This data set is a collection of airborne in-flight meteorological and in-cabin measurements and thermal emission measurements of near-nadir surface skin temperature taken over Antarctica and Greenland from 12 October 2009 to the present. The data were collected as part of NASA Operation IceBridge funded campaigns.
Operation IceBridge products may include test flight data that are not useful for research and scientific analysis. Test flights usually occur at the beginning of campaigns. Users should read flight reports for the flights that collected any of the data they intend to use. Check IceBridge campaign Flight Reports for dates and information about test flights.
Shetter, Rick, Eric Buzay, and David Van Gilst. 2010, updated 2013. IceBridge NSERC L1B Geolocated Meteorologic and Surface Temperature Data, [indicate subset used]. Boulder, Colorado USA: NASA DAAC at the National Snow and Ice Data Center. .
Cabin pressure transducer
Arctic / Greenland:
Varies by instrument parameter and aircraft flight characteristics
12 October 2009 to the present
ICARTT comma delimited text files
Rick Shetter, Eric Buzay, and David Van Gilst
University of North Dakota
National Suborbital Education and Research Center
4149 University Avenue Stop 9011
Grand Forks, ND
NSIDC User Services
National Snow and Ice Data Center
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phone: +1 303.492.6199
fax: +1 303.492.2468
form: Contact NSIDC User Services
NASA Airborne Science
NASA Langley Research Center - ICARTT File Format Scanning by Ali Aknan
The NSERC L1B Geolocated Meteorologic and Surface Temperature data files are ICARTT comma delimited text files.
Data files are organized on the FTP site, ftp://n4ftl01u.ecs.nasa.gov/SAN2/ICEBRIDGE_FTP/, as described in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Directory Structure
The data files are named according to the following convention and as described in Table 2:
|IAMET1B||Short name for IceBridge NSERC L1B Geolocated Meteorologic and Surface Temperature Data|
|nav||Navigation, aircraft, and facility instrumentation data|
|dc8||NASA Dryden DC-8 airborne laboratory aircraft|
|YYYY||Four-digit year of data collection|
|MM||Two-digit month of data collection|
|DD||Two-digit day of data collection|
|r1||Data revision 1|
|.ict||Indicates ICARRT data file|
Data files range from approximately 1 MB to 12 MB.
Data volume for the full data set is approximately 883 MB.
Spatial coverage for the IceBridge NSERC L1B Geolocated Meteorologic and Surface Temperature campaigns include the Greenland and Antarctic areas. In effect, this represents the two coverages noted below.
Arctic / Greenland:
Southernmost Latitude: 60° N
Northernmost Latitude: 90° N
Westernmost Longitude: 180° W
Easternmost Longitude: 180° E
Southernmost Latitude: 90° S
Northernmost Latitude: 53° S
Westernmost Longitude: 180° W
Easternmost Longitude: 180° E
Spatial resolution varies by instrument parameter and aircraft flight characteristics.
These data are provided in unprojected geographic coordinates using the WGS84 vertical datum.
These data were collected as part of NASA Operation IceBridge funded campaigns from 12 October 2009 to the present.
IceBridge campaigns are conducted on an annual repeating basis. Arctic and Greenland campaigns are conducted during March, April, and May; and Antarctic campaigns are conducted during October and November.
NSERC L1B Geolocated Meteorologic and Surface Temperature data are captured once per second.
The NSERC L1B Geolocated Meteorologic and Surface Temperature data set contains meteorological and in-cabin measurements and thermal emission measurements.
The DC-8 data set is collected from a number of sources. All of the navigation data comes from the Air Data Computer, Flight Management System, and GPS receivers. The parameters from the Air Data Computer and Flight Management System are recorded using dual NASDAT flight recorders via ARINC-429 data bus. The flight recorders are located in the housekeeping rack.
The flight recorders also record the analog voltage output data from the facility instruments located on board, including pressure transducer, hygrometers, and infrared pyrometer. All parameters are recorded at one hertz for the entire duration of the flight.
Data are taken at one hertz from aircraft instruments and facility instruments onboard. Data are recorded on two redundant NASA Airborne Science Data Acquisition and Transmission (NASDAT) flight recorders. No special techniques or algorithms are used in this data set.
The following processing steps are performed by the data provider.
Some data sets have missing data parameters due to either a fault in the system, or data is out of range for respective instruments. Missing parameters are marked with a -99999 label.
Instruments used for the collection of this data include the following:
The MKS Baratron Pressure Transducer is used to measure the pressure within the cabin of the aircraft. Based on a reference pressure which remains constant within the instrument, the exterior pressure can then be measured. The pressure transducer has a resolution of 1 Torr and the accuracy is ± 0.15 percent of Reading ±temperature coefficient. The temperature coefficient is 0.02 percent of Reading / °C.
The Buck Research Hygrometer system is a chilled-mirror type hygrometer designed for airborne measurements of dew and frost point temperatures. It is capable of measuring dew/frost points between -75°C and +50°C, over a wide range of temperatures, pressures, and airspeeds. The accuracy of this system is ± 0.1°C.
The Edgetech Model 137 Hygrometer is a rugged, shock mounted instrument used for dew point measurement. This model measures dew point only, including dew points measured below zero degrees Celsius. The dew point is measured using chill mirror technology assuring precision accuracy, repeatability and reliability. The Edgetech hygrometer is able to accurately detect the dew point within the range of -50°C to 90°C with an accuracy of ± 0.2°C and precision of 0.1°C. The sensor is capable of a 65°C depression from an ambient temperature of 25°C.
Total air temperature is measured by a Rosemount probe and Goodrich Sensor mounted on the surface of the aircraft. The total air temperature sensor can measure temperature between -70°C to +70°C with a speed of up to Mach 3 at altitudes between 0 to 100,000 feet. The accuracy of the total air temperature is ± 1.0466 degrees Celsius.
The Heitronics Infrared Radiation Pyrometer is a remotely sensed measuring transducer that receives the infrared radiation emitted by the measuring object and transforms it into a standardized output signal. The pyrometer is located on the bottom of the aircraft to measure surface and cloud top temperatures. It has a spectral range of 9.6 to 11.5 μm, a response time of one second, and a temperature range of -100° to +200°C. The accuracy is ± 0.5 percent plus 0.7 percent of the difference between target temperature and housing temperature.