IFloodS: Micro Rain Radar Precipitation Profiles

Four vertically pointing Micro Rain Radars collected vertical velocity, drop size distribution, rainfall rate, and reflectivity factor data in eastern Iowa from April 11 to June 16, 2013. The campaign aimed to validate satellite precipitation measurements by deploying each MRR adjacent to a two-dimensional video disdrometer and other ground instruments. This dataset provides detailed, co-located ground-truth measurements for the NASA Global Precipitation Measurement mission's Iowa Flood Study.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived precipitation rates based on ground-based radar reflectivity and rainfall rate measurements.
• Analyzing raindrop size distributions and vertical velocity profiles to study storm microphysics.
• Calibrating or improving weather radar algorithms using co-located disdrometer and tipping bucket rain gauge data.
• Studying the vertical structure of precipitation events during a flood-focused field campaign.

Strengths

• Data collected from four instrument sites, each with a Micro Rain Radar co-located with a 2D video disdrometer for detailed cross-validation.
• Covers a focused 67-day field campaign (April 11 - June 16, 2013) during the spring flood season in Iowa.
• Provides multiple co-located measurements (vertical velocity, drop size, rainfall rate, liquid water content) from a vertically pointing Doppler radar.

Limitations

• Column names and exact data structure are unspecified across all platform entries, hindering immediate analysis.
• Data completeness is uncertain as each of the four MRR deployments may not cover the entire campaign period.
• Platform metadata conflicts on last updated date (2013 vs. 2026), suggesting possible stale or inconsistent record maintenance.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by ground-based, vertically pointing Micro Rain Radar (MRR) instruments during the Iowa Flood Study (IFloodS) field campaign.

Time Range

2013-04 11 to 2013-06-16

Freshness

2026-04-10 02:36:11.529376

Geography

Eastern Iowa, United States