NOAA WP-3D Data Info

File prefixes from data download are listed below. The file contents are specified and the measurement is described briefly. For more details, see the header of the data file.

Time parameters

Time: Almost all of the P-3 data is time-aligned to AOCTimewave, which is 1 second time resolution in integer seconds. It starts at the time the aircraft takes off, and ends at landing. The one file type that isn't aligned to AOCTimewave is the file VOCsiWAS2, which uses iWAS2_TimeStart_UTC / iWAS2_TimeEnd_UTC (variable intervals corresponding to the times that the canisters are filled).

Aircraft Parameters

AircraftPos

Aircraft Position parameters measured with various aircraft sensors
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
GpsLat: GPS Latitude (deg)
GpsLon: GPS Longitude (deg)
GpsAlt: GPS Altitude (m)
PAlt: Pressure Altitude (m) Derived from the pressure and uses the standard atmosphere to calculate an altitude
RAlt: Radar Altitude (m) Aircraft altitude above ground

AircraftMet

Aircraft Meteorological parameters measured with various aircraft sensors.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
AmbTemp: Ambient Temperature (C)
DewPtTemp: Dew Point Temperature (C) measured by chilled mirror hygrometer.
DewPtTempTDL: TDL Dew Point Temperature (C) measured with Tunable Diode Laser. This is a fast response measurement, but may have less accuracy than the other dew point measurement.
H2Omr: H2O mixing ratio (g/kg) Derived from dew point instrument.
PotTemp: Potential Temperature (K)
RelHumidity: Relative Humidity (%) Derived from dew point instrument.
StaticPrs: Static Pressure (mb)
VertWindSpd: Vertical Wind Speed (m/s)
WindDir: Wind Direction (deg)
WindSpd: Wind Speed (m/s)

AircraftMis

Aircraft Miscellaneous parameters measured with various aircraft sensors.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
Attack: Attack Angle (deg)
CabinPrs: Cabin Pressure (mb)
GndSpd: Ground Speed (m/s)
Heading: Heading (deg)
Pitch: Pitch Angle (deg)
Roll: Roll Angle (deg)
Slip: Slip Angle (deg)
TrueAirSpd: True Air Speed (m/s)

Chemical Parameters

ACES

Glyoxal measured using Cavity Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy.
Time: 5 second data aligned using Timewave_ACES_Start/Timewave_ACES_Stop
Reported parameter names and units:
CHOCHO_ACES_pptv: ACES CHOCHO (pptv)
NO2_ACES_ppbv: ACES NO2 (ppbv)

C2H6

Ethane measured using tunable infrared laser direct absorption spectroscopy instrument by Aerodyne.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
C2H6_ppbv: C2H6 (ppbv)

CO

Carbon Monoxide measured using VUV Resonance Fluorescence.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
CO_ppbv: CO (ppbv)

CO2CH4

Carbon Dioxide and Methane measured using cavity ring-down spectrometer instrument by Picarro.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
CO2_ppmv: CO2 (ppmv)
CO2_ppmv_1sigma: 1 sigma uncertainty
CH4_ppbv: CH4 (ppbv)
CH4_ppbv_1sigma: 1 sigma uncertainty

H2S-CH4-H2O

H2S CH4 H2o measured using Picarro instrument owned by Environment Canada.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
H2S_EC: H2S (ppbv)
CH4_EC: CH4 (ppbv)
H2O_EC: H2O (g/kg)

H3OCIMS

VOCs measured using TOF H3O+ CIMS.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
Too many to list (about 30): all in units of ppbv

HCHO

Formaldehyde measured using Laser Induced Fluorescence.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
HCHO_pptv: HCHO (pptv)

HNO3HCOOH

Nitric Acid, Formic Acid, and Nitrous Acid measured using Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (CIMS).
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
HNO3_ppbv: HNO3 (ppbv)
HCOOH_ppbv: HCOOH (ppbv)
HONO_ppbv: HONO (ppbv)

NH3

Ammonia measured using Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (CIMS).
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
NH3_ppbv: NH3 (ppbv)
NH3_1sigma: 1 sigma uncertainty

NO

Nitric Oxide measured using NO/O3 Chemiluminescence.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
NO_ppbv: NO (ppbv)
NO_1sigma: 1 sigma uncertainty

NO2

Nitrogen Dioxide measured using Photolysis and NO/O3 Chemiluminescence.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
NO2_ppbv: NO2 (ppbv)
NO2_1sigma: 1 sigma uncertainty

NOxCaRDS

Nitric oxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Ozone measured by Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS).
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
NO_CaRDS_ppbv: NO ppbv
NO2_CaRDS_ppbv: NO2 (ppbv)
NOy_CaRDS_ppbv: NOy (ppbv)
O3_CaRDS_ppbv: O3 (ppbv)

NOy

Total reactive Nitrogen Oxides measured using Au Converter and NO/O3 Chemiluminescence.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
NOy_ppbv: NOy (ppbv)
NOy_1sigma: 1 sigma uncertainty

O3

Ozone measured using Chemiluminescence.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
O3_ppbv: O3 (ppbv)
O3_1sigma: 1 sigma uncertainty

PANs

Peroxyacyl Nitrates measured using Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (CIMS).
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
PAN_ppbv: PAN (ppbv)
PPN_ppbv: PPN (ppbv)
APAN_ppbv: APAN (ppbv)
MPAN_ppbv: MPAN (ppbv)

SO2

Sulfur Dioxide measured using UV Pulsed Fluorescence.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
SO2_ppbv: SO2 (ppbv)

VOCsiWAS

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using improved Whole Air Sampler (iWAS)
Time: Aligned to iWAS_Start_UTC, iWAS_Stop_UTC
Reported parameter names and units:
Too many to list (about 100)

Aerosol Parameters

NAerosol

Aerosol Size, Number, Surface, Scattering Coefficient
Time: 1Hz data reported on AOCTimewave
Aerosol sizing instruments: NMASS, Ultra-High Sensitivity Aerosol Size Spectrometer.
Reported parameter names and units:
nfine: particle number concentration, 0.004 to 1.0 um optical diameter (#/cm^3)
sfine: particle surface area, 0.004 to 1.0 um optical diameter (um^2/cm^3)
vfine: particle volume, 0.004 to 1.0 um optical diameter (um^3/cm^3)
Scat_532nm_calc: aerosol scattering coefficient calculated from the UHSAS size distribution.

Radiation Parameters

jNO2-jO3

J values
Time: 1 Hz data reported on AOCTimewave
Photolysis rates (J-Values).
Reported parameter names and units:
j_NO2_up: Upward looking photolysis rates for NO2 (1/s)
j_NO2_down: Downward looking photolysis rates for NO2 (1/s)
j_O3_down: Downward looking photolysis rates for O3 (1/s)