VIRGAS WB-57 Aircraft In-Situ Trace Gas Data

VIRGAS_TraceGas_AircraftInSitu_Data are the in-situ trace gas data collected during the Volcano-plume Investigation Readiness and Gas-phase and Aerosol Sulfur (VIRGAS) sub-orbital campaign. Data from the whole air sampler, NOAA UASO3 and Laser Induced Fluorescence - SO2 (LIF-SO2) are featured in this data product. Data collection is complete. Conducted in October 2015, the Volcano-plume Investigation Readiness and Gas-phase and Aerosol Sulfur (VIRGAS) field campaign had a primary objective to test instrument capability and readiness for deployment in the investigation of major volcanic eruptions. VIRGAS aimed to enable researchers to assess the impact of these volcanic eruptions on stratospheric aerosols and the ozone layer. As sulfur dioxide is a characteristic component of volcanic emissions, the LIF SO2 instrument was of critical importance to VIRGAS. VIRGAS was conducted in one deployment consisting of six science flights based from Houston, TX. The current available data products are from the NOAA LASER-Induced Fluorescence (LIF SO2) instrument, the NOAA Unmanned Aircraft System O3 Photometer (UASO3), and NASA’s Meteorological Measurement System (MMS). The ASDC houses data including 1 Hz SO2 data from seven flights, 1 Hz O3 data from ten flights, and 1 Hz and 20 Hz data for temperature, pressure, and 3-D winds from 5 flights. VIRGAS was led by Dr. Karen Rosenlof and Dr. Ru-Shan Gao of the NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory (NOAA CSL), as well as by Dr. Paul Newman of NASA Godard Space Flight Center’s Earth Sciences Division. Other participants include researchers from NASA Ames Research Center, the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (BAERI), and the University of Miami.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated April 13, 2026, 21:05 (UTC)
Created April 1, 2025, 20:01 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id 1a18d204-b192-4dac-8542-37214d888883
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.5067/ASDC/SUBORBITAL/VIRGAS_TraceGas_AircraftInSitu_Data_1
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-04-06T22:16:02Z
programCode {026:000}
publisher NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 8837e3c4892575a8d1de9570287aae32edc58753e0d74dc470337eacf02064f8
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial ["CARTESIAN",[{"Boundary":{"Points":[{"Latitude":10,"Longitude":-110},{"Latitude":10,"Longitude":-75},{"Latitude":50,"Longitude":-75},{"Latitude":50,"Longitude":-110},{"Latitude":10,"Longitude":-110}]}}]], Maximum Altitude, 12 km
temporal 2015-10-17/2015-11-01
theme {"Earth Science"}