The ORNL DAAC recently released the following Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) dataset by Froyd, K.D., et al. (2022):
ATom: Dominant Role of Mineral Dust in Cirrus Cloud Formation
This dataset provides: (1) In situ dust aerosol concentration measurements over remote tropical Pacific and Atlantic Oceans by NOAA Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry (PALMS) airborne single-particle mass spectrometer combined with Aerosol Microphysical Properties (AMP) aerosol size spectrometers. Measurements were made aboard the NASA DC8 aircraft during the four ATom campaigns that occurred from 2016 to 2018 (2) Model output of dust and meteorology from the CESM global transport model extracted at the time and location of the aircraft; (3) Model output of dust, other aerosol, and meteorology from the GEOS global transport model extracted at the time and location of the aircraft; (4) CESM model global output of dust and meteorology for dust emitted by specific source regions; (5) NCEP Global Forecast System forward trajectories of air parcels initiated at the time and location of the aircraft; and (6) The location and properties of cirrus clouds formed along the forward trajectories simulated using a parcel model. These data have been applied to better understand the role of mineral dust in cirrus cloud formation.
The Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) is a NASA Earth Venture Suborbital-2 mission to study the impact of human-produced air pollution on greenhouse gases and on chemically reactive gases in the atmosphere. ATom deployed an extensive gas and aerosol payload on the NASA DC-8 aircraft for systematic, global-scale sampling of the atmosphere, profiling continuously from 0.2 to 12 km altitude. Around-the-world flights were conducted in each of four seasons between 2016 and 2018.
Additional data from ATom and other relevant links can be found on the ORNL DAAC's ATom Project Page.
Citation: Froyd, K.D., P. Yu, G.P. Schill, C.A. Brock, A. Kupc, C.J. Williamson, E. Jensen, E.A. Ray, K.H. Rosenlof, H. Bian, A.S. Darmenov, P.R. Colarco, G.S. Diskin, T.P. Bui, and D.M. Murphy. 2022. ATom: Dominant Role of Mineral Dust in Cirrus Cloud Formation. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2006