Maximizing the Volume of Collocated Data from Two Coordinated Suborbital Platforms

• DOI: 10.1175/jtech-d-23-0001.1
• Publication Date: 2024-02-09T12:19:51Z
• Authors: Joseph S. Schlosser; Ryan Bennett; Brian Cairns; Gao Chen; Brian L. Collister; Johnathan W. Hair; Michael Jones; Michael A. Shook; Armin Sorooshian; Kenneth L. Thornhill; Luke D. Ziemba; Snorre Stamnes
• Keywords: 0207 environmental engineering; 02 engineering and technology

Abstract Suborbital (e.g., airborne) campaigns that carry advanced remote sensing and in situ payloads provide detailed observations of atmospheric processes, but can be challenging to use when it is necessary geographically collocate data from multiple platforms make repeated a given geographic location at different altitudes. This study reports on collocation algorithm maximizes the volume collocated two coordinated suborbital demonstrates its value using NASA Aerosol Cloud Meteorology Interactions Over western Atlantic Experiment (ACTIVATE) mission. A robust critical for success ACTIVATE mission goal develop new improved algorithms, quantify their performance. We demonstrate these performance recently developed vertically resolved lidar + polarimeter–derived aerosol particle number concentration ( N ) product, resulting range-normalized mean absolute deviation (NMAD) 9% compared measurements. also show this increases by 21% only nearest-neighbor finding algorithms alone. Additional benefits demonstrated within study, files routines produced have solved both application steps researchers who require own studies. freely available open-source applied future that, like ACTIVATE, conduct observations, e.g., aircraft together with collected platforms. Significance Statement describes (i.e., selection) process aims maximize identified simultaneously time space measurement The functional utility resultant dataset extending validation derived standard polarimeter products used