Iowa Flood Studies NEXRAD Level II Radar Data

March 29 to June 18, 2013 radar data collected from four NEXRAD sites for the Iowa Flood Studies (IFloodS) campaign. The dataset contains three meteorological base data quantities: reflectivity, mean radial velocity, and spectrum width. It is provided by the GPM Ground Validation project and hosted by the GHRC DAAC.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite precipitation estimates from the GPM mission using ground-based radar reflectivity data.
• Analyzing storm dynamics and evolution for flood prediction using time-series data of mean radial velocity and spectrum width.
• Studying the spatial distribution of precipitation events in central-northeastern Iowa during the 2013 flood season.

Strengths

• Data covers a focused 82-day period from March 29 to June 18, 2013, capturing the entire IFloodS campaign plus a pre-campaign period.
• Contains three core meteorological radar base data quantities: reflectivity, mean radial velocity, and spectrum width.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA EarthData and Data.gov indicates recognized importance and curation.

Limitations

• Data files are in a custom binary format requiring specialized software for visualization and decoding, limiting accessibility.
• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided across any source.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist between sources (2013-06-18 and 2026-03-13), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

GPM Ground Validation project, GHRC DAAC.

Collection Method

Collected from four Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) or NEXRAD sites.

Time Range

2013-03-29 to 2013-06-18

Freshness

2026-03 13 02:20:47.198384

Geography

Central-northeastern Iowa, United States (four specific sites).