Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment (AAOE-87)

This CD-ROM contains data from the Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment (AAOE) which was based in Punta Arenas, Chile during August and September 1987. The data is primarily that collected onboard the NASA ER-2 and DC-8 aircraft, along with ozonesonde data collected at four Antarctic stations: Halley Bay, McMurdo, Palmer Station, and the South Pole. The experiment tested the chemical and dynamical theories of the ozone hole using the aircraft data in theoretical computer models of the chemistry and dynamics of the stratosphere.

The NASA ER-2 is a high altitude research aircraft that sampled air at those altitudes where the ozone hole was at its most intense, with data gathered on the air mass within the confines of the hole itself. The ER-2 collected information on three-dimensional winds, pressure, temperature, temperature profiles +/- 1 km from flight level, chlorine monoxide, bromine monoxide, ozone, nitric oxide, reactive nitrogen, total water, nitrous oxide, whole air sampling, condensation nuclei, aerosol size distribution and composition, and cloud particle images and sizes.

The DC-8 aircraft flew at the lowermost extremities of the hole and deployed a combination of remote sounding of the overlying atmosphere with some in situ sampling. Vertical distributions of ozone and aerosols above the cruising altitude of the aircraft and within the hole were mapped. The DC-8 collected ozone and aerosol profiles overhead by LIDAR; and measured ozone, bromine oxide, OClO, nitrogen dioxide, nitric acid, and hydrogen chloride. In situ methods yielded ozone, total water, and whole air sampling.

This dataset is public and can be accessed from the BADC archives

The data are held on CD-ROM at the BADC and are available for browsing purposes. If you want to use the data in earnest you should order a copy of the CD from one of the contact addresses listed below.

All files within this release are standard MS-DOS ASCII files with variable length records. The file naming convention uses a two character prefix to identify the instrument followed by a six digit number giving the year, month, and day (GMT) of the flight (or balloon launch). A three character extension of ER2, DC8, or OZn is used to denote the data is from the ER-2, DC-8, or ozonesonde (OZ1 for the first launch, OZ2 for the second launch on a particular day).

• The documentation on the CD-ROM This gives an outline of the campaign, an inventory of the data on the CD and a detailed description of the data format.
• Format description document
• End of the Mission Statement
• Overview document

Results from the campaign are presented in two special issues of the Journal of Geophysical Research (Atmospheres) Volume 74 , Nos. D9 and D14 (1989). A preface by Watson et al. in the first of these issues gives an overview of the mission and its objectives. This information can also be found in the End of the Mission Statement. We also provide a list of other references.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, [Anderson, J.; Browell, E.; Chan, K.R.; Coffey, M.; Fahey, D.; Farmer, C.B.; Ferry, G.; Gaines, S.; Gandrud, B.; Gardiner, B.; Gary, B.; Gregory, G.; Harder, J.; Hathaway, P.; Heidt, L.; Hipskind, S.; Kelly, K.; Komhyr, W.; Krueger, A.; Lowenstein, M.; Mankin, W.; Proffitt, M.; Starr, W.; Torres, A.; Vedder, J.; Wilson, J.C.;Winkler, R.]. Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment (AAOE-87), [Internet]. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1989, Date of citation. Available from http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/view/badc.nerc.ac.uk__ATOM__dataent_AAOE

If you would like to obtain a copy of the CD-ROM you should contact Steven Gaines at the NASA Ames Research Center.