AMPR IMPACTS: Airborne Microwave Radiometry for Snowstorm Study

East Coast snowstorms are the focus of this dataset of brightness temperature measurements collected by the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) onboard the NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft. It provides multi-frequency microwave imagery with high spatial and temporal resolution for deriving cloud, precipitation, water vapor, and surface properties. Data files are available from December 16, 2019, through March 2, 2023, in netCDF-4 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing cloud and precipitation structure based on multi-frequency microwave brightness temperature measurements.
• Deriving surface properties and water vapor content from high-resolution airborne radiometry.
• Studying the microphysics of East Coast snowstorms using data from a dedicated NASA Earth Venture campaign.
• Validating satellite-based microwave observations with high-resolution airborne measurements.

Strengths

• Data originates from a NASA Earth Venture program campaign, the first comprehensive study of East Coast snowstorms in 30 years.
• Covers a multi-year time range from December 2019 to March 2023.
• Provides high spatial and temporal resolution multi-frequency microwave imagery.

Limitations

• Column names and specific data structure are not provided in the available metadata.
• Conflicting license information is present ('other-license-specified' vs. 'None').
• Dataset size and row counts are unknown.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected by the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) onboard the NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft.

Time Range

December 16, 2019, through March 2, 2023

Freshness

Last updated March 13, 2026 (datagov).

Geography

Atlantic Coast of the United States (East Coast snowstorms).