CRS ALOFT: Airborne Radar Observations of Thunderstorms

NASA's Cloud Radar System (CRS) ALOFT dataset contains calibrated radar measurements from the ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft. The data were collected during the 2023 ALOFT field campaign to study terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, gamma-ray glows, and validate satellite lightning sensors. Files include radar reflectivity, Doppler velocity, linear depolarization ratio, and normalized radar cross-section estimates in HDF-5 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing thunderstorm structure and microphysics based on calibrated radar reflectivity and Doppler velocity.
• Studying relationships between lightning activity and gamma-ray events using co-located radar and campaign observations.
• Validating satellite-based lightning detection from the ISS LIS and GLM instruments with high-resolution airborne radar data.
• Investigating ice crystal orientation and hydrometeor type using linear depolarization ratio measurements.

Strengths

• Data collected by a calibrated, research-grade radar system onboard a NASA high-altitude aircraft, providing detailed atmospheric profiles.
• Covers a specific, focused campaign period from June 15 to July 31, 2023, targeting high-energy thunderstorm events.
• Available on multiple authoritative platforms (Data.gov and NASA Earthdata), indicating established provenance and importance.

Limitations

• Column names and dataset size (row count, file size) are not specified in any source, limiting understanding of data structure and scale.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' on Data.gov but is 'None' on NASA Earthdata, creating a conflict for potential users.
• Metadata completeness is low; key details like author, specific geographic coverage, and processing level are absent.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected by the Cloud Radar System (CRS) instrument onboard the NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft during the ALOFT field campaign.

Time Range

June 15, 2023, through July 31, 2023

Freshness

2026-04-10 17:04:52.803961

Geography

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