The Arctic Mechanisms of Interaction Between the Surface and Atmosphere (AMISA) was a field campaign investigating how global warming affects Arctic ice formation. AMISA conducted a single deployment over Scandinavia and Greenland during the boreal summer of 2008. NASA's DC-8 aircraft collected measurements of sea ice, cloud, and aerosol properties. AMISA was one of the NASA-supported International Polar Year (IPY) projects.
The Oden research vessel was a component of the Arctic Summer Cloud-Ocean Study (ASCOS) campaign, sponsored by Sweden. Both projects were part of the International Polar Year (IPY) and were conducted in tandem, with AMISA being the airborne component and ASCOS being the ship-borne component.
Generic-Atmospheric State (Gen-AtmsState) refers to non-specific instruments on a platform that measure atmospheric state parameters. These are typically in situ sensors that measure temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind speed and direction. Types of atmospheric state instruments include thermometers, hygrometers, barometers, and anemometers.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Indicators > Humidity
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Air Temperature
Dropsondes, also known as dropwindsondes, are in situ instruments released from aircraft. They are equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and sensors that collect vertical profiles of pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction. Dropsondes are important during field investigations because they enable researchers to collect vertical profiles in remote locations and during severe weather. Typically, dropsondes have a vertical resolution of 5 meters and provide wind speed and direction measurements every 0.25 seconds, while temperature, pressure, and humidity are recorded every 0.5 seconds.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature
The Cloud Aerosol and Precipitation Spectrometer (CAPS) is an in situ airborne spectrometer manufactured by Droplet Measurement Technologies. It integrates the Cloud Imaging Probe (CIP), the Cloud and Aerosol Spectrometer (CAS), and the Hotwire Liquid Water Content (LWC) Sensor into a single instrument. CAPS measures the size distribution of aerosol, cloud, and liquid droplets for particles between 50 and 1600 μm, with a time resolution of 1 Hz. It can also capture images of cloud particles and provide measurements of temperature, pressure, and LWC.
Generic-Radiometers refer to non-specific radiometers on a platform. These are typically passive microwave radiometers that measure brightness temperature. Radiometers can be used to retrieve temperature and water vapor profiles, soil moisture content, ocean salinity, precipitation and cloud properties, and vegetation.
Earth Science > Spectral/engineering > Microwave > Brightness Temperature
The Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer (PSR) is an airborne passive microwave imaging radiometer developed by Georgia Tech and NOAA. It captures polarimetric microwave emission images of Earth to analyze ocean and land surface features, precipitation, ice, and clouds. PSR operates across four microwave channels: 10.7 GHz, 18.7 GHz, 37 GHz, and 89 GHz. The PSR/A version includes an additional dual-polarimetric channel at 21.5 GHz. Operating at an altitude of 22,000 feet above sea level, PSR has a spatial resolution of 0.3 to 2.2 km, depending on the frequency band and scan mode.
Earth Science > Spectral/engineering > Microwave > Brightness Temperature
The Langley Aerosol Research Group Experiment (LARGE) is an in situ airborne instrument suite that measures aerosol and cloud microphysical and optical properties, including size distribution, number concentration, and scattering and absorption coefficients. LARGE includes the Ultra-High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer (UHSAS), Particle-Into-Liquid Sampler (PILS), Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP), Cloud and Aerosol Spectrometer (CAS), Cloud Imaging Probe (CIP), and additional cloud and aerosol sensors. The LARGE instruments operate over the 450-700 nm wavelength range, detect particles from 0.003 to 20 μm, and measure at 1 Hz. It is primarily used for airborne measurements but can also be deployed on ground-based platforms, such as vehicles.
The Scanning Low Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SLFMR) is an airborne passive microwave radiometer operated by NOAA. It measures brightness temperature at L-band (1.4 GHz) to map sea surface salinity at a resolution of 200 meters. It has a narrow bandwidth of 24 MHz and a sampling interval of 0.5 seconds. It is primarily used to retrieve sea surface salinity, but it has also been used to map surface soil moisture content.
Rosemount Temperature Probes are in situ airborne temperature sensors manufactured by Rosemount, Inc. They provide atmospheric temperature measurements and are typically used to collect flight-level meteorological observations. Rosemount Temperature Probes consist of temperature transmitters, thermocouple sensors, resistance temperature detectors, and other temperature sensors.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Upper Air Temperature
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature
Video cameras capture footage of various phenomena for research. They are used on aircraft to provide continuous views of weather and terrain below the flight path. Video cameras are also employed to verify the aircraft's flight track. Additionally, they are deployed at field sites to monitor changes in vegetation, land cover, clouds, air quality, glaciers, and other Earth science phenomena.
A pyranometer is a ground-based or airborne radiation sensor that measures solar irradiance over a hemispherical field of view. It detects the amount of solar energy reaching the surface, capturing both direct and diffuse sunlight. Pyranometers operate across a spectral range of 280-3000 nm. They are most commonly used for solar monitoring, climate research, weather forecasting, agriculture, and energy management.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Radiation > Solar Irradiance
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Radiation > Solar Radiation
The Cloud and Aerosol Spectrometer (CAS) is an in situ airborne spectrometer manufactured by Droplet Measurement Technologies. It measures light scattering at 658 nm to determine aerosol and cloud particle size distributions from 0.51 to 50 μm. It also provides measurements of refractive index and particle shape. CAS has a typical time resolution of 1 Hz and can measure concentrations exceeding 1,000 particles per cubic meter.
A pyrgeometer is a ground-based or airborne passive radiation sensor that measures downward and upward longwave radiation in the 4-50 μm spectral range. It uses a thermopile sensor to detect changes in resistance or voltage, which are then used to determine longwave radiation. These measurements can be used to calculate the infrared radiation flux. Pyrgeometers are typically used for climatological, meteorological, and agricultural applications.
The Cloud Imaging Probe (CIP) is an in situ airborne optical array probe manufactured by Droplet Measurement Technologies. It captures images of cloud particles by recording shadows as particles pass through a laser beam. It also provides data on particle size distribution and cloud liquid water content. CIP typically has a resolution of 25 μm and can measure particles from 12.5 μm to 1.55 mm.
