Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-241
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-241
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
24 Jul 2026
| 24 Jul 2026
Status: this preprint is currently under review for the journal ESSD.
The Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction Experiment (ARCSIX) airborne campaign dataset
Abstract. The NASA airborne Arctic Radiation-Cloud-aerosol-Surface-Interaction Experiment (ARCSIX) collected a unique data set providing a near-simultaneous characterization of radiative fluxes, surface, cloud, and aerosol particle properties to address science questions on the surface radiation budget, the processes governing the cloud lifecycle, atmospheric composition, and the interactions between the surface and atmosphere. The overarching goal of ARCSIX was to quantify the contributions of surface, clouds, aerosol particles, and precipitation to summer sea ice melt. ARCSIX consisted of two deployments in 2024 (Spring: 2024-05-28 through 2024-06-13 and Summer: 2024-07-25 through 2024-08-15) to capture pre- and post-melt conditions. ARCSIX provided coordinated remote sensing and in situ sampling using three aircraft in a high-flyer/low-flyer configuration. The NASA G-III served as the high-flying remote sensing platform with two lower flying in situ and near-target remote sensor observing platforms, NASA P-3B and SPEC Inc. Learjet. ARCSIX data are well-suited to improve satellite remote sensing capabilities in the Arctic. ARCSIX included an array of sea ice mass balance buoys deployed in the Lincoln Sea that were regularly overflown during the campaign. ARCSIX research flights spanned the Baffin Bay, Lincoln Sea, west and north of the Canadian Archipelago, and the Greenland north and northeast coasts. During the spring deployment, 19 research flights took place covering 114 flight hours: 10 flights and 68 hours by the P-3B and nine flights and 46 hours by the G-III. During summer, 24 research flights covered 136 flight hours: nine flights and 75 hours by the P-3B, five flights and 26 hours by the G-III, and 10 flights and 35 hours by the Learjet. A total of 13 coordinated flights with 2+ aircraft were carried out. This paper describes the ARCSIX flight strategy, instrumentation, and data set access, and usage details. ARCSIX data are publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5067/SUBORBITAL/ARCSIX/DATA001.
How to cite. Taylor, P. C., Sorooshian, A., Ueyama, R., Schmidt, S., Abboud, I., Allison, Q., Barry, K., Becker, S., Bender, H. A., Bennett, J. R., Blair, J. B., Bohn, N., Boisvert, L., Brown, M. D., Bruintjes, R., Bucholtz, A., Buzanowicz, M., Cairns, B., Calì Quaglia, F., Chemyakin, E., Chen, B., Chen, G., Chen, H., Chen, Y.-W., Cheng, Z., China, S., Chirica, D., Choi, Y., Colarco, P., Collister, B., Crosbie, E., Cross, M. J., Daniels, J., DeMott, P., DiGangi, J. P., di Sarra, A. G., Diskin, G. S., Dolinar, E. K., Edwards, E.-L., Ephraim, S., Evangeliou, N., Foskinis, R., Gallo, F., Gao, L., Gómez-Amo, J. L., Gonzalez, D., Groot Zwaaftink, C., Gupta, P., Heckman, I., Hendrickson, M., Hilario, M. R. A., Hirata, K., Hofton, M., Holen, A. L., Im, U., Khan, A. L., Kahn, R., Korolev, A. V., Kreidenweis, S., Krumpen, T., Kurtz, N., Lait, L., Lamkin, B., Landy, J., Lata, N. N., Lawson, P., LeBlanc, S., Leavor, S., Li, J., Markus, T., Maring, H., Massling, A. H., Mavis, C., McGinnity, F., Meyer, K., Mojica, G., Moore, R. H., Morris, P., Muscari, G., Nataraja, V., Nehrir, A. R., Nenes, A., Nowottnick, E. P., Ottaviani, M., Parker, C., Patnaude, R., Perez, M., Perkins, R. J., Peterson, C., Petty, A., Phothisane, S., Polashenski, C., Pratt, K. A., Preisler, K. M., Prytherch, J., Rabine, D., Redemann, J., Ryoo, J.-M., Schlosser, J. S., Selimovic, V., Shook, M. A., Silverman, M., Skov, H., Smirnov, A., Soloff, C., Solomon, A., Stamnes, S., Takeishi, A., Thompson, D. R., Thornhill, K. L., Tilling, R., Tjernström, M., Tosco, M., Valdelomar, P. C., Van Gilst, D., Wang, J., Wang, Z., Wasilewski, A., Wendisch, M., Wilder, B., Winstead, E. L., Wu, A., Xian, P., Zamora, L. M., Zhang, J., Zhang, L., Zhang, L., Ziemba, L., and Zuidema, P.: The Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction Experiment (ARCSIX) airborne campaign dataset, Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-241, in review, 2026.
