VIRGAS WB-57 Aircraft In-Situ Meteorology and Navigation Data

VIRGAS_MetNav_AircraftInSitu_Data are the meteorology and navigational data collected during the Volcano-plume Investigation Readiness and Gas-phase and Aerosol Sulfur (VIRGAS) sub-orbital campaign. Data from the Meteorological Measurement System (MMS) are featured in this data product and data collection is complete. Conducted in October 2015, the Volcano-plume Investigation Readiness and Gas-phase and Aerosol Sulfur (VIRGAS) field campaign had a primary objective to test instrument capability and readiness for deployment in the investigation of major volcanic eruptions. VIRGAS aimed to enable researchers to assess the impact of these volcanic eruptions on stratospheric aerosols and the ozone layer. As sulfur dioxide is a characteristic component of volcanic emissions, the LIF SO2 instrument was of critical importance to VIRGAS. VIRGAS was conducted in one deployment consisting of six science flights based from Houston, TX. The current available data products are from the NOAA LASER-Induced Fluorescence (LIF SO2) instrument, the NOAA Unmanned Aircraft System O3 Photometer (UASO3), and NASA’s Meteorological Measurement System (MMS). The ASDC houses data including 1 Hz SO2 data from seven flights, 1 Hz O3 data from ten flights, and 1 Hz and 20 Hz data for temperature, pressure, and 3-D winds from 5 flights. VIRGAS was led by Dr. Karen Rosenlof and Dr. Ru-Shan Gao of the NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory (NOAA CSL), as well as by Dr. Paul Newman of NASA Godard Space Flight Center’s Earth Sciences Division. Other participants include researchers from NASA Ames Research Center, the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (BAERI), and the University of Miami.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated May 11, 2026, 22:35 (UTC)
Created April 1, 2025, 20:01 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id 51acd960-a74e-49c6-918a-1afe8a3b579b
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.5067/ASDC/SUBORBITAL/VIRGAS_MetNav_AircraftInSitu_Data_1
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-05-04T22:16:01Z
programCode {026:000}
publisher NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash c72560747b2bb55909e528c0046e77e2b0df8b81c5c9ebaaa8cef806022b72b2
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial ["CARTESIAN",[{"Boundary":{"Points":[{"Latitude":10,"Longitude":-110},{"Latitude":10,"Longitude":-75},{"Latitude":50,"Longitude":-75},{"Latitude":50,"Longitude":-110},{"Latitude":10,"Longitude":-110}]}}]], Maximum Altitude, 12 km
temporal 2015-10-24/2015-11-02
theme {"Earth Science"}