GCPEx Cold-Season Atmospheric Profiles from Microwave Radiometer

February 14 to March 1, 2012, a passive microwave radiometer collected retrievals of temperature, water vapor, relative humidity, liquid water profiles, and surface parameters in Ontario, Canada. This dataset from NASA's GPM Ground Validation program was designed to address shortcomings in the Global Precipitation Measurement mission's snowfall retrieval algorithm. It provides coordinated remote sensing observations and model simulations of precipitating snow.

Use Cases

• Validating and improving GPM satellite snowfall retrieval algorithms using ground-based microwave radiometer profiles.
• Analyzing the relationship between atmospheric temperature, water vapor, and liquid water profiles during snow events.
• Studying microphysical properties of cold-season precipitation for numerical weather prediction model evaluation.
• Investigating surface parameter interactions with atmospheric conditions in a winter environment.

Strengths

• Data collection was focused during the dedicated GPM Cold-season Precipitation Experiment (GCPEx) field campaign.
• Profiles include multiple atmospheric variables: temperature, water vapor, relative humidity, and liquid water.
• The dataset supports a major NASA mission (GPM) for algorithm validation and improvement.

Limitations

• Key quantitative details like row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all sources.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' metadata: datagov lists 2026-03-13, while nasa_earthdata lists 2012-03-01.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Retrievals acquired by a passive microwave radiometer during a ground validation field campaign.

Time Range

2012-02 14 to 2012-03-01

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:25:12.220198

Geography

Ontario, Canada