WP-3D Data Info

File prefixes from data download are listed below. The file contents are specified and the measurement is described briefly. For more details, see the header of the data file.

Time parameters

Time: Most of the P-3 data is time-aligned to AOCTimewave, which is 1 second time resolution in integer seconds. It starts at the time the aircraft takes off, and ends at landing. Many of the parameters are on this time base.
Here are the exceptions.
CH2O: TimeStart_CH2O / TimeStop_CH2O (2 minute measurement)
VOCsGCFID: StartTime_GCFID / StopTime_GCFID (measurement every 15 minutes)
VOCsWAS: TimeOpen_WAS (variable intervals)
NAerosol: TimeStart_NAerosol / TimeStart_NAerosol (10 second averages)
JValNCAR: jVALTimewave (10 second data)

Aircraft parameters

AircraftErr

Aircraft Error flags for all aircraft parameters.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
Error flags - read file header for more information.

AircraftPos

Aircraft Position parameters measured with various aircraft sensors.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
GpsLat: GPS Latitude (deg)
GpsLon: GPS Longitude (deg)
GpsAlt: GPS Altitude (m)
PAlt: Pressure Altitude (m) Derived from the pressure and uses the standard atmosphere to calculate an altitude
RAlt: Radar Altitude (m) Aircraft altitude above ground

AircraftMet

Aircraft Meteorological parameters measured with various aircraft sensors.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
AmbTemp: Ambient Temperature (C)
DewPtTemp: Dew Point Temperature (C) measured by chilled mirror hygrometer.
EquivPotTemp: Equivalent Potential Temperature (K)
H2Omr: H2O mixing ratio (g/kg)
H2Ovp: H2O vapor pressure (mbar)
liqH2O: Liquid H2O (g/m3)
PotTemp: Potential Temperature (K)
RelHumidity: Relative Humidity (%)
StaticPrs: Static Pressure (mb)
VertWindSpd: Vertical Wind Speed (m/s)
WindDir: Wind Direction (deg)
WindSpd: Wind Speed (m/s)

AircraftMis

Aircraft Miscellaneous parameters measured with various aircraft sensors.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
Attack: Attack Angle (deg)
CabinPrs: Cabin Pressure (mbar)
GndSpd: Ground Speed (m/s)
Heading: Heading (deg)
Pitch: Pitch Angle (deg)
Roll: Roll Angle (deg)
Slip: Slip Angle (deg)
TrueAirSpd: True Air Speed (m/s)

AircraftRad

Aircraft Radiation parameters measured with various aircraft sensors.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
All parameters in units of W/m^2
dPyrge_IR: downward pyrgeometer: IR radiation, 3.5 - 50 microns
dPyro_YellowFilter_vis_IR: downward pyranometer w/ yellow filter: visible to near IR, 0.54 -2.8 um
dPyro_RedFilter_IR: downward pyranometer w/ red filter: near IR, 0.7 - 2.8 um
dPyro_ClearFilter_vis_IR: downward pyranometer w/ clear filter; visible to near IR, 0.32 - 2.8 um
uPyrge_IR: upward pyrgeometer signal: IR radiation, 3.5-50 microns
uPyro_YellowFilter_vis_IR: upward pyranometer w/ yellow filter: visible to near IR, 0.54 -2.8 um
uPyro_RedFilter_IR: upward pyranometer w/ red filter: near IR, 0.7 - 2.8 um
uPyro_ClearFilter_vis_IR: upward pyranometer w/ clear filter; visible to near IR, 0.32 - 2.8 um
dnPRT: downward looking Barnes PRT 5 radiometer (9.5-11.5 um): sea surface temperature (C)
upPRT: upward Barnes PRT 5 radiometer (9.5-11.5 um) (C)
horizPRT: sidelooking Barnes PRT 5 radiometer (9.5-11.5 um) (C)

LymanAlpha

Water vapor measured with Lyman Alpha Hygrometer.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
H2O_lyman: H2O vapor pressure (mbar)

Chemical Species

CH2O

Formaldehyde measured using coil scrubbing of gaseous formaldehyde followed by DNPH derivatization and HPLC analysis.
Time: 2 minute data aligned to TimeStart_CH2O / TimeStop_CH2O
Reported parameter names and units:
CH2O_ppbv: CH2O in ppbv

Carbon Monoxide using VUV Resonance Fluorescence.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
CO_ppbv: CO in ppbv

CO2

Carbon Dioxide measured using NDIR measurement technique.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
CO2_ppmv: CO2 in ppmv

HNO3

HNO3 measured using Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (CIMS).
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
HNO3_pptv: HNO3 in pptv

NOy

Nitrogen compounds measured using NO/O3 chemiluminescence.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
NO_ppbv: NO in ppbv
NO2_ppbv: NO2 in ppbv
NOy_ppbv: NOy in ppbv

Ozone measured using NO/O3 chemiluminescence.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
O3_ppbv: Ozone in ppbv

PANs

PANs measured using Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer (CIMS).
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
MPAN: Peroxy Methacryloyl Nitrate (CH2=C(CH3)C(O)OONO2) in pptv
PAN: Peroxy Acetyl Nitrate (CH3C(O)OONO2) in pptv
PPN: Peroxy Propionyl Nitrate (C2H5C(O)OONO2) in pptv

SO2

Sulfur dioxide measured using UV Pulsed Fluorescence.
Time: 1 Hz data aligned to AOCTimewave
Reported parameter names and units:
SO2_ppbv: SO2 in ppbv

VOCsGCFID

VOCs measured using Gas Chromatograph Flame Ionization Detector. (GCFID).
Time: StartTime_GCFID / StopTime_GCFID (measurement every 15 minutes).
Reported parameter names and units:
Acetone, Acetylene, Benzene, Ethane, i-Butane, i-Pentane, Isoprene, Methacrolein, Methanol, MVK, n-Butane, n-Hexane, n-Pentane, Propane: All in units of ppbv

VOCsWAS

VOCs measured using Whole Air Sampling technique.
Time: Aligned to TimeOpen_WAS (variable times)
Reported parameter names and units:
Too many to list (about 80)

Aerosols

NAerosol

Aerosol Size, Number, Surface, Volume Distribution (NOAA Aerosol).
Time: 10 second averages reported on TimeStart_NAerosol / TimeStop_NAerosol
Reported parameter names and units:
n5to20: particle number concentration, 5-20 nm (#/cm^3)
n20to100: particle number concentration, 20-100 nm (#/cm^3)
n100to500: particle number concentration, 100-500 nm (#/cm^3)
s5to20: particle surface area, 5-20 nm (um^2/cm^3)
s20to100: particle surface area, 20-100 nm (um^2/cm^3)
s100to500: particle surface area, 100-500 nm (um^2/cm^3)
v5to20: particle volume, 5-20 nm (um^3/cm^3)
v20to100: particle volume, 20-100 nm (um^3/cm^3)
v100to500: particle volume, 100-500 nm (um^3/cm^3)

Radiation

jValNCAR

NCAR Scanning Actinic Flux Spectroradiometer (SAFS)
Time: 1 Hz data reported on jVALTimewave (10 second data)
Photolysis rates (J-Values).
Reported parameter names and units:
All units in sec^(-1)
Combined (sum of Up and Down) J values for j_acetone, j_ch2o_h2, j_ch2o_hco, j_ch3ch2ono2, j_ch3ono2, j_ch3ooh, j_h2o2, j_hno2, j_hno3, j_no2, j_pan, j_o3