Arctic aerosol and meteorological observations using airborne and ground-based systems in spring 2024

Abstract. A comprehensive observational data set of the vertical and horizontal distribution of aerosol particles and meteorological parameters is presented. Data were obtained from an Arctic field campaign conducted with three different measurement platforms deployed at distinct locations in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, during the transition period from spring to summer between 19 May 2024 and 8 June 2024. The uncrewed aerial system ALADINA was used for vertical and horizontal profiling in the lowermost 930 m above sea level, covering 38 measurement flights including 143 vertical profiles and 62 horizontal flight legs at different constant altitudes. The tethered balloon system BELUGA performed 90 vertical profiles up to a maximum altitude of 1.3 km above sea level. Together, the airborne platforms provide information on particle number concentrations, including ultrafine particles with diameters below 20 nm, size distribution from the nucleation to coarse mode, and meteorological parameters (i.e. temperature, humidity, pressure, wind direction, wind speed, and short-wave irradiance). In addition, a surface flux gradient system was applied for the calculation of turbulent fluxes of sensible heat and vertical motion of particles, covering a sampling time of about 214 h. An illustrative case study is shown for 3 June 2024, highlighting the spatial variability of aerosol particles, which is strongly influenced by the stability of the polar atmospheric boundary layer. The high‐resolution observations enable the study of processes of aerosol–cloud interactions, new particle formation and lead to a generally improved understanding of the spatial distribution of Arctic aerosols. The data of all three measurement platforms are publicly available on the world data centre PANGAEA as described in the data availability section.