Southern Ocean Cloud, Aerosol and Microplastic Data from the 2023 Ross Sea Antarctic Voyage

The Southern Ocean is one of the most pristine regions in the world. Climate models have difficulty simulating clouds and aerosol in this region leading to large radiative biases and errors in climate change projections. Here we report novel measurements of aerosol, airborne microplastics and clouds made on the TAN2302 voyage of RV Tangaroa from Wellington, New Zealand to the northwestern Ross Sea, Antarctica in austral summer 2023. The voyage was carried out from 16 January to 23 February 2023. The complied data set includes measurements from a range of instruments including 1) meteorological conditions, 2) aerosol number, size and chemical composition, 3) airborne microplastic concentration and composition, and 4) remotely sensed observations of clouds. The data sets reported here provide useful information for climate model evaluation and development, and a benchmark of atmospheric microplastic pollution over the Southern Ocean.