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Atmospheric Carbon and Transport – America (ACT-America) Datasets: Description, Management, and Delivery
  • +47
  • Yaxing Wei,
  • Rupesh Shrestha,
  • Sandip Pal,
  • Tobias Gerken,
  • Jack McNelis,
  • Debjani Deb,
  • Michele Thornton,
  • Alison Boyer,
  • Michael Shook,
  • Gao Chen,
  • Bianca Baier,
  • Zachary Barkley,
  • John Barrick,
  • Joseph Bennett,
  • Edward Browell,
  • Joel Campbell,
  • Lily Campbell,
  • Yonghoon Choi,
  • James Collins,
  • Jeremy Dobler,
  • Maximilian Eckl,
  • Sha Feng,
  • Alina Fiehn,
  • ALAN FRIED,
  • Joshua DiGangi,
  • Rory Barton-Grimley,
  • Hannah Halliday,
  • Theresa Klausner,
  • Susan Kooi,
  • Julian Kostinek,
  • Thomas Lauvaux,
  • Bing Lin,
  • Matthew McGill,
  • Byron Meadows,
  • Natasha Miles,
  • Amin Nehrir,
  • John Nowak,
  • Michael Obland,
  • Christopher O'Dell,
  • Rebecca Fao,
  • Scott Richardson,
  • Dirk Richter,
  • Anke Roiger,
  • Colm Sweeney,
  • James Walega,
  • Petter Weibring,
  • Christopher A. Williams,
  • Melissa Yang,
  • Yu Zhou,
  • Kenneth Davis
Yaxing Wei
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Rupesh Shrestha
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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Sandip Pal
Texas Tech University
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Tobias Gerken
James Madison University,Montana State University Bozeman
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Jack McNelis
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Debjani Deb
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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Michele Thornton
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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Alison Boyer
Reviewbox
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Michael Shook
NASA Langley Research Center
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Gao Chen
NASA Langley Research Center
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Bianca Baier
University of Colorado Boulder/NOAA GML
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Zachary Barkley
The Pennsylvania State University
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John Barrick
NASA Langley Research Center
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Joseph Bennett
Bay Area Environmental Research Institute
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Edward Browell
NASA Langley Research Center
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Joel Campbell
NASA Langley Research Center
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Lily Campbell
Penn State University
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Yonghoon Choi
NASA LaRC/SSAI
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James Collins
Science Systems & Applications, Inc., NASA Langley Research Center
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Jeremy Dobler
Spectral Sensor Solutions LLC
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Maximilian Eckl
German Aerospace Center
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Sha Feng
Pennsylvania State University,Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
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Alina Fiehn
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt Standort Oberpfaffenhofen
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ALAN FRIED
University of Colorado Boulder
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Joshua DiGangi
NASA Langley Research Center
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Rory Barton-Grimley
NASA Langley Research Center
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Hannah Halliday
US Environmental Protection Agency
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Theresa Klausner
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre
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Susan Kooi
Science Systems & Applications, Inc., NASA Langley Research Center
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Julian Kostinek
Institute of Atmospheric Physics, German Aerospace Center
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Thomas Lauvaux
Laboratoire des sciences du climat et de l'environnement
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Bing Lin
NASA Langley Research Center
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Matthew McGill
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Byron Meadows
NASA Langley Research Center
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Natasha Miles
Penn State University
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Amin Nehrir
NASA Langley Research Center
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John Nowak
NASA Langley Research Center
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Michael Obland
NASA Langley Research Center
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Christopher O'Dell
Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University
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Rebecca Fao
Science Systems & Applications, Inc., NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Scott Richardson
Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, Penn State University
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Dirk Richter
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder
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Anke Roiger
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre
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Colm Sweeney
NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory
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James Walega
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder
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Petter Weibring
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder
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Christopher A. Williams
Clark University
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Melissa Yang
Bay Area Environmental Research Institute
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Yu Zhou
Clark University
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Kenneth Davis
Pennsylvania State University
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Abstract

The ACT-America project is a NASA Earth Venture Suborbital-2 mission designed to study the transport and fluxes of greenhouse gases. The open and freely available ACT-America datasets provide airborne in-situ measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide, methane, trace gases, aerosols, clouds, and meteorological properties, airborne remote sensing measurements of aerosol backscatter, atmospheric boundary layer height and columnar content of atmospheric carbon dioxide, tower-based measurements, and modeled atmospheric mole fractions and regional carbon fluxes of greenhouse gases over the Central and Eastern United States. We conducted 121 research flights during five campaigns in four seasons during 2016-2019 over three regions of the US (Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and South) using two NASA research aircraft (B-200 and C-130). We performed three flight patterns (fair weather, frontal crossings, and OCO-2 underflights) and collected more than 1,140 hours of airborne measurements via level-leg flights in the atmospheric boundary layer, lower, and upper free troposphere and vertical profiles spanning these altitudes. We also merged various airborne in-situ measurements onto a common standard sampling interval, which brings coherence to the data, creates geolocated data products, and makes it much easier for the users to perform holistic analysis of the ACT-America data products. Here, we report on detailed information of datasets collected, and the workflow for datasets including storage and processing of the quality controlled and quality assured harmonized observations, and their archival and formatting for users. Finally, we provide some important information on the dissemination of data products including metadata and highlights of applications of datasets for future investigations.