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FIELD CAMPAIGN -
Distributed Regional Aerosol Gridded Observation Networks (DRAGON)-USA
2013 Houston (Texas)

 
 
Updates
Instrument Status Log
Summaries

Level 1.5

Previous and Current Day

+ AOD(440nm) Plots
+ SDA(500nm) Plots

Campaign Period

+ AOD(440nm) Plots
+ SDA(500nm) Plots

Additional DISCOVER-AQ Links
 
DRAGON-USA 2013 Houston Maps (Latest GIF | Latest PDF | Archive)
 
Data (Top)
 

Aerosol Optical Depth Products (including water vapor and fine/coarse mode AOD)

+ AOD Data Browser

+ AOD Data Download Tool

Almcuantar Inversion Aerosol Properties (including size distributions, complex index of refraction, single scattering albedo, etc.)

+ Inversion Data Browser

+ Inversion Data Download Tool

Combined Data Download Table (May 1, 2013 to November 1, 2013)

Data
Data Format
Level 1.0 Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD)

+ All Points
+ Daily Averages
+ Monthly Averages

Level 1.5 Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD)
Level 2.0 Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD)
Level 1.0 Spectral Deconvolution Algorithm (SDA) Retrievals
Level 1.5 Spectral Deconvolution Algorithm (SDA) Retrievals
Level 2.0 Spectral Deconvolution Algorithm (SDA) Retrievals
Level 1.5 Almucantar Inversion Products
(except Phase Functions)
Level 1.5 Almucantar Inversion Products Phase Functions
Level 2.0 Almucantar Inversion Products
(except Phase Functions)
Level 2.0 Almucantar Inversion Phase Functions
 
Background
 

Aerosol measurement observations from ground-based sun photometers and sun/sky radiometers have played a critical role in developing, reformulating and validating satellite algorithms to characterize aerosol optical depth, modal aerosol retrievals and single scattering albedo among other parameters.   New and improved algorithms are being developed for current and future satellite missions that will place a greater demand on the accuracy and fidelity of the ground-based measurements for validation, multi data set synergism and long-term climate research.  Heretofore satellite validation studies using sun and sky scanning spectral radiometer measurements such as AERONET have relied on point observations extrapolated to a two dimensional domain to compare to the satellite retrieval.  Additionally few of the ground-based remote sensing measurements have had a rigorous comparison or validation against other ground-based measurements particularly in situ observations of aerosol size and absorption.  DRAGON-USA will provide a data set to address satellite validation and in situ comparisons.

+ DRAGON White Paper

 
Experimental Objectives (Top)
 
  • Establish a mesoscale gridded network of sun photometers that encompasses, urban, agricultural, and maritime landscapes over the Houston metropolitan region of Texas
  • Optimize the grid to validate/collaborate inversion products in conjunction with aircraft flights performing in situ measurements
  • Optimize the gridded network to validate satellite retrievals from 50 m to 10 Km pixel resolution
  • Supplement the gridded network with non gridded sites to capture aerosol variability
  • Develop a geo-referenced database that will accommodate supplementary/complimentary data sets
 
Measurement Plan (Top)
 

The campaign will be implemented under the NASA-funded Earth Venture airborne mission, DISCOVER-AQ (Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality). The campaign will employ NASA aircraft to make a series of flights, with scientific instruments on board to measure gaseous and particulate pollution, during a month period in September 2013 in and near Houston, Texas. The instrument spatial distribution encompasses a 120 km long by 100 km wide region.

Starting in May 2013, DRAGON-USA Houston instrument deployments will occur in and around the Houston, Texas metropolitan region to the Gulf of Mexico (Figure 1) with approximately fifteen regionally distributed instruments in support of NASA DISCOVER-AQ P3-B and King Air air quality research flights occurring in September 2013.

Figure 1 DRAGON-USA 2012 Site Distribution

Figure 1. DRAGON-USA Houston 2013 Site Distribution Download KMZ file.

DRAGON Text Lists

+ Level 1.0 AOD Data (TXT)
+ Level 1.5 AOD Data
(TXT)
+ Level 2.0 AOD Data (TXT)

DRAGON Google Earth Distribution

+ Level 1.0 AOD Data (Google Earth KMZ)
+ Level 1.5 AOD Data
(Google Earth KMZ)
+ Level 2.0 AOD Data (Google Earth KMZ)

 
Contacts (Top)
Collaborators
Title/Project Organization
Brent Holben
AERONET PI
NASA GSFC
Joel Schafer
AERONET
NASA GSFC
James Crawford
DISCOVER-AQ PI
NASA LaRC
Ken Pickering
DISCOVER-AQ, Deputy PI
NASA GSFC
Jay Herman
PANDORA
UMBC
Barry Lefer
AERONET and in situ
University of Houston
Ihab Abboud
AEROCAN
Environment Canada
Rich Ferrare
HSRL
NASA LaRC
Judd Welton
MPLNET
NASA GSFC
Bruce Anderson
P-3B: LARGE (aerosols)
NASA LaRC
Anne Thompson
NATIVE
NASA/GSFC
Pennsylvania State University
Richard Clark
Tethered Balloon
Millersville University
     
Tom Eck
AERONET
NASA GSFC
Mikhail Sorokin
AERONET
NASA GSFC
David Giles
AERONET
NASA GSFC
Ilya Slutsker
AERONET
NASA GSFC
Peter Kenny
AERONET
NASA GSFC
Alexander Smirnov
AERONET
NASA GSFC
Jon Rodriguez
AERONET
NASA GSFC
Aliaksandr Siniuk
AERONET
NASA GSFC
Amy Scully
AERONET
NASA GSFC
     

 

 

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Last Updated: March 28, 2017