Large-scale hydrological variability can affect society in profound ways; floods and droughts, for example, often cause major damage and hardship. A recent gathering of hydrologists at a symposium to honor the career of Professor Eric Wood motivates the present survey of recent research on this variability. The surveyed literature and the illustrative examples provided in the paper show that research into hydrological variability continues to be strong, vibrant, and multifaceted.

For 30 years, a Canadian research team has used an atmospheric research aircraft in measurement campaigns to improve our understanding of the controls on land-surface fluxes. The vertical flux of sensible and latent heat, momentum, and several trace gases were measured, along with supporting data. We document the data collected from 1987 to 2011, provide technical details of the measurement campaigns, present interesting results, and describe our approach to make the data publicly accessible.