ORACLES Merge Data Files

ORACLES_Merge_Data are pre-generated aircraft merge data files created utilizing data collected during the ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) campaign. These measurements were collected from August 19, 2016 – October 27, 2016, August 1, 2017 – September 4, 2017 and September 21, 2018 – October 27, 2018. ORACLES provides multi-year airborne observations over the complete vertical column of key parameters that drive aerosol-cloud interactions in the southeast Atlantic, an area with some of the largest inter-model differences in aerosol forcing assessments on the planet. The P-3 Orion aircraft was utilized as a low-flying platform for simultaneous in situ and remote sensing measurements of aerosols and clouds and was supplemented by ER-2 remote sensing during the 2016 campaign. Data collection for this product is complete. Southern Africa produces almost one-third of the Earth’s biomass burning aerosol particles. The ORACLES (ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS) experiment was a five year investigation with three intensive observation periods (August 19, 2016 – October 27, 2016; August 1, 2017 – September 4, 2017; September 21, 2018 – October 27, 2018) and was designed to study key processes that determine the climate impacts of African biomass burning aerosols. ORACLES provided multi-year airborne observations over the complete vertical column of the key parameters that drive aerosol-cloud interactions in the southeast Atlantic, an area with some of the largest inter-model differences in aerosol forcing assessments. These inter-model differences in aerosol and cloud distributions, as well as their combined climatic effects in the SE Atlantic are partly due to the persistence of aerosols above clouds. The varying separation of cloud and aerosol layers sampled during ORACLES allow for a process-oriented understanding of how variations in radiative heating profiles impact cloud properties, which is expected to improve model simulations for other remote regions experience long-range aerosol transport above clouds. ORACLES utilized two NASA aircraft, the P-3 and ER-2. The P-3 was used as a low-flying platform for simultaneous in situ and remote sensing measurements of aerosols and clouds in all three campaigns, supplemented by ER-2 remote sensing in 2016. ER-2 observations will be used to enhance satellite-based remote sensing by resolving variability within a particular scene, and by guiding the development of new and improved remote sensing techniques.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated March 30, 2026, 23:31 (UTC)
Created April 1, 2025, 18:21 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id 43d99465-304a-4ffa-a735-408d9b08b14f
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.5067/ASDC_DAAC/ORACLES_Merge_Data_1
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-03-23T22:16:03Z
programCode {026:000}
publisher NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 51b6dc23cf386c7ef789f99baf37bde9fa7f37e0010051b54fd3fe309cc3f221
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial ["CARTESIAN",[{"Boundary":{"Points":[{"Latitude":-35,"Longitude":-126},{"Latitude":-35,"Longitude":14.94},{"Latitude":41,"Longitude":14.94},{"Latitude":41,"Longitude":-126},{"Latitude":-35,"Longitude":-126}]}}]], Maximum Altitude, 12 km
temporal 2016-07-28/2019-03-23
theme {"Earth Science"}