EXRAD Airborne Radar Data for Atlantic Coast Snowstorms

IMPACTS field campaign data contains radar reflectivity and Doppler velocity estimates from the EXRAD instrument onboard a NASA ER-2 aircraft. This dataset covers three winter seasons of deployments from January 25, 2020, through March 2, 2023, targeting snowstorms over the U.S. Atlantic Coast. The campaign was conducted by NASA to study snowband formation, microphysics, and improve snowfall prediction models.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial organization of snowbands using radar reflectivity maps.
• Studying particle fall speeds and air motions within storms via Doppler velocity estimates.
• Validating satellite-based snowfall retrieval algorithms with high-altitude airborne observations.
• Investigating microphysical growth processes by correlating radar features with in-situ particle data from other campaign instruments.
• Examining the temporal evolution of winter storm structures over the U.S. Atlantic Coast.

Strengths

• Data collection spans three consecutive winter seasons (2020-2023), providing multi-year observations.
• Measurements are from a high-altitude research aircraft, offering a synoptic view of storm systems.
• The dataset is hosted on multiple NASA-affiliated platforms, indicating formal curation and archival.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, file sizes, and a complete column list are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last update date, listing both 2023-03-02 and 2026-03-13.
• The license is ambiguously noted as 'other-license-specified' or 'None', requiring user verification.

Provenance

Source

NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft, EXRAD instrument.

Collection Method

Airborne radar observations collected during the IMPACTS field campaign.

Time Range

January 25, III 2020 to March 2, 2023

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:44:36.391533

Geography

U.S. Atlantic Coast region during snowstorm events.