CAMEX-3 MACAWS Airborne Wind and Backscatter Data for Hurricane Study

CAMEX-3 MACAWS V1 dataset contains airborne lidar measurements from the Third Convection and Moisture Experiment. The Global Hydrology Resource Center Distributed Active Archive Center (GHRC_DAAC) produced this data, capturing line-of-sight velocity, backscattered intensity, turbulence approximation, and complex covariance. Observations were gathered from 3 August 1998 through 22 September 1998 across the U.S., Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Western Atlantic Ocean.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical wind velocity and upper-level wind dynamics using line-of-sight velocity and wind dynamics data.
• Studying aerosol backscatter and atmospheric composition through backscattered intensity measurements.
• Investigating hurricane structure and energy transfer via turbulence approximation and complex covariance data.
• Validating numerical weather prediction models with coordinated, multi-platform observations from aircraft, radar, and radiosondes.

Strengths

• Data was collected during a coordinated multi-platform field campaign (CAMEX-3) involving research-quality radar, lightning, and radiosonde sites.
• Provides a focused temporal snapshot of hurricane conditions over a 51-day period in 1998.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA EarthData and Data.gov signals its recognized importance for atmospheric science.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on license information (other-license-specified vs. None) and last updated date (2026-03 13 vs. 1998-09-22).

Provenance

Source

Global Hydrology Resource Center Distributed Active Archive Center (GHRC_DAAC)

Collection Method

Gathered by the Multi-center Airborne Coherent Atmospheric Wind Sensor (MACAWS) lidar deployed on an aircraft.

Time Range

1998-08 03 to 1998-09-22

Freshness

2026-03-13 07:09:16.333929

Geography

U.S., Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Western Atlantic Ocean