ACTIVATE Merged MODIS and MERRA-2 Dataset

ACTIVATE-MODIS-MERRA2 is the merged CERES MODIS and MERRA-2 dataset (pixel-level geostationary cloud products) produced by SatCORPS group at NASA Langley Research Center in support of ACTIVATE. ACTIVATE was a 5-year NASA Earth-Venture Sub-Orbital (EVS-3) field campaign. Marine boundary layer clouds play a critical role in Earth’s energy balance and water cycle. These clouds cover more than 45% of the ocean surface and exert a net cooling effect. The Aerosol Cloud meTeorology Interactions oVer the western Atlantic Experiment (ACTIVATE) project was a five-year project that provides important globally-relevant data about changes in marine boundary layer cloud systems, atmospheric aerosols and multiple feedbacks that warm or cool the climate. ACTIVATE studied the atmosphere over the western North Atlantic and sampled its broad range of aerosol, cloud and meteorological conditions using two aircraft, the UC-12 King Air and HU-25 Falcon. The UC-12 King Air was primarily used for remote sensing measurements while the HU-25 Falcon will contain a comprehensive instrument payload for detailed in-situ measurements of aerosol, cloud properties, and atmospheric state. A few trace gas measurements were also onboard the HU-25 Falcon for the measurements of pollution traces, which will contribute to airmass classification analysis. A total of 150 coordinated flights over the western North Atlantic occurred through 6 deployments from 2020-2022. The ACTIVATE science observing strategy intensively targets the shallow cumulus cloud regime and aims to collect sufficient statistics over a broad range of aerosol and weather conditions which enables robust characterization of aerosol-cloud-meteorology interactions. This strategy was implemented by two nominal flight patterns: Statistical Survey and Process Study. The statistical survey pattern involves close coordination between the remote sensing and in-situ aircraft to conduct near coincident sampling at and below cloud base as well as above and within cloud top. The process study pattern involves extensive vertical profiling to characterize the target cloud and surrounding aerosol and meteorological conditions.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field	Value
Maintainer	Earthdata Forum
Last Updated	June 8, 2026, 22:25 (UTC)
Created	April 1, 2025, 14:11 (UTC)
accessLevel	public
bureauCode	{026:00}
catalog_conformsTo	https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id	c6fed92b-3a8d-4640-9141-92a8d96bca07
harvest_source_id	b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title	Science Discovery Engine
identifier	10.5067/ASDC/SUBORBITAL/ACTIVATE-MODIS-MERRA2_1
license	https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified	2026-06-03T16:52:50Z
programCode	{026:000}
publisher	NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
resource-type	Dataset
source_datajson_identifier	true
source_hash	3f826505a632e499c7fc5128a38f90e45d37815a1d67692030d64a582abfe349
source_schema_version	1.1
spatial	["CARTESIAN", [{"Boundary": {"Points": [{"Latitude": 0, "Longitude": -85}, {"Latitude": 0, "Longitude": -25}, {"Latitude": 60, "Longitude": -25}, {"Latitude": 60, "Longitude": -85}, {"Latitude": 0, "Longitude": -85}]}}]]
temporal	2013-01-01/2022-06-30
theme	{"Earth Science"}