ATom: Dominant Role of Mineral Dust in Cirrus Cloud Formation

This dataset provides: (1) In situ dust aerosol concentration measurements over remote tropical Pacific and Atlantic Oceans by NOAA Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry (PALMS) airborne single-particle mass spectrometer combined with Aerosol Microphysical Properties (AMP) aerosol size spectrometers. Measurements were made aboard the NASA DC8 aircraft during the four ATom campaigns that occurred from 2016 to 2018 (2) Model output of dust and meteorology from the CESM global transport model extracted at the time and location of the aircraft; (3) Model output of dust, other aerosol, and meteorology from the GEOS global transport model extracted at the time and location of the aircraft; (4) CESM model global output of dust and meteorology for dust emitted by specific source regions; (5) NCEP Global Forecast System forward trajectories of air parcels initiated at the time and location of the aircraft; and (6) The location and properties of cirrus clouds formed along the forward trajectories simulated using a parcel model. These data have been applied to better understand the role of mineral dust in cirrus cloud formation.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated September 8, 2026, 04:07 (UTC)
Created April 1, 2025, 14:37 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id bb19e227-cbf1-494f-afc7-ff9fe3e037c5
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2006
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-08-31T22:16:02Z
programCode {026:000}
publisher ORNL_DAAC
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash a331d5f8bcd308c738ef6a308fc8d66bbd4d915711b60a023faa1fe0884128cc
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial ["CARTESIAN", [{"WestBoundingCoordinate": -180.0, "NorthBoundingCoordinate": 90.0, "EastBoundingCoordinate": 180.0, "SouthBoundingCoordinate": -90.0}]]
temporal 2014-01-01/2019-01-01
theme {"Earth Science"}