The NASA Carbon Airborne Flux Experiment (CARAFE): instrumentation and methodology

The exchange of trace gases between the Earth's surface and atmosphere strongly influences atmospheric composition. Airborne eddy covariance can quantify surface fluxes at local to regional scales (1–1000 km), potentially helping to bridge gaps between top-down and bottom-up flux estimates and offering novel insights into biophysical and biogeochemical processes. The NASA Carbon Airborne Flux Experiment (CARAFE) utilizes the NASA C-23 Sherpa aircraft with a suite of commercial and custom instrumentation to acquire fluxes of carbon dioxide, methane, sensible heat, and latent heat at high spatial resolution. Key components of the CARAFE payload are described, including the meteorological, greenhouse gas, water vapor, and surface imaging systems. Continuous wavelet transforms deliver spatially resolved fluxes along aircraft flight tracks. Flux analysis methodology is discussed in depth, with special emphasis on quantification of uncertainties. Typical uncertainties in derived surface fluxes are 40–90 % for a nominal resolution of 2 km or 16–35 % when averaged over a full leg (typically 30–40 km). CARAFE has successfully flown two missions in the eastern US in 2016 and 2017, quantifying fluxes over forest, cropland, wetlands, and water. Preliminary results from these campaigns are presented to highlight the performance of this system.

The NASA Carbon Airborne Flux Experiment (CARAFE): Instrumentation and Methodology

The exchange of trace gases between the Earth’s surface and its atmosphere drives atmospheric composition. Airborne eddy covariance can provide observational constraints on surface fluxes at regional scales, helping to bridge the gap between top-down and bottom-up flux estimates and offering novel insights into biophysical and biogeochemical processes. The NASA Carbon Airborne Flux Experiment (CARAFE) utilizes the NASA C-23 Sherpa aircraft with a suite of commercial and custom instrumentation to acquire fluxes of carbon dioxide, methane, sensible heat, and latent heat at high spatial resolution. Key components of the CARAFE payload are described, including the meteorological, greenhouse gas, water vapor, and surface imaging systems. Continuous wavelet transforms deliver spatially-resolved fluxes along aircraft flight tracks. Flux analysis methodology is discussed in depth, with special emphasis on evaluation of uncertainties and vertical flux divergence. CARAFE has successfully flown two missions in the Eastern U.S. in 2016 and 2017, quantifying fluxes over forest, cropland, wetlands, and water. Results from these campaigns highlight the performance of this system and its potential to further our understanding of ecosystem exchange.