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Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

GoMACCS

Data

The GoMACCS field experiment took place in August/September 2006 in and around Houston, Texas. It was specifically designed to study the microphysical and macrophysical transformations that clouds may undergo when influenced by aerosol. The SSFR was installed on the CIRPAS Twin-Otter aircraft and on the NOAA research vessel “Ron Brown”. On the Twin-Otter, the usual configuration was implemented with one nadir and one zenith viewing optical inlet (lower and upper hemisphere of spectral irradiance from 350-2150 nm). On the Ron Brown, one optical inlet was used to measure downward spectral irradiance, another one for narrow field-of-view zenith spectral radiance. The Ron Brown sensors were horizontally stabilized.

For the Twin Otter, quicklooks of the SSFR data are available at links.

Our interests in this experiment are:

  1. Measurement of the combined effects of clouds, surface, and aerosols on solar irradiance
  2. Area-resolved surface albedo comparison retrieved from SSFR vs. the MODIS product
  3. 3-D radiative transfer model calculations using output from Graham Feingold’s LES model
  4. Closure on optical aerosol properties
  5. Relate absorbed irradiance to satellite products