Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment

FLUXNET is a global network of eddy covariance flux towers. Each tower is equipped with gas sensors that continuously measure the fluxes of trace gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor, between the land surface and the atmosphere. These towers also include meteorological sensors that measure air temperature, precipitation, wind, radiation, and soil temperature. FLUXNET currently has over 250 flux tower sites worldwide across vegetation types such as tundra, tropical, forest, and grasslands.

The Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer—Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG) is an airborne imaging spectrometer developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It captures visible and infrared imagery primarily for terrestrial ecology research. It operates from 380 to 2510 nm with a spectral resolution of 5 nm. It has a horizontal resolution of 8 m and a swath width of 4 km at an altitude of 8 km. Its measurement frequency is 100 Hz. It was designed to replace the AVIRIS Classic (AVIRIS-C).

The NEON Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) is an airborne remote sensing instrument suite operated by NSF’s National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). It conducts airborne surveys to collect land cover observations and monitor ecological structure and chemical changes. The NEON AOP includes three instruments: a discrete and full-waveform lidar, an imaging spectrometer, and a high-resolution digital camera. The lidar detects backscatter at 1064 nm to generate three-dimensional maps of topographic features. The imaging spectrometer operates in the visible to near-infrared range (380-2510 nm) to capture images for land cover classification and vegetation analysis. Both the lidar and imaging spectrometer have a spatial resolution of 1 meter. The digital camera captures high-resolution (0.1 m) imagery to provide contextual information alongside the lidar and hyperspectral imagery.

The Goddards’ LiDAR Hyperspectral & Thermal Imager (G-LiHT) is a portable, airborne imaging system developed at Goddard Space Flight Center. It uses multiple sensors to simultaneously map the composition, structure, and function of terrestrial ecosystems. G-LiHT includes a scanning lidar, a profiling lidar, an irradiance spectrometer, an imaging spectrometer, and a thermal camera. The scanning lidar operates at 1550 nm with a swath width of 387 m, while the profiling lidar operates at 905 nm. The irradiance spectrometer has a spectral range of 350-1,100 nm and an acquisition rate of 1 Hz, whereas the imaging spectrometer covers 420-950 nm at 50 Hz. The thermal camera covers 8-14 μm, has a swath width of 173 m, and an acquisition rate of 25 Hz. G-LiHT data have a spatial resolution of 1 meter.

The Flugzeug Synthetic Aperture Radar (F-SAR) is an airborne radar developed and operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). F-SAR provides radar imagery at five polarimetric frequencies spanning the X-, C-, S-, L-, and P-bands. It has a resolution of 0.25 to 4 meters, depending on the operating frequency band. It has a swath width of 1 to 5 km and a maximum operating altitude of 6,100 meters above sea level. F-SAR is operated on DLR’s DO228 aircraft.

The AirMOSS P-band Radar is an airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It is based on the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) L-band radar and has been part of the UAVSAR instrument suite since the AirMOSS investigation concluded in 2015. AirMOSS collects radar data to measure root-zone soil moisture, permafrost, underground structures, and subsurface changes. It operates in the 280-440 MHz frequency range and can detect features up to 1.2 m below the land surface. AirMOSS has a slant-range resolution of 7 m and a range swath width of 7 km at a nominal altitude of 12,500 m.

The Chlorophyll Fluorescence Imaging Spectrometer (CFIS) is an airborne passive spectrometer developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It was designed to validate solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) measurements from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite. CFIS is an imaging grating spectrometer that measures SIF in the 737-772 nm spectral range. CFIS data are typically gridded to a spatial resolution of 30 m for comparison with satellite observations. It has a swath width of 905 m and an across-track pixel size of 3.5 m at a flight altitude of 5 km above ground level.

The Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS) is an airborne imaging lidar developed and operated by Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). It produces topographic maps and characterizes the vertical structure of vegetation and ice. It operates at a wavelength of 1064 nm and supports pulse repetition rates up to 500 Hz. LVIS has a swath width of 2 km and a horizontal resolution of 20 m at a flight altitude of 10 km.

The Air Surface Water and Ocean Topography (AirSWOT) is an airborne instrument suite developed to support calibration of the SWOT satellite mission. AirSWOT consists of three components: Ka-band SWOT Phenomenology Airborne Radar (KaSPAR), Digital Camera System, and Precision Inertial Motion Units (IMU). The KaSPAR — the main element of AirSWOT — collects across-track interferometric data to produce digital elevation models over land and water surfaces. It operates at 35.75 GHz and has a spatial resolution of 3.6 m.

Generic-Atmospheric State (Gen-AtmsState) refers to non-specific instruments on a platform that measure atmospheric state parameters. These are typically in situ sensors that measure temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind speed and direction. Types of atmospheric state instruments include thermometers, hygrometers, barometers, and anemometers.

The Picarro gas concentration analyzer is an in situ airborne or ground-based sensor manufactured by Picarro, Inc. It uses Wavelength-Scanned Cavity Ring Spectroscopy (WS-CRDS) to measure trace gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and water vapor. For carbon dioxide measurements, the laser operates at 1603 nm, while 1651 nm is used for methane and water vapor measurements. Picarro has a typical sampling time of 2.5 seconds. Depending on the model, Picarro can also provide measurements of carbon isotopes in gas concentrations.

The Programmable Flask Package (PFP) is an airborne whole-air sampler that includes twelve glass flasks for collecting air samples. These samples are analyzed to monitor chemical species such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrocarbons, and chlorofluorocarbons. Each flask is sampled for about 2 minutes and then pressurized to 40 PSI. PFP can also be used for surface-based whole-air sampling.

The Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS) is an airborne imaging lidar developed and operated by Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). It produces topographic maps and characterizes the vertical structure of vegetation and ice. It operates at a wavelength of 1064 nm and supports pulse repetition rates up to 500 Hz. LVIS has a swath width of 2 km and a horizontal resolution of 20 m at a flight altitude of 10 km.

The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer - 3rd Generation (AVIRIS-3) is an airborne imaging spectrometer developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). AVIRIS-3 is the third version of the NASA AVIRIS spectrometers, following AVIRIS-C and AVIRIS-NG. It features a higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), finer spatial sampling, and a wider swath than previous versions. It provides radiance and reflectance measurements across the 380-2500 nm spectral range at a 7.5 nm spectral resolution. AVIRIS-3 operates at a measurement frequency of 200 Hz and offers spatial sampling from 0.5 to 13 meters.

Riegl Airborne Laser Scanners are airborne lidar systems produced by Riegl Laser Measurement Systems. They are commonly used for topographic mapping of glacial, agricultural, urban, and geological regions. Operating primarily in the near-infrared wavelength, they can function at altitudes up to about 14,000 feet, with a field of view of approximately 60 to 75 degrees, and measurement rates of around 3 MHz, depending on the lidar system.

The Multi-sample Aerosol Collection System (MACS) is an in situ airborne aerosol sampling system. It consists of a two-stage impact collector that collects aerosol particles on electron microscope grids for further analysis. MACS can collect particles as small as 0.02 μm at altitudes up to 60,000 feet. MACS can collect approximately 24 samples per flight.