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SASS (Subsonics Assessment) Ozone and NOx Experiment (SONEX) DC-8 In-Situ Meteorological and Navigation Data

Published by NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Metadata Last Checked: August 04, 2025 | Last Modified: 2025-04-23
SONEX_TraceGas_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data_1 is the in-situ meteorological and navigation data collected onboard the DC-8 aircraft during the SASS (Subsonics Assessment) Ozone and NOx Experiment (SONEX) suborbital campaign. Data collection for this product is complete. The SASS (Subsonics Assessment) Ozone and NOx Experiment (SONEX) was an international, multi-organizational mission that took place in October-November 1997. NASA was the US sponsor of SONEX that partnered with POLINAT-2 (Pollution from Aircraft Emissions in the North Atlantic Flight Corridor) funded by the German DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) or German Aerospace Agency. NASA flew the DC-8 aircraft out of NASA/Ames Research Center. DLR operated an instrumented Falcon 20 aircraft. The staging locations for NAFC sampling were primarily Bangor, Maine (US), and Shannon, Ireland. Subsonic aircraft emissions impact several aspects of atmospheric composition: nitrogen oxides (NOx), CO, and hydrocarbons from emissions can perturb upper tropospheric/lower stratospheric (UT/LS) ozone; water vapor, soot, and sulfur oxides (SOx) emitted by aircraft may perturb clouds and aerosols, changing UT/LS radiative forcing and global temperature. In SONEX and POLINAT, flights were conducted in the vicinity of the North Atlantic Flight Coordinator (NAFC) to observe the impact of aircraft emissions on NOx and ozone (O3). The DC-8 aircraft payload (Singh et al., 1999) primarily measured in-situ CO, CO2, hydrocarbons/halocarbons, O3, aerosols (Dibb et al., 2000), OH/HO2, water vapor, nitric acid (Talbot et al., 1999), photolysis rates, temperature, pressure, winds, NOx, and NOy. Three sampling approaches were implemented during SONEX. First, special meteorological (Fuelberg et al., 2000) were developed to allow targeted sampling for air parcels affected by aircraft emissions and various meteorological events, e.g., convection, lightning (Jeker et al., 2000), stratospheric intrusions (Cho et al., 2000). Second, because the NAFC had not been extensively sampled in the past, it was important for SONEX to characterize the climatology of trace species like CN (Wang et al., 2000), NOx and NOy (Koike et al., 2000). Third, tracers (Simpson et al., 2000; Thompson et al., 1999) and model sensitivity studies (Meijer et al., 2000) were employed for Air Mass Identification. This sampling strategy answered the following questions: Where and when are air masses found with the greatest aircraft influence? When and where was stratospheric air sampled? SONEX showed a substantial impact of aircraft emissions on UT/LS NOx and CN in the vicinity of fresh aircraft emissions. However, during October-November 1997 over the NAFC, UT/LS NOx was dominated by surface emissions redistributed by convection and augmented by lightning.

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel public
bureauCode 
                                            [
  "026:00"
]
contactPoint 
                                            {
  "fn": "Paul Bui",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:thaopaul.v.bui@nasa.gov"
}
description SONEX_TraceGas_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data_1 is the in-situ meteorological and navigation data collected onboard the DC-8 aircraft during the SASS (Subsonics Assessment) Ozone and NOx Experiment (SONEX) suborbital campaign. Data collection for this product is complete. The SASS (Subsonics Assessment) Ozone and NOx Experiment (SONEX) was an international, multi-organizational mission that took place in October-November 1997. NASA was the US sponsor of SONEX that partnered with POLINAT-2 (Pollution from Aircraft Emissions in the North Atlantic Flight Corridor) funded by the German DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) or German Aerospace Agency. NASA flew the DC-8 aircraft out of NASA/Ames Research Center. DLR operated an instrumented Falcon 20 aircraft. The staging locations for NAFC sampling were primarily Bangor, Maine (US), and Shannon, Ireland. Subsonic aircraft emissions impact several aspects of atmospheric composition: nitrogen oxides (NOx), CO, and hydrocarbons from emissions can perturb upper tropospheric/lower stratospheric (UT/LS) ozone; water vapor, soot, and sulfur oxides (SOx) emitted by aircraft may perturb clouds and aerosols, changing UT/LS radiative forcing and global temperature. In SONEX and POLINAT, flights were conducted in the vicinity of the North Atlantic Flight Coordinator (NAFC) to observe the impact of aircraft emissions on NOx and ozone (O3). The DC-8 aircraft payload (Singh et al., 1999) primarily measured in-situ CO, CO2, hydrocarbons/halocarbons, O3, aerosols (Dibb et al., 2000), OH/HO2, water vapor, nitric acid (Talbot et al., 1999), photolysis rates, temperature, pressure, winds, NOx, and NOy. Three sampling approaches were implemented during SONEX. First, special meteorological (Fuelberg et al., 2000) were developed to allow targeted sampling for air parcels affected by aircraft emissions and various meteorological events, e.g., convection, lightning (Jeker et al., 2000), stratospheric intrusions (Cho et al., 2000). Second, because the NAFC had not been extensively sampled in the past, it was important for SONEX to characterize the climatology of trace species like CN (Wang et al., 2000), NOx and NOy (Koike et al., 2000). Third, tracers (Simpson et al., 2000; Thompson et al., 1999) and model sensitivity studies (Meijer et al., 2000) were employed for Air Mass Identification. This sampling strategy answered the following questions: Where and when are air masses found with the greatest aircraft influence? When and where was stratospheric air sampled? SONEX showed a substantial impact of aircraft emissions on UT/LS NOx and CN in the vicinity of fresh aircraft emissions. However, during October-November 1997 over the NAFC, UT/LS NOx was dominated by surface emissions redistributed by convection and augmented by lightning.
distribution 
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    "description": "A meteorological overview of the Subsonic Assessment Ozone and Nitrogen Oxide Experiment (SONEX) period",
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    "description": "Composition and distribution of aerosols over the North Atlantic during the Subsonic Assessment Ozone and Nitrogen Oxide Experiment (SONEX)",
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    "description": "DOI for SONEX_MetNav_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data_1",
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    "description": "Evidence of convection as a major source of condensation nuclei in the northern midlatitude upper troposphere",
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    "title": "View this dataset's data citation policy",
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    "description": "How to Cite ASDC Data",
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    "description": "Impact of aircraft emissions on reactive nitrogen over the North Atlantic Flight Corridor region",
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    "description": "Measurements of nitrogen oxides at the tropopause: Attribution to convection and correlation with lightning",
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    "description": "Nonmethane hydrocarbon measurements in the North Atlantic Flight Corridor during the Subsonic Assessment Ozone and Nitrogen Oxide Experiment",
    "downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JD900750"
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    "format": "HTML",
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    "description": "Observations of convective and dynamical instabilities in tropopause folds and their contribution to stratosphere-troposphere exchange",
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    "format": "HTML",
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    "description": "Perspectives on NO, NOy, and fine aerosol sources and variability during SONEX",
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    "description": "SONEX airborne mission and coordinated POLINAT-2 activity: Overview and accomplishments",
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    "title": "Google Scholar search results",
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identifier C2662399958-LARC_ASDC
issued 1997-10-07
keyword 
                                            [
  "altitude",
  "atmosphere",
  "atmospheric-pressure",
  "atmospheric-temperature",
  "atmospheric-water-vapor",
  "atmospheric-winds",
  "earth-science",
  "infrared-wavelengths",
  "ocean-temperature",
  "oceans",
  "platform-characteristics",
  "spectral-engineering"
]
landingPage https://doi.org/10.5067/ASDC/SUBORBITAL/SONEX_TraceGas_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data_1
language 
                                            [
  "en-US"
]
modified 2025-04-23
programCode 
                                            [
  "026:001"
]
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
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temporal 1997-10-07T00:00:00Z/1997-11-13T23:59:59.999Z
theme 
                                            [
  "SONEX",
  "geospatial"
]
title SASS (Subsonics Assessment) Ozone and NOx Experiment (SONEX) DC-8 In-Situ Meteorological and Navigation Data

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