High resolution atmospheric measurements during low-level horizontal flight leg SP50317h05 with POLAR 5

The data set consists of high resolution airborne measurements that were obtained mainly over Svalbard and near the sea ice edge north of Svalbard on three days in March 2013 during the campaign "SpringTime Atmospheric Boundary Layer Experiment (STABLE). STABLE was led by the Alfred Wegener Institue (AWI) and by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI). The measurements were performed using the POLAR 5 research aircraft, where all research flights of 5-6 hours duration started and ended at Longyearbyen airport. During STABLE, observations focused on the vertical structure of the lower troposphere as well as boundary layer modifications, e.g. during marine cold-air outbreaks and by convection over leads in sea ice. The data set presented here predominantly consists of measurements that were obtained over the Wijdefjorden, which is a North-South oriented fjord with a length of more than 100km in the northern part of Spitsbergen. The measurements were carried out to study the boundary layer structure in the fjord as well as for analyses of the role of the topography on the atmospheric conditions. In its southern part, the fjord was covered by land-fast sea ice until about 72.5km north of the fjord's head. In its northern part, there was open water.