NASA CPEX Airborne Lidar Wind Profiles Over Tropical Waters

DAWN lidar data captures vertical wind profiles from a NASA DC-8 aircraft during the 2017 Convective Processes Experiment. The campaign conducted 16 missions over the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico, deploying a suite of instruments including nearly 300 dropsondes for validation. This dataset provides a unique observational record for studying convection life cycles in tropical environments.

Use Cases

• Assimilating vertical wind profiles from DAWN lidar and dropsonde measurements into numerical weather prediction models.
• Analyzing wind structure evolution across phases of scattered and organized deep convection.
• Validating satellite-derived wind products or model simulations of tropical storm environments.
• Studying boundary-layer and upper-level wind interactions over ocean surfaces.

Strengths

• Data is calibrated/validated by nearly 300 high-resolution dropsonde profiles deployed during the campaign.
• Covers 16 distinct flight missions targeting varied phenomena including undisturbed conditions, scattered convection, and a tropical storm.
• Provides a unique, coordinated set of wind, temperature, and humidity observations from multiple airborne instruments.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are not provided on any platform.
• Conflicting last updated dates: datagov lists 2026-03 -13 (future date), while nasa_earthdata lists 2017-06-25.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Airborne measurements from the Doppler Aerosol WiNd (DAWN) lidar and supporting instruments aboard a NASA DC-8 aircraft.

Time Range

25 May – 24 June 2017

Freshness

2026-03-13 03:24:11.466008

Geography

Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, based out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL.