4STAR hyperspectral sunphotometry measurements during the Oil Sands 2018 campaign near Fort McMurray, Alberta

In 2018, the Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) in close collaboration with the National Research Council (NRC) planned and conducted an intensive airborne oil sands measurement campaign (OSMC) based out of Fort McMurray, Alberta. The campaign was conducted in two phases: Phase I (April 3-15) and Phase II (May 28-July 5). In preparation for the OSMC the NRC, together with NASA, have integrated a novel 4STAR sunphotometer on board the Convair-580 for the measurements of aerosols and trace gases. The 4STAR primary capability is to supply hyperspectral measurements of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) - the most important aerosol radiative parameter indicative of the total column vertical extinction due to aerosols. The main purposes of this report are to describe the performance of the 4STAR during the OSMC, discuss data availability statistics and provide a first look at some of the initial results.