whether averaging is employed. Also, missing or bad retrievals were not reported. The organization of data within the Swath object was based on a superset of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) pressure levels that was used to report concentrations of trace atmospheric gases. The reporting grid was the same pressure grid used for modeling. There were 67 reporting levels from 1211.53 hPa, which allowed for very high surface pressure conditions, to 0.1 hPa, about 65 km. In addition, the products reported values directly at the surface when possible or at the observed cloud top level. Thus in the Standard Product files each observation could potentially contain estimates for the concentration of a particular molecule at 67 different pressure levels within the atmosphere. However, for most retrieved profiles, the highest pressure levels were not observed due to a surface at lower pressure or cloud obscuration. For pressure levels corresponding to altitudes below the cloud top or surface, where measurements were not possible, a fill value was applied.To minimize the duplication of information between the individual species standard products, data fields common to each species (such as spacecraft coordinates, emissivity, and other data fields) have been collected into a separate standard product, termed the TES L2 Ancillary Data product (ESDT short name: TL2ANC). Users of this product should also obtain the Ancillary Data product.

The TCSP Aerosonde dataset consists of measurements of air temperature, pressure, and relative humidity were made on each flight using two Vaisalla RS902 sondes located under the wings of the aerosonde aircraft. A Heiltronics KT11.k6 infrared pyrometer was used to measure sea surface temperatures (SST). The TCSP Field Experiment was held during the month of July, 2005, in Costa Rica. The mission was to study the processes associated with tropical waves passing over Central America to the Pacific ocean, where they would eventually form tropical cyclones.

Meteorology data collected on an hourly basis from stations located near the OTTER sites in 1990 and summarized to monthly data.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) CPEX dataset contains products obtained from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) onboard the NASA Aqua satellite. These data were collected in support of the NASA Convective Processes Experiment (CPEX) field campaign. The CPEX field campaign took place in the North Atlantic-Gulf of America-Caribbean Sea region and conducted a total of sixteen DC-8 missions from May through June 2017. The CPEX campaign collected data to help explain convective storm initiation, organization, growth, and dissipation in the North Atlantic-Gulf of America-Caribbean Oceanic region during the early summer of 2017. These data are available from May 11, 2017 through July 16, 2017 and are available in HDF-4 format.