Data: FIRE/ACE

Campaign Summary

CAR Data Summary

CAR Mission (Flight) Pages
(Click on flight number or map to load mission page)

Flight # 1751   1998-05-20 No Image Available	Flight # 1752   1998-05-21	Flight # 1753   1998-05-23
Flight # 1754   1998-05-27	Flight # 1755   1998-05-28	Flight # 1756   1998-05-29
Flight # 1757   1998-05-30	Flight # 1758   1998-06-01	Flight # 1759   1998-06-02
Flight # 1760   1998-06-03	Flight # 1761   1998-06-05	Flight # 1762   1998-06-06
Flight # 1763   1998-06-07	Flight # 1764   1998-06-09	Flight # 1765   1998-06-11
Flight # 1766   1998-06-13	Flight # 1767   1998-06-04	Flight # 1768   2000-09-18
Flight # 1769   1998-06-19	Flight # 1770   1998-06-22	Flight # 1771   1998-06-23
Flight # 1772   1998-06-24

Campaign Objective
FIRE, the First ISCCP (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project) Regional Experiment, went to the Arctic to study a variety of Arctic cloud systems under spring and summer conditions. A team of national and international scientists conducted the FIRE Arctic Cloud Experiment (ACE) in a two-phase field campaign, starting in April, 1998, and a second phase in July, 1998.

The scientific objectives of FIRE/ACE are to study impact of Arctic clouds on radiation exchange between surface, atmosphere, and space, and the influence of surface characteristics of sea ice, leads, and ice melt ponds on these clouds. FIRE/ACE will attempt to document, understand, and predict the Arctic cloud-radiation feedbacks, including changes in cloud fraction and vertical distribution, water vapor cloud content, cloud particle concentration and size, and cloud phase as atmospheric temperature and chemical composition change. FIRE/ACE uses the data to focus on improving current climate model simulations of the Arctic climate, especially with respect to clouds and their effects on the surface energy budget. In addition, FIRE/ACE addresses a number of scientific questions dealing with radiation, cloud microphysics, and atmospheric chemistry.