Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center

Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center
Name	Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center
Established	1989
Location	Hampton, Virginia
Parent org	National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Agency	NASA

Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center The Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center serves as a centralized NASA data archive and distribution node focused on atmospheric science, climate, and remote sensing datasets. It supports observational programs, model intercomparison projects, instrument teams, and field campaigns by curating datasets from satellites, aircraft, ground sites, and laboratory studies tied to programs led by NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Center for Atmospheric Research, and other federal and academic partners. The center underpins research used by investigators associated with Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ames Research Center, and international agencies like European Space Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Overview

The center functions as a data repository and distribution hub for atmospheric composition, radiative transfer, aerosol, cloud, ozone, and trace gas information generated by projects linked to Earth Observing System, A-Train, Aura, Terra, Aqua, and other observational platforms. It provides long-term stewardship compliant with policies from Office of Science and Technology Policy, Federal Data Strategy, and Committee on Earth Observation Satellites. The center interfaces with user communities spanning investigators funded by National Science Foundation, operational programs within NOAA, and global initiatives such as Global Climate Observing System and World Meteorological Organization activities.

History

The center originated amid expansions of NASA's Earth science data infrastructure in the late 20th century, aligning with missions from Landsat program and the Earth Observing System. It evolved to support instrument teams from sources including Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation and airborne campaigns like Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes and Studies of Emissions at Night. Institutional stewardship involved partnerships with Langley Research Center, Science Systems and Applications, Inc., and contractors experienced with Distributed Active Archive Centers. Over time the center adapted to community needs through participation in initiatives like Earth System Grid Federation, Obs4MIPs, and GEOSS exchanges.

Data Holdings and Services

The holdings encompass radiometric, spectroscopic, in situ, and modeled products: aerosol optical depth, cloud-property retrievals, trace-gas concentrations (ozone, CO, NOx, SO2), greenhouse gas columns, and surface flux estimates. Datasets originate from sensor suites including MODIS, MISR, OMI, TES, CALIPSO, and ground networks such as AERONET and Surface Radiation Budget Network. Services include metadata curation per ISO 19115, persistent identifiers aligned with Digital Object Identifier, format conversion to NetCDF and HDF5, quality flags consistent with CEOS protocols, and DOI minting per DataCite. The center supports community data products used in initiatives like Coupled Model Intercomparison Project and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments.

Instruments and Observational Platforms

Data ingested come from satellite instruments like MODIS, MISR, OMI, CALIOP, TES, and from aircraft platforms including ER-2, DC-8, P-3 Orion, and instrumented unmanned aerial systems used in campaigns such as SEAC4RS and ORACLES. Ground-based contributions derive from networks and observatories such as AERONET, ARM Climate Research Facility, Dobson spectrophotometer sites, and radiosonde launches coordinated with GCOS. Laboratory and field instruments include sunphotometers, lidar systems, Fourier-transform spectrometers, cavity ring-down spectrometers tied to teams at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Harvard University.

Research and Applications

Investigators draw on the center's archives for studies in aerosol–cloud–radiation interactions, stratospheric ozone recovery, air quality trends, and climate forcing attribution. Research using these data informs assessments by IPCC, regulatory analyses by Environmental Protection Agency, and operational forecasting improvements in National Weather Service models. Applications extend to aviation safety guidance from Federal Aviation Administration, greenhouse gas accounting for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and validation campaigns for new missions at European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites and Indian Space Research Organisation.

Data Access and Distribution

The center provides web-accessible portals, FTP and APIs, and supports Open Geospatial Consortium standards and machine-readable metadata to facilitate interoperability with portals such as Earthdata, Google Earth Engine, and Pangeo. Users are supported by documentation, user guides, and data access policies coordinated with NASA Open Data Initiative and U.S. National Archives and Records Administration guidelines. Distribution channels include thematic collections, time-series subscriptions, subset and granule services, and DOI-based citation mechanisms used by communities associated with Research Data Alliance.

Collaborations and Partnerships

Operational and research collaborations link the center with Langley Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, regional academic consortia including University of Virginia, Old Dominion University, and international partners such as ESA, JAXA, UK Space Agency, and CNES. Scientific coordination occurs through working groups in Aerosol Robotic Network, GEWEX, SPARC, and mission-specific teams for campaigns like HIPPO, START08, and ATom. Partnerships with data infrastructure projects include Earth Science Information Partners, EarthCube, and cloud-hosting collaborations with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform.

Category:NASA data centers