AirHARP2 is an aircraft demonstration of the HARP2 instrument on the NASA PACE mission. It contains the same optics, calibration elements, and acquisition configurations as HARP2. AirHARP2 flew its debut flights in southern California from October to November 2023 with AirMSPI-2, a proxy polarimeter for the Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) mission. AirHARP2 is the polarimeter instrument in the AirHARP2 Suite, which also contains a VNIR imaging spectrometer, ultraviolet hyperspectral imaging radiometer, and a shortwave infrared imaging radiometer. These companion instruments simulate the spectral and angular response of the PACE Ocean Color Instrument (OCI). They also add additional capabilities beyond that is offered on PACE.
In fall 2024, AirHARP2 participated in the NASA PACE Post-launch Airborne Experiment (PACE-PAX) in southern California, USA. The primary goal of PACE-PAX is to validate the science and radiation products of the NASA PACE mission. The campaign involved over 20 research teams across remote sensing (ER-2), in-situ (Twin Otter C-190 research aircraft), and ocean (NOAA Shearwater vessel) disciplines. Each sortie was carefully constructed for cross-comparison with PACE-PAX components, PACE underflight, and pseudo-invariant calibration sites (PICS). The PACE-PAX campaign targeted observations of opportunity as well, such as wildfires, and extra hours were dedicated for validation of the EarthCARE climate satellite. AirHARP2 is one of six instruments on the ER-2, including RSP, SPEX Airborne, HSRL-2 Ocean, PICARD, and PRISM. Together, the last two instruments in the list are a proxy for the PACE Ocean Color Instrument (OCI).
Flight plans for each day, quicklooks, and ancillary data coming soon!