ARCTAS - Flight Summaries

DC-8, P-3, and B-200 research flights during the ARCTAS spring deployment^¹

Flight #	Location^²	Date	Special features^³
DC-8
3	Palmdale-Fairbanks	April 1	TES and MLS validation, Asian pollution
4	Fairbanks-Thule	April 4	OMI BrO validation
5	Thule-Fairbanks	April 5	Summit spiral, OMI BrO validation, North American plume
6	Fairbanks-Iqaluit	April 8	Prudhoe Bay overpass, P-3B intercomparison, Eureka spiral, OMI BrO validation
7	Iqaluit-Fairbanks	April 9	OMI validation, coordination with B-200, missed Barrow landing
8	Fairbanks local 1	April 12	Asian plume, missed Barrow landing, intercomparison with NOAA P-3
9	Fairbanks local 2	April 16	Asian plume, coordination with B-200
10	Fairbanks local 3	April 17	N. Pole flight, Asian and European plumes, missed Prudhoe Bay approach
11	Fairbanks-Palmdale	April 19	MLS/CALIPSO underflights, P-3 intercomparison, Asian pollution
P-3
3	Wallops-Yellowknife	March 31	CO structure at several altitudes over & S of Great Lakes. Arctic haze aerosols, incl dust.
4	Yellowknife-Fairbanks	April 1	CO & aerosol plume as predicted by models. Spiral & legs under CALIPSO, OMI track.
5	Fairbanks local 1	April 6	Spiral & legs under B-200 & CALIPSO, OMI. Square spiral & radiation legs. Albedo, BRDF at Elson Lagoon.
6	Fairbanks-Thule	April 8	DC-8 comparison in stairsteps. Spiral over Eureka during CALIPSO, OMI OP. Albedo, BRDF.
7	Thule-Fairbanks	April 9	Square spiral on CALIPSO, OMI track. BRDF & albedo, ice & cloud. AOD gradient & stack. CO & aerosol structure in predicted plume.
8	Fairbanks local 4	April 13	Cloud albedo & BRDF. In situ aerosol & CO in Asian transport episode to test models.
9	Fairbanks local 5	April 15	Comparison & radiation stack w NOAA P-3 under B-200. Cascade impactor. Albedo, BRDF at Elson Lagoon with surface-based meas. Zero ozone over open leads. 6 special albedo sites. Radiation leg on CALIPSO, OMI track.
10	Fairbanks-Moffett Field	April 19	DC-8 comparison on CALIPSO, OMI track. Steps in DC-8 lidar curtain. Square spiral during CALIPSO, OMI OP. Aerosol gradients predicted by models.
B-200
	Barrow local	April 3	CALIPSO Validation over Arctic Ocean NW of Barrow
	Barrow local	April 4	Coordinated pattern with Convair-580, multiple passes over ARM NSA site, extensive clouds
	Barrow local	April 6	CALIPSO Validation SW of Barrow, Coordination with P-3, Dust layers in upper troposphere
	Barrow local	April 8	Two-flights; Coordinated with Convair-580, DOE ISDAC â€œGolden Dayâ€, extensive low cloud over Barrow, aerosol layers aloft
	Barrow local	April 9	CALIPSO Validation over western Alaska, Coordinated flight with DC-8 under CALIPSO track and near Barrow, Flight along northwest coast of Alaska, several aerosol layers, ice/aerosol over Barrow
	Barrow local	April 10	CALIPSO Validation NW of Barrow, extensive aerosol/ice over Barrow and along CALIPSO track
	Barrow local	April 12	Coordinated CALIPSO track with DC-8 and NOAA P-3 SW of Barrow, considerable biomass burning smoke
	Barrow to Fairbanks	April 13	Coordinated with NASA P-3 and CALIPSO track over western Alaska, extensive clouds along most of track, coordinated with Convair-580 near Barrow
	Fairbanks local	April 15	Coordinated with NASA P-3 and NOAA P-3 west of Fairbanks and with CALIPSO track over central Alaska, elevated smoke layers through most of flight
	Fairbanks-Nome-Barrow	April 16	Two flights; coordination with DC-8 and CALIPSO track over western Alaska; elevated Asian pollution/smoke layers
	Barrow local	April 17	CALIPSO validation NW of Barrow; DC-8 coordination east of Barrow; aerosol/ice over Barrow
	Barrow local	April 19	CALIPSO Validation NW of Barrow; coordination with Convair-580 and NOAA P-3 near Barrow; extensive Siberian smoke layers sampled with other aircraft over ARM NSA site

