BalNeO_REAS_Data is the radiosonde data collected during the Rapid Balloon Experiments for Sudden Aerosol Injection in the Stratosphere (REAS) mission as part of the Balloon Network for stratospheric aerosol Observations (BalNeO) suborbital campaign. Data collection for this product is complete.

The stratospheric aerosol layer is an important component of the Earth’s climate system, with global implications on surface temperature and the hydrological cycle. Due to its high variability, regular observations are needed to understand the layer’s different sources. While optical properties have been monitored via satellite observations for more than four decades, these measurements suffer from limited vertical, horizontal and temporal resolutions and require several assumptions to derive aerosol concentrations. In Situ measurements have focused mostly on the Northern Hemisphere, with a lack of coverage over the tropical region.

The BalNeO suborbital campaign aims to fill those gaps by bringing together research laboratories from the United States, Brazil, France, and India to profile aerosol concentration from the ground to the stratosphere. BalNeO features observations from several different field campaigns, which provide insights on stratospheric aerosol variability and its impact on climate. BalNeO is a heritage of balloon deployments across the world funded by the Upper Atmospheric Composition Observation program at NASA Langley Research Center.