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Full catalog/CARVE_L1_FlightPath_1425
CARVE_L1_FlightPath_1425·v1·dataset

Flight paths of an Alaska research aircraft (CARVE)

CARVE: L1 Daily Flight Path Geolocation and Aircraft Position Data, Alaska, 2012-2015
land NASA ORNL_CLOUD Level 1A netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. The detailed flight track of a research aircraft over the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic: its position, time, height, and orientation (pitch, roll, heading), recorded every second.

How it's made. Logged in flight by the aircraft's onboard data system during the CARVE campaign between 2012 and 2015.

How & where you'd use it. A supporting dataset used to match the plane's exact location with the scientific measurements taken by other instruments on the same flights.

What's measured

SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › PLATFORM CHARACTERISTICS › FLIGHT DATA LOGS

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2012-05-23 → 2015-11-13
  • Measured byC-23 Sherpa (DADS)
  • Processing levelLevel 1A
  • Spatial extent-168.111, 58.8438, -131.754, 71.5622
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

This data set provides high-frequency geolocation, time, height, pitch, roll, and heading information for the C-23 Sherpa aircraft during airborne campaigns over the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic as part of the Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE). The data were collected in situ using the Digital Air Data System (DADS) onboard the aircraft and are presented at 1-second intervals throughout each flight. Flight campaigns took place from 2012 to 2015 between the months of March and November to enable investigation of both seasonal and inter-annual variability in atmospheric gas content. The measurements included in this data set are useful for matching aircraft position with the scientific data collected by other CARVE airborne instruments.

Get the data

carve_l1_flightpath_1425_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="CARVE_L1_FlightPath_1425",
    version="1",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from ORNL_CLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.