GCPEx: Manual Snowfall Measurements for Satellite Validation

From January 18 to March 28, 2012, this dataset was collected during the GPM Cold-season Precipitation Experiment (GCPEx) in Ontario, Canada. It contains manual precipitation measurements, including snow water equivalent and present weather conditions, recorded with a Tretyakov gauge inside a DFIR shield. The data was gathered to address shortcomings in satellite-based snowfall retrieval algorithms.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-based snowfall retrieval algorithms based on ground-truth snow water equivalent measurements.
• Analyzing microphysical properties of precipitating snow based on recorded precipitation amount and weight.
• Improving ground validation protocols for cold-season precipitation using data from a double fence intercomparison reference (DFIR) shield.

Strengths

• Provides ground-truth data for a focused field campaign (GCPEx) spanning over two months in early 2012.
• Designed specifically to address known shortcomings in a major satellite mission's (GPM) snowfall retrieval algorithm.
• Uses a standardized measurement setup with a Tretyakov gauge inside a DFIR shield, a recognized reference for solid precipitation.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all sources.
• Conflicting license information exists between platforms ('other-license-specified' and 'None').
• The dataset's age (collected in 2012) may limit its relevance for validating current satellite algorithms without complementary newer data.

Provenance

Source

GHRC_DAAC

Collection Method

Manual precipitation measurements recorded using a Tretyakov gauge inside a DFIR shield.

Time Range

January 18 - March 28, 2012

Freshness

2026-04-10 19:35:30.381475

Geography

Ontario, Canada