Alpha Jet Atmospheric eXperiment (AJAX) Data Release Announcement

Nov. 19, 2021, 10:15 a.m.

Project: AJAX

The Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) has released data for the Alpha Jet Atmospheric eXperiment (AJAX). The AJAX project has been collecting in situ trace gas observations over California, Nevada, and the coastal Pacific on a regular basis in all seasons since 2011, helping to assess satellite sensors' health and calibration over significant portions of their lifetimes, and complementing surface and tower-based observations collected elsewhere in the region.

The standard AJAX payload includes rigorously-calibrated ozone (O3), greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4)), and formaldehyde (HCHO) instruments, as well as a Meteorological Measurement System reporting pressure, temperature, and 3-D winds, among other parameters. Two-thirds of flights include at least one vertical profile to ~8.5 km, and many have multiple profiles within a single 2-hr outing.

AJAX supports both NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatories (OCO-2 and OCO-3) and Japan's GOSAT and GOSAT-2, and supports collaborations with many other research organizations (e.g. CARB, NOAA, USFS, EPA). AJAX celebrated its 200th science flight in 2016, and previous studies have investigated topics as varied as stratospheric-to-tropospheric transport, forest fire plumes, atmospheric river events, long-range transport of pollution from Asia to the western US, urban outflow, and emissions from gas leaks, oil fields, and dairies. AJAX is a partnership between NASA's Ames Research Center and H211, L.L.C.

This initial release includes all publication-quality data to date. Additional information about AJAX data can be obtained on the ASDC AJAX landing page or the AJAX science website .

Data Access:


Related URLS: https://doi.org/10.5067/ASDC/SUBORBITAL/AJAX/DATA001