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Regional Airborne Greenhouse Gases, 2016-2017

Submitted by ORNL DAAC Staff on 2022-04-21
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The CARAFE payload. (a) The NASA C-23 Sherpa. (b) A view inside the cabin with all instruments installed. (c) The angle-of-attack (upper) and total air temperature (lower) probes. (d) The DLH window plate (upper left) and fairing-mounted target (lower right). (e) GHG inlet. (f) Flux leg flight tracks for both campaigns.
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Caption

The CARAFE payload. (a) The NASA C-23 Sherpa. (b) A view inside the cabin with all instruments installed. (c) The angle-of-attack (upper) and total air temperature (lower) probes. (d) The DLH window plate (upper left) and fairing-mounted target (lower right). (e) GHG inlet. (f) Flux leg flight tracks for both campaigns.

The ORNL DAAC recently released the following CARbon Atmospheric Flux Experiment (CARAFE) dataset by Apel, E.C., et al. (2021):

CARAFE: Regional Airborne Greenhouse Gases Eddy Covariance Measurements, 2016-2017

This dataset provides airborne eddy covariance (EC) fluxes of carbon dioxide, methane, sensible heat, and latent heat at high spatial resolution collected during the NASA Carbon Airborne Flux Experiment (CARAFE) airborne 2016 and 2017 campaigns. CARAFE utilized the NASA C-23 Sherpa aircraft with a suite of commercial and custom instrumentation. Deployment occurred across the Mid-Atlantic Region for the period 2016-09-07 through 2016-09-26 and 2017-05-03 through 2017-05-26. The data also include downwelling radiation, water vapor, pressure, temperature, wind, and aircraft navigation data. Airborne EC can quantify surface fluxes at local to regional scales, potentially helping to bridge gaps between top-down and bottom-up flux estimates and offering novel insights into biophysical and biogeochemical processes.

The CARbon Atmospheric Flux Experiment (CARAFE) campaign measured the exchange of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane between the Earth and the atmosphere in the Mid-Atlantic region. Measurements acquired from this campaign were designed to observe and quantify fluxes of carbon dioxide, methane, sensible heat, and latent heat at high spatial resolution over a range of mid-Atlantic ecosystems. The campaign was funded through a combination of NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) and Headquarters reserve funding.

Citation: Wolfe, G.M., S.R. Kawa, T.F. Hanisco, R.A. Hannun, P.A. Newman, A.K. Swanson, S.A. Bailey, J.D. Barrick, K.L. Thornhill, G.S. Diskin, J.P. DiGangi, J.B. Nowak, C.E. Sorensen, G.L. Bland, J.K. Yungel, and C.A. Swenson. 2021. CARAFE: Regional Airborne Greenhouse Gases Eddy Covariance Measurements, 2016-2017. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2002

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