Iowa Flood Studies Radar Precipitation Rate and Accumulation Data

March 29 to June 18, 2013 data contain digital instantaneous precipitation rate (DPR) and storm total accumulation (DTA) estimates derived from four NEXRAD S-Band radars. This dataset was collected during the Iowa Flood Studies (IFloodS) field campaign to support ground validation for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. The data are provided in NIDS binary format by the GHRC DAAC.

Use Cases

• Validating GPM satellite precipitation estimates against ground-based radar observations.
• Analyzing storm evolution and total rainfall accumulation for flood event studies.
• Comparing instantaneous precipitation rates across the Iowa region during the 2013 spring season.
• Studying radar reflectivity patterns associated with convective precipitation systems.

Strengths

• Data sourced from four operational NEXRAD stations, a network of 160 S-Band radars.
• Covers a specific 82-day field campaign (March 29 - June 18, 2013