DC-8, P-3, and B-200 research flights during the ARCTAS summer deployment^⁴

Flight #	Location^⁵	Date	Special features^⁶
DC-8
16	Palmdale-Cold Lake	June 26	California fire plumes, OMI validation, HIAPER intercomparison
17	Cold Lake local 1	June 29	Siberian fire plume, pyroconvective outflow, Saskatchewan fires
18	Cold Lake local 2	July 1	Near-field evolution of Saskatchewan fire plumes
19	Cold Lake local 3	July 4	Near-field evolution of Saskatchewan fire plumes, Californian and Siberian fire plumes, TES validation
20	Cold Lake local 4	July 5	Saskatchewan fire plumes, biogenic emissions
21	Cold Lake-Thule	July 8	Siberian fires and Asian pollution
22	Thule local	July 9	MOPITT validation over Summit, intercomparison with DLR Falcon, Siberian fires and Asian pollution
23	Thule-Cold Lake	July 10	P-3 intercomparison, Alberta oil sands emissions
24	Cold Lake-Palmdale	July 14	California fire plumes
P-3
11	Moffett Field - Local	June 22	Power plant plume, CAR circles, ship plume, AERONET, Terra, sonde, smoke.
12	Moffett-Los Angeles-Moffett	June 24	19 ship plume crossings. Profiles under Terra & Aqua. Ocean BRDF (calm & 50-kt winds). Fire plumes & pollution plumes.
13/14^⁷	Moffett Field-Cold Lake	June 26	Lake Tahoe smoke radiation study in DC-8 lidar curtain & under Terra. Lake albedo & BRDF. Central Valley smoke gradient legs.
15	Cold Lake local 1	June 28	Sampled many fire plumes (incl. pyrocumulus) in many stages of development under B-200.
16	Cold Lake local 2	June 29	Fire plumes. Albedo, BRDF over lake & land. Ft. McMurray plume. DC-8 comparison scrubbed by clouds.
17	Cold Lake local 3	June 30	CALIPSO, OMI underflight w AOD & in situ. Black & white smoke. In situ & radiation under B-200. BRDF over smoke pall. Asian pollution w dust as predicted by models.
18	Cold Lake local 4	July 2	Radiation work under B-200. Aerosol evolution in downwind transport. Pyrocumulus.
19	Cold Lake local 5	July 3	Ft McMurray AERONET spiral in regional biomass haze. MODIS-MISR-MOPITT spiral. B-200 + CALIPSO, OMI spiral. Radiation stack. Forest BRDF. Fresh smoke sampling + downwind evolution. Radiation-AOD-in situ ramp.
20	Cold Lake local 6	July 6	Radiation profiles & legs under Terra. BRDF of blue & muddy water. Cloud edges under B-200. Dense smoke spirals under B-200. Radiation stacks. CAR in cloud. PyroCu outflow.
21	Cold Lake local 7	July 7	Radiative forcing efficiency of Asian/Siberian plume. Aerosol effects on MODIS-Terra cloud sensing. Tests of model aerosol, CO, & O₃ predictions. Radiation stacks. CAR circles over AERONET. In situ-AATS-AERONET spiral.
22	Cold Lake local 8	July 9	Spirals & radiation legs under Terra-MISR. Radiation legs + stacks in fire plumes under B-200 + CALIPSO, OMI. Black & white smoke.
23	Cold Lake local 9	July 10	DC-8 intercomparison under B-200. Cloud edge work. Ft. McMurray sampling. Camsell & Viking firesâ€”greatest CO, AOD>4.
24	Cold Lake-BWI-Wallops	July 14
B-200
	Yellowknife local	June 28	Extensive clouds along CALIPSO Validation track; coordination with NASA P-3 over fires near Lake Athabasca
	Yellowknife local	June 29	Coordination with DC-8 over fires and smoke near Lake Athabasca; elevated aerosol layers also observed
	Yellowknife local	June 30	CALIPSO Validation and coordination with NASA P-3 along CALIPSO track and over fires/smoke between Lakes Athabasca and Reindeer; Asian pollution and dust
	Yellowknife local	July 2	Two flights; Coordination with NASA P-3 over fresh and aged smoke; CALIPSO Validation on second flight
	Yellowknife local	July 3	CALIPSO Validation and NASA P-3 coordination along CALIPSO track; extensive aerosollayers along track
	Yellowknife local	July 6	Two flights; first flight around Yellowknife found no fresh smoke; second flight was coordination with P-3 for fires/smoke near Lake Athabasca
	Yellowknife-Cold Lake-Edmonton	July 7	Two flights: Asian/Siberian smoke over Alberta
	Edmonton local and Edmonton-Yellowknife	July 8	Two flights; Asian/Siberian smoke over western Alberta/eastern British Columbia; CALIPSO Validation over northern Alberta
	Yellowknife local	July 9	CALIPSO Validation; coordination with NASA P-3 along CALIPSO track an in area of dense smoke
	Yellowknife local	July 10	CALIPSO validation; coordination with NASA P-3 and DC-near Yellowknife

1 Flights were typically 8 h in duration for the DC-8 and 8 h for the P-3.

2 Palmdale, California (35N, 118W), Wallops, Virginia (38N, 75W), and Moffett Field California (37N, 122W) were the aircraft home bases.

3 All flights in the spring deployment targeted pollution layers from mid-latitudes. The DC-8 flights featured extensive vertical profiling from 0.45 km altitude to the stratosphere.

4 Flight durations were typically 8 h for the DC-8 and 8 h for the P-3

5 Palmdale, California (35N, 118W) and Moffett Field California (37N, 122W) were the aircraft home bases.

6 All flights in the summer deployment targeted biomass burning plumes. The DC-8 flights featured extensive vertical profiling from 0.45 km altitude to the stratosphere.

7 Flight 13 was from Ames to Edmonton, Alberta (Canadian customs) and flight 14 was from Edmonton to Cold Lake.

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ARCTAS - Flight Summaries

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Aeronautics and
Space Administration