GPM MC3E: Satellite Overpasses for Land Emissivity Studies

GPM GROUND VALIDATION COMPOSITE SATELLITE OVERPASSES MC3E V1 provides matched satellite and ground-based observations from the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E). The dataset includes AQUA satellite radiometric data collocated with radar precipitation, snow cover, and atmospheric reanalysis for central Oklahoma from April 22 to June 5, 2011. Its primary purpose is to support land surface emissivity studies and the validation of satellite precipitation retrievals.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-based precipitation estimates using collocated NEXRAD NMQ radar mosaic data.
• Studying land surface emissivity under varying precipitation conditions using matched radiometric and background state data.
• Analyzing the impact of snow/ice cover on microwave brightness temperatures using NOAA IMS snow mapping data.
• Conducting radiative transfer calculations for satellite data assimilation using NASA/GMAO MERRA reanalysis fields.

Strengths

• Integrates multiple observational and model datasets (satellite, radar, snow mapping, reanalysis) for a cohesive analysis product.
• Covers a focused, intensive field campaign (MC3E) with a defined time range of April 22 - June 5, 2011.
• Data is cross-platform, appearing on both Data.gov and NASA Earthdata, indicating curation and archival importance.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing: column names, row counts, and specific file sizes are not provided by any source.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026-04-10 on Data.gov vs. 2011-06-05 on NASA Earthdata) create uncertainty about metadata freshness.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without details, and author information is unknown.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite overpasses from the AQUA satellite during the MC3E field campaign, matched with ground-based radar, snow mapping, and atmospheric reanalysis.

Time Range

April 22, 2011 to June 5, 2011

Freshness

2026-04-10 03:01:21.195341 (from Data.gov, though this conflicts with the NASA Earthdata date)

Geography

Central Oklahoma, with satellite overpasses within a 700-km radius of the central field site.