Profile observations of the Arctic atmospheric boundary layer with the BELUGA tethered balloon during MOSAiC

Journal Article · Thu Aug 10 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Scientific Data

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02423-5· OSTI ID:1999198

Pilz, Christian ^[1]; Lonardi, Michael ^[2]; Egerer, Ulrike ^[3]; Siebert, Holger ^[1]; Ehrlich, André ^[2]; Heymsfield, Andrew J. ^[4]; Schmitt, Carl G. ^[5]; Shupe, Matthew D. ^[6]; Wehner, Birgit ^[1]; Wendisch, Manfred ^[2]

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1. Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) (Germany)
2. Leipzig University (Germany)
3. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) (Germany)
4. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States)
5. University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
6. University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)

During the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition, the Balloon-bornE moduLar Utility for profilinG the lower Atmosphere (BELUGA) was deployed from an ice floe drifting in the Fram Strait from 29 June to 27 July 2020. The BELUGA observations aimed to characterize the cloudy Arctic atmospheric boundary layer above the sea ice using a modular setup of five instrument packages. The in situ measurements included atmospheric thermodynamic and dynamic state parameters (air temperature, humidity, pressure, and three-dimensional wind), broadband solar and terrestrial irradiance, aerosol particle microphysical properties, and cloud particle images. In total, 66 profile observations were collected during 33 balloon flights from the surface to maximum altitudes of 0.3 to 1.5 km. The profiles feature a high vertical resolution of 0.01 m to 1 m, including measurements below, inside, and above frequently occurring low-level clouds. This publication describes the balloon operations, instruments, and the obtained data set. We invite the scientific community for joint analysis and model application of the freely available data on PANGAEA.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). ARM Data Center
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
• Contributing Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0021341
• OSTI ID: 1999198
• Journal Information: Scientific Data, Journal Name: Scientific Data Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 10; ISSN 2052-4463
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Atmospheric dynamics