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Data sets
ARCSIX Suborbital data projects ARCSIX Team https://doi.org/10.5067/SUBORBITAL/ARCSIX/DATA001
Latest update: 24 Jul 2026
Patrick C. Taylor
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Armin Sorooshian
Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Rei Ueyama
Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Sebastian Schmidt
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Ihab Abboud
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto. ON, M3H 5T4, Canada
Quincy Allison
Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Kevin Barry
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
Sebastian Becker
Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA
Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne, 50969 Cologne, Germany
Holly A. Bender
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91001, USA
Joseph R. Bennett
Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
James B. Blair
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Niklas Bohn
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91001, USA
Linette Boisvert
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Matthew D. Brown
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Roelof Bruintjes
NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), 1850 Table Mesa Dr, Boulder, CO 80305
Anthony Bucholtz
Department of Meteorology, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USA
Megan Buzanowicz
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
ADNET Systems Inc., Bethesda, Maryland
Brian Cairns
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY
Filippo Calì Quaglia
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, 00147 Rome, Italy
Eduard Chemyakin
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
Gao Chen
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Hong Chen
Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Yu-Wen Chen
Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Zezhen Cheng
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA 99352, USA
Swarup China
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA 99352, USA
Dan Chirica
Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Yonghoon Choi
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Peter Colarco
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Brian Collister
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Ewan Crosbie
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
now at: Urban Sky, Denver, CO 80216
Maurice J. Cross
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Janet Daniels
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Analytical Mechanics Associates, Hampton, VA, 23666
Paul DeMott
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
Joshua P. DiGangi
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Alcide Giorgio di Sarra
Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Frascati, 00044, Italy
Glenn S. Diskin
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Erica K. Dolinar
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, CA 93943, USA
Eva-Lou Edwards
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Samuel Ephraim
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33149, USA
Nikolaos Evangeliou
Department for Atmospheric and Climate Research (ATMOS), Stiftelsen NILU (former Norwegian Institute for Air Research), 2007 Kjeller, Norway
Romanos Foskinis
EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Francesca Gallo
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, OK 73072, USA
José Luis Gómez-Amo
Solar Radiation Group, University of Valencia, Burjassot, Spain
Daisy Gonzalez
Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Christine Groot Zwaaftink
Department for Atmospheric and Climate Research (ATMOS), Stiftelsen NILU (former Norwegian Institute for Air Research), 2007 Kjeller, Norway
Pawan Gupta
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Ivan Heckman
EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Michael Hendrickson
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Autonomic Integra LLC, Bethesea, MD, USA
Miguel Ricardo A. Hilario
Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
now at: Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Ken Hirata
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Michelle Hofton
Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
Andrew L. Holen
Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Aarhus University, Department of Environmental Science, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark
Alia L. Khan
Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department, Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado – Boulder, CO, USA
Ralph Kahn
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Alexei V. Korolev
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto. ON, M3H 5T4, Canada
Sonia Kreidenweis
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
Thomas Krumpen
Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrumfu¨rPolar-und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany
Nathan Kurtz
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Leslie Lait
Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Bradley Lamkin
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, OK 73072, USA
Jack Landy
University of Tromsø: The Arctic University of Norway, Norway
Nurun Nahar Lata
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA 99352, USA
Paul Lawson
SPEC Incorporated, Boulder, Colorado, USA 80301
Samuel LeBlanc
Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Sean Leavor
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
ADNET Systems Inc., Bethesda, Maryland
Jing Li
Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering, Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA
Thorsten Markus
NASA Headquarters, Washington DC, 20546, USA
Hal Maring
NASA Headquarters, Washington DC, 20546, USA
Andreas H. Massling
Aarhus University, Department of Environmental Science, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark
Camille Mavis
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
Flynn McGinnity
School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
Kerry Meyer
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Gabriel Mojica
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
ADNET Systems Inc., Bethesda, Maryland
Richard H. Moore
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Parker Morris
SPEC Incorporated, Boulder, Colorado, USA 80301
Giovanni Muscari
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, 00147 Rome, Italy
Vikas Nataraja
Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Amin R. Nehrir
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Athanasios Nenes
EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Aarhus University, Department of Environmental Science, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark
FORTH, Patras, Greece
Edward P. Nowottnick
NASA Headquarters, Washington DC, 20546, USA
Matteo Ottaviani
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY
Terra Research Inc, Hoboken, NJ 07030
Chelsea Parker
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland
Ryan Patnaude
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
Michael Perez
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33149, USA
Russell J. Perkins
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
Colten Peterson
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research (GESTAR) II, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
Alek Petty
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland
Stevie Phothisane
Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Chris Polashenski
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hanover, NH, USA
Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
Kerri A. Pratt
Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
Kayla M. Preisler
Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
John Prytherch
Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
David Rabine
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Jens Redemann
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, OK 73072, USA
Ju-Mee Ryoo
Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Joseph S. Schlosser
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Hampton University, Center for Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Hampton, VA, USA
Vanessa Selimovic
Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
Michael A. Shook
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Morgan Silverman
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Analytical Mechanics Associates, Hampton, VA, 23666
Henrik Skov
Aarhus University, Department of Environmental Science, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark
Alexander Smirnov
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD, USA
Cassidy Soloff
Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Amy Solomon
Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA
Snorre Stamnes
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Azusa Takeishi
SPEC Incorporated, Boulder, Colorado, USA 80301
now at: NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), 1850 Table Mesa Dr, Boulder, CO 80305
David R. Thompson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91001, USA
K. Lee Thornhill
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Analytical Mechanics Associates, Hampton, VA, 23666
Rachel Tilling
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland
Michael Tjernström
Department of Meteorology and Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Monica Tosco
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, 00147 Rome, Italy
Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Mestre, 30172, Italy
Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Rome, 00123, Italy
Pedro C. Valdelomar
Solar Radiation Group, University of Valencia, Burjassot, Spain
David Van Gilst
Earth Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Jian Wang
Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering, Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA
Zhien Wang
School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
Andrzej Wasilewski
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY
Autonomic Integra LLC, Bethesea, MD, USA
Manfred Wendisch
Institute for Meteorology, Leipzig University, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Brent Wilder
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91001, USA
Edward L. Winstead
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Albert Wu
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
ADNET Systems Inc., Bethesda, Maryland
Peng Xian
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, CA 93943, USA
Lauren M. Zamora
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland
Jiaoshi Zhang
Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering, Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA
Lei Zhang
Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering, Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis; St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA
Aarhus University, Department of Environmental Science, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark
Luke Ziemba
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
Paquita Zuidema
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33149, USA
Short summary
This article summarizes the data sets collected during the Arctic Radiation Cloud aerosol Sea ice Interaction eXperiment (ARCSIX), NASA's most comprehensive Arctic field campaign to date. The overarching goal was to quantify the contributions of surface, clouds, aerosol particles, and precipitation to summer sea ice melt. This paper describes the ARCSIX implementation including the flight strategy, instruments, complementary data sets, access, and usage details.
This article summarizes the data sets collected during the Arctic Radiation Cloud aerosol Sea...
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