Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign (ISDAC)
Current Fairbanks, Alaska, time and temperature.
Current Barrow, Alaska, time and temperature.
Using instrumented aircraft, the ISDAC field campaign obtained aerosol and cloud property measurements from the sky above the ARM Climate Research Facility site in Barrow, Alaska.
An intensive cloud and aerosol observing system obtained airborne measurements during the Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign (ISDAC) at the ACRF North Slope of Alaska locale in April 2008. Taking place during the International Polar Year, many ancillary observing systems collected data to allow synergistic interpretation of ISDAC data. This period also provides an important contrast with the October 2004 Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment (M-PACE). Cloud property measurements obtained during ISDAC can be used to evaluate cloud simulations and evaluate cloud retrievals from M-PACE, and the aerosol measurements can be used to evaluate the aerosol retrievals. By running the cloud models with and without solar absorption by the aerosols, scientists can determine the semi-direct effect of aerosols on clouds.
Related aircraft studies by the National Aeronautics and Aerospace Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration occurred at the same time in the same study area. Research flights by the Convair-580 were coordinated with three NASA and one NOAA aircraft when possible, as well as with satellite overpasses. Take a virtual tour of the Convair-580 probes.
