AMPR OLYMPEX: Airborne Microwave Brightness Temperatures for Precipitation Validation
Updated 1mo ago
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Available on 2 platforms
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Description
From November 9 to December 15, 2015, the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) collected this dataset from the high-altitude ER-2 aircraft during the Olympic Mountains Experiment (OLYMPEX). It provides passive microwave brightness temperatures at 10.7, 19.35, 37.1, and 85.5 GHz, which can be used to derive cloud, precipitation, water vapor, and wind properties. The primary goal was to validate rain and snow measurements in midlatitude frontal systems moving from ocean to coast to mountains.
Use Cases
Validating satellite-based precipitation estimates from the GPM mission using coincident airborne microwave measurements.
Developing or testing algorithms to retrieve cloud and precipitation properties from multi-frequency brightness temperatures.
Studying the microphysical structure of frontal systems as they transition from ocean to mountainous terrain.
Assimilating observed brightness temperatures into numerical weather prediction models to improve initial conditions.
Strengths
Data was collected during a dedicated, time-bound field campaign (OLYMPEX) with a clear validation objective.
Provides measurements at four specific microwave frequencies (10.7, 19.35, 37.1, 85.5 GHz) sensitive to different atmospheric components.
Includes quality control flags and browse images alongside the core netCDF data files.
Limitations
Metadata completeness is low: column names, row counts, and exact data size are not provided on any platform.
The temporal coverage is limited to a specific 37-day campaign in late 2015.
Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026 vs. 2015) across platforms create uncertainty about metadata maintenance.
Provenance
Source
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), collected via the AMPR instrument on the ER-2 aircraft.
Collection Method
Airborne remote sensing using a passive microwave radiometer.
Time Range
November 9, 2015 - December 15, 2015
Freshness
2026-04-10 02:41:33.569365 (datagov), though this conflicts with a 2015 date on nasa_earthdata.
Geography
Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula, USA.
License is listed as 'other-license-specified'; users must check the specific terms. Primary data format is netCDF, requiring compatible software for analysis.