BOREAS AFM-06: 35 GHz Cloud Radar GIF Images of Lower Atmosphere

NOAA/ETL's 35 GHz cloud-sensing radar captured a time series of GIF images showing the structure of the lower atmosphere. The data was collected in the Northern Study Area near the Old Jack Pine tower during the BOREAS project from July 16 to August 8, 1994. Companion files include an image inventory and example thumbnails.

Use Cases

• Analyzing cloud structure and evolution based on time-series radar imagery.
• Studying atmospheric turbulence and boundary-layer dynamics in a boreal forest region.
• Validating atmospheric models using ground-based radar observations from a specific field campaign.
• Creating visualizations of lower atmospheric features from historical radar data.

Strengths

• Provides a focused, high-temporal-resolution record of atmospheric structure over a 24-day period in 1994.
• Data is associated with the well-documented BOREAS project, providing context for its collection.
• Includes companion metadata (image inventory) to aid discovery and use.

Limitations

• Key metadata is missing or conflicting: row/size counts are unknown, and the last update date conflicts between 1994 and 2026.
• The dataset's age (1994) may limit its utility for studying contemporary atmospheric conditions.
• Specific radar parameters (e.g., reflectivity, Doppler velocity) are only implied by tags, not explicitly described in available metadata.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Environmental Technology Laboratory (NOAA/ETL), BOREAS AFM-06 team.

Collection Method

Data gathered by a ground-based 35 GHz cloud-sensing radar operated in the field.

Time Range

1994-07-16 to 1994-08-08

Freshness

Last updated date conflicts: one source states 1994-08-08, others state 2026-03-13.

Geography

BOREAS Northern Study Area (NSA), near the Old Jack Pine (OJP) tower.