Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere Airborne Data Products

DCOTSS-Aircraft-Data features the aircraft data collected during the Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere sub-orbital campaign. These data products were collected via a variety of instrumentation onboard the NASA ER-2 aircraft, including: Advanced Whole Air Sampler (AWAS), ERA5,GFS, and GEOS-5 Analysis Fields , Meteorological Measurement System (MMS), Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry – Next Generation (PALMS-NG), UAS Chromatography for Atmospheric Trace Species (UCATS), DCOTSS Printed Optical Particle Spectrometer (DPOPS), Rapid Ozone Experiment (ROZE), Harvard Water Vapor (HWV), Compact Airborne Nitrogen diOxide Experiment (CANOE), Compact Airborne Formaldehyde Experiment (CAFÉ), Harvard Halogens Experiment (HAL), and Harvard University Picarro Cavity Ringdown Spectrometer (HUPCRS). Data collection for this product is ongoing and currently only features the first deployment.

Each summer the North American Monsoon Anticyclone (NAMA) dominates the circulation of the North-Western Hemisphere and acts to partially confine and isolate air from the surrounding atmosphere. Strong convective storms in the NAMA regularly reach altitudes deep into the lower stratosphere, with some ascending above 20 km. These storms carry water and pollutants from the troposphere into the otherwise very dry stratosphere, where they can have a significant impact on radiative and chemical processes, potentially including destruction of stratospheric ozone. The Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere (DCOTSS) field campaign is a NASA Earth Venture Suborbital research project aimed at investigating these thunderstorms. DCOTSS utilizes NASA’s ER-2 aircraft and conducted two ~8-week science deployments based out of Salina, KS spanning early to late summer.