DC3 In-Situ DC-8 Meteorological and Navigational Data

DC3_MetNav_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data are in-situ meteorological and navigational data collected onboard the DC-8 aircraft during the Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) field campaign. Data collection for this product is complete. The Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) field campaign sought to understand the dynamical, physical, and lightning processes of deep, mid-latitude continental convective clouds and to define the impact of these clouds on upper tropospheric composition and chemistry. DC3 was conducted from May to June 2012 with a base location of Salina, Kansas. Observations were conducted in northeastern Colorado, west Texas to central Oklahoma, and northern Alabama in order to provide a wide geographic sample of storm types and boundary layer compositions, as well as to sample convection. DC3 had two primary science objectives. The first was to investigate storm dynamics and physics, lightning and its production of nitrogen oxides, cloud hydrometeor effects on wet deposition of species, surface emission variability, and chemistry in anvil clouds. Observations related to this objective focused on the early stages of active convection. The second objective was to investigate changes in upper tropospheric chemistry and composition after active convection. Observations related to this objective focused on the 12-48 hours following convection. This objective also served to explore seasonal change of upper tropospheric chemistry. In addition to using the NSF/NCAR Gulfstream-V (GV) aircraft, the NASA DC-8 was used during DC3 to provide in-situ measurements of the convective storm inflow and remotely-sensed measurements used for flight planning and column characterization. DC3 utilized ground-based radar networks spread across its observation area to measure the physical and kinematic characteristics of storms. Additional sampling strategies relied on lightning mapping arrays, radiosondes, and precipitation collection. Lastly, DC3 used data collected from various satellite instruments to achieve its goals, focusing on measurements from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) onboard Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) and Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) onboard CloudSat. In addition to providing an extensive set of data related to deep, mid-latitude continental convective clouds and analyzing their impacts on upper tropospheric composition and chemistry, DC3 improved models used to predict convective transport. DC3 improved knowledge of convection and chemistry, and provided information necessary to understanding the processes relating to ozone in the upper troposphere.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field	Value
Maintainer	Earthdata Forum
Last Updated	April 13, 2026, 19:02 (UTC)
Created	April 1, 2025, 15:20 (UTC)
accessLevel	public
bureauCode	{026:00}
catalog_conformsTo	https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id	b11bc8d6-b540-4705-9d10-c73b8257bd34
harvest_source_id	b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title	Science Discovery Engine
identifier	10.5067/ASDC/SUBORBITAL/DC3_MetNav_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data_1
license	https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified	2026-04-06T22:16:00Z
programCode	{026:000}
publisher	NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
resource-type	Dataset
source_datajson_identifier	true
source_hash	6d783595ed143e8e1697380b2ff581c5d9a349e5a0045564300be7baf6b07b95
source_schema_version	1.1
spatial	["CARTESIAN",[{"Boundary":{"Points":[{"Latitude":25,"Longitude":-125},{"Latitude":25,"Longitude":-75},{"Latitude":45,"Longitude":-75},{"Latitude":45,"Longitude":-125},{"Latitude":25,"Longitude":-125}]}}]], Maximum Altitude, 9999.9 Meters
temporal	2012-05-04/2012-06-23
theme	{"Earth Science"}