Airborne Microwave Radiometer Data for Precipitation Studies

Data from the 2011 Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) collected by the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) instrument. The dataset provides passive microwave imagery across four frequencies (10.7, 19.35, 37.1, and 85.5 GHz) in two polarizations, supporting the validation of satellite precipitation measurements. It was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-based precipitation retrievals from missions like GPM using high-resolution airborne microwave brightness temperatures.
• Studying the microphysical structure of midlatitude convective cloud systems via multi-frequency passive microwave signatures.
• Analyzing land surface or oceanic processes that emit microwave radiation detectable at the 10.7 to 85.5 GHz frequencies.
• Comparing vertical (Vpol) and horizontal (Hpol) polarization data to infer particle shape and size distributions within precipitation systems.

Strengths

• Provides data from four specific microwave frequencies (10.7, 19.35, 37.1, 85.5 GHz) critical for precipitation studies.
• Features dual polarization (Vpol and Hpol) measurements, enabling analysis of scattering and emission properties.
• Collected as part of a coordinated field campaign (MC3E) designed for satellite ground validation.

Limitations

• Key technical details like row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided on any platform.
• Conflicting last-updated dates exist between sources (2011-06-01 on NASA Earthdata and 2026-03 13 on Data.gov).

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Airborne remote sensing via the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) instrument.

Time Range

2011

Freshness

2026 03 13 02:27:06.757338

Geography

Midlatitude continental region, specific to the MC3E campaign.