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ATom: Development of Cloud Indicator Algorithm Using Airborne Observations from CAPS

Metadata Updated: February 6, 2026

This dataset is the basis for the development of the Cloud Indicator, a novel algorithm that automatically detects and classifies measurement periods inside clouds. The included data were used in the analysis and development of figures for the related publication. The Cloud Indicator algorithm was developed based on particle size distribution measurements from a second-generation Cloud, Aerosol, and Precipitation Spectrometer (CAPS) combined with measurements of relative humidity and temperature from other sensors, to automatically detect flight sequences in clouds and classify the cloud type. Measurements were collected on 2016-08-20 as part of the Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom-1) Campaign and on 2017-04-20 as part of the Absorbing aerosol layers in a changing climate: aging, LIFEtime and dynamics (A-LIFE) project. As an additional criterion for the Cloud Indicator, a cloud-aerosol volume factor was established to ensure a precise and robust distinction between clouds and aerosol layers such as mineral dust or biomass burning to reduce misclassifications. Data are provided in netCDF (*.nc) format.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date February 6, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date February 6, 2026
Publisher ORNL_DAAC
Maintainer
Identifier 10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2250
Data Last Modified 2026-02-03
Category Earth Science
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 661fedf9-ce35-43f6-977a-a125f96ebb83
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Homepage URL https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/search?q=ATom_Clouds_Aerosols_2250&ac=true
Old Spatial {"WestBoundingCoordinate":-180.0,"NorthBoundingCoordinate":90.0,"EastBoundingCoordinate":180.0,"SouthBoundingCoordinate":-90.0},"CARTESIAN"
Program Code 026:000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 1f81c5c9585ac59e8145a30532eed14e44a1394c59d2c5e6ec17c0a9b64ab588
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial
Temporal 2016-07-01/2016-07-01

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