NPOL Doppler Radar Precipitation Measurements for Iowa Flood Studies

Radar data provides volumetric measurements of precipitation from a transportable S-band dual-polarimetric Doppler radar. The dataset was collected from April 30 to June 16, 2013, near Traer, Iowa, as part of the Global Precipitation Measurement mission's Iowa Flood Studies campaign. It was developed by a research team from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility and is managed by the GHRC DAAC.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-based precipitation estimates from the GPM mission using ground-based radar reflectivity and Doppler velocity measurements.
• Analyzing particle size distributions and hydrometeor types within storm systems to improve microphysical models.
• Studying the spatial and temporal evolution of rainfall rate and water content for flood prediction and hydrological modeling.
• Calibrating other remote sensing instruments using the detailed, continuous volumetric scans collected during the field campaign.

Strengths

• Data was collected nearly continuously over a focused 48-day campaign, providing a dense temporal record of precipitation events.
• The NPOL radar is a research-grade instrument providing dual-polarimetric and Doppler capabilities for detailed microphysical analysis.
• The dataset's cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals its importance and curated status within the scientific community.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, file sizes, and a complete column schema are not provided by any source, limiting precise technical assessment.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, reporting either 2013-06-16 or 2026-03 13.

Provenance

Source

NASA Wallops Flight Facility research team, managed by the GHRC DAAC.

Collection Method

Collected by a fully transportable, scanning S-band dual-polarimetric Doppler research radar.

Time Range

April 30, 2013 to June 16, -2013

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:02:00.080305

Geography

Near Traer, Iowa, USA.