CAMEX-3 Doppler Radar Reflectivity and Velocity Profiles for Tropical Cyclones

Florida and surrounding regions are the focus of this dataset containing plotted vertical profiles of convection from tropical cyclones. The NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft collected the data using its Doppler radar during the CAMEX-3 field campaign from August 5 to September 27, 1998. Data is provided as daily browse files in GIF format, representing radar reflectivity and Doppler velocity measurements.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical structure of convection within 1998 Atlantic tropical cyclones using reflectivity and velocity plots.
• Studying the evolution of storm features over the campaign period from August to September 1998.
• Validating satellite or ground-based radar retrievals against high-altitude aircraft radar observations.
• Researching relationships between radar reflectivity and Doppler velocity in tropical systems.

Strengths

• Data provides vertical profiles of convection, a key measurement for understanding storm dynamics.
• Covers a focused 54-day observation period during the peak of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season.
• Collected by a calibrated instrument (EDOP) mounted on NASA's high-altitude ER-2 aircraft, ensuring consistent platform and measurement conditions.
• Dataset is hosted on multiple authoritative platforms (Data.gov and NASA Earthdata), indicating established provenance and importance.

Limitations

• Dataset is 'browse-only', consisting of plotted GIF images rather than raw numerical data, limiting quantitative analysis.
• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' metadata, with dates ranging from 1998-09 27 to 2026-03-13.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Data collected by the ER-2 Doppler Radar (EDOP) mounted on the NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft during flight campaigns.

Time Range

1998-08-05 to 1998-09-27

Freshness

2026-03-13 05:00:23.049748

Geography

Operations based out of Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, targeting tropical cyclones in the Atlantic region.