Tropospheric Aerosol Radiative Forcing Observational eXperiment - University of Washington instrumented C-131A aircraft Data Set

TARFOX_UWC131A is the Tropospheric Aerosol Radiative Forcing Observational eXperiment (TARFOX) - University of Washington instrumented C-131A aircraft data set. The TARFOX Intensive Field Campaign was conducted July 10-31, 1996. It included coordinated measurements from four satellites (GOES-8, NOAA-14, ERS-2, LANDSAT), four aircraft (ER-2, C-130, C-131A, and a modified Cessna), land sites, and ships. A variety of aerosol conditions was sampled, ranging from relatively clean behind frontal passages to moderately polluted with aerosol optical depths exceeding 0.5 at mid-visible wavelengths. Gradients of aerosol optical thickness were sampled to aid in isolating aerosol effects from other radiative effects and to more tightly constrain closure tests, including those of satellite retrievals. Early results from TARFOX include demonstration of the unexpected importance of carbonaceous compounds and water condensed on aerosol in the US mid-Atlantic haze plume, chemical apportionment of the aerosol optical depth, measurements of the downward component of aerosol radiative forcing, and agreement between forcing measurements and calculations.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field	Value
Maintainer	Earthdata Forum
Last Updated	April 21, 2026, 04:51 (UTC)
Created	April 1, 2025, 19:43 (UTC)
accessLevel	public
bureauCode	{026:00}
catalog_conformsTo	https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id	45022e27-c2bc-43ed-8534-52dece2525ab
harvest_source_id	b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title	Science Discovery Engine
identifier	10.5067/ASDC_DAAC/TARFOX/0002
license	https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified	2026-04-13T22:16:02Z
programCode	{026:000}
publisher	NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
resource-type	Dataset
source_datajson_identifier	true
source_hash	0f7a836fac84b03910f61bf9829b52a50bfd2810e9ce40c14495a944e754e03f
source_schema_version	1.1
spatial	["CARTESIAN",[{"Boundary":{"Points":[{"Latitude":36,"Longitude":-77},{"Latitude":36,"Longitude":-72.58},{"Latitude":39.79,"Longitude":-72.58},{"Latitude":39.79,"Longitude":-77},{"Latitude":36,"Longitude":-77}]}}]]
temporal	1996-07-10/1996-07-31
theme	{"Earth Science"}