AMPR Brightness Temperature Data from KWAJEX Campaign

Data from 30 July to 14 September 1999 collected by the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) during the First Kwajalein Experiment (KWAJEX). This dataset provides brightness temperature measurements at four microwave frequencies (10.7, 19.35, 37.1, and 85.5 GHz) for studying rain cloud systems. It was created by NASA to serve as ground validation for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite instruments.

Use Cases

• Validating brightness temperature retrievals from the TRMM satellite's microwave instruments.
• Analyzing the relationship between microwave frequency signatures and rain cloud system properties.
• Studying temporal evolution of tropical precipitation events during the KWAJEX field campaign.
• Investigating the vertical structure of clouds and precipitation using multi-frequency microwave data.

Strengths

• Provides temporally continuous data from a dedicated field campaign spanning over six weeks (30 July - 14 September 1999).
• Contains measurements at four specific microwave frequencies (10.7, 19.35, 37.1, 85.5 GHz) chosen for precipitation studies.
• Serves a defined purpose as ground validation for a major NASA satellite mission (TRMM).
• Dataset is hosted and maintained by NASA, an authoritative source for Earth science data.

Limitations

• No column names, row counts, or file sizes are provided across any source, limiting technical assessment.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date (1999-09-14 vs. 2026-03-13), raising uncertainty about metadata maintenance.
• Data format details are limited to BIN, ISO, PDF, which may require specialized tools for processing.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected by the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) instrument deployed during the KWAJEX field campaign.

Time Range

1999-07 30 to 1999-09-14

Freshness

2026-03-13 18:14:27.043187

Geography

Kwajalein region (implied by KWAJEX campaign).