NASA Airborne Radar Reflectivity and Doppler Velocity Data

HIWRAP airborne radar data provides calibrated reflectivity and unfolded Doppler velocity profiles from a dual-frequency (Ka- and Ku-band) conical scan system. Measurements were collected by a NASA ER-2 aircraft flying at 20 km altitude during the MC3E ground validation campaign for the GPM mission. The dataset consists of netCDF files and GIF images containing merged pulse and chirp radar reflectivity at 13.9 and 33.7 GHz.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-based precipitation estimates from the GPM mission using ground truth airborne radar measurements.
• Analyzing vertical profiles of radar reflectivity at dual frequencies (13.9 GHz and 33.7 GHz) for particle size distribution studies.
• Studying wind and rain dynamics through unfolded Doppler velocity data from a nadir-viewing conical scan system.
• Developing or testing algorithms for merging pulse and chirp radar data from high-altitude airborne platforms.

Strengths

• Data includes calibrated measurements from a sophisticated dual-frequency (Ka- and Ku-band) radar system.
• Collected from a high-altitude (20 km) NASA ER-2 aircraft platform, providing a broad spatial perspective.
• Provides both core physical measurements (reflectivity) and derived kinematic data (unfolded Doppler velocity).

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and precise temporal coverage are unavailable across all sources.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, with one listing 2011 and another listing 2026, creating uncertainty about maintenance.
• Column names and a complete data dictionary are not provided, limiting detailed analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected by the High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) instrument mounted on a NASA ER-2 aircraft.

Time Range

MC3E (Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment) campaign period (likely 2011).

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:23:56.697136

Geography

Midlatitude continental region, specific to the MC3E campaign area.