GPM HIWRAP Airborne Radar Profiles from Olympic Mountains Experiment

Olympic Peninsula in the Pacific Northwest of the United States is the focus of this dataset containing Level 1B Doppler velocity and reflectivity profiles. Data was collected by the NASA ER-2 aircraft's HIWRAP radar during the OLYMPEX field campaign from November 10 to December 12, 2015, to validate satellite measurements from the GPM Core Observatory. The instrument used conical scans at Ka- and Ku-band frequencies with 30- and 40-degree incidence angles to profile wind and rain.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-based precipitation retrievals from the GPM Core Observatory using concurrent airborne radar reflectivity profiles.
• Analyzing three-dimensional wind and rain structure in Pacific Northwest winter storms using dual-frequency Doppler velocity data.
• Studying the impact of complex terrain on precipitation patterns by examining profiles collected over the Olympic Mountains.
• Comparing airborne conical scan radar measurements at Ka-band and Ku-band to understand frequency-dependent scattering effects.

Strengths

• Data originates from a NASA airborne campaign specifically designed for satellite validation, ensuring a focused scientific purpose.
• Provides a 33-day continuous time series of high-altitude radar profiles from November 10 to December 12, 2015.
• Measurements combine two frequency bands (Ka- and Ku-band) and two incidence angles, offering multi-parameter observations.

Limitations

• Key technical details like row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided across any source.
• Sources conflict on the temporal coverage: one states data is available only from Nov 10-Dec 12, 2015, while others describe the campaign lasting from Nov 2015 to Feb 2016.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) Doppler radar onboard the NASA ER-2 research aircraft during conical scans.

Time Range

November 2015 to February 2016 (campaign), with specific airborne data from November 10 to December 12,, 2015.

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:23:47.461390

Geography

Olympic Peninsula, Pacific Northwest, United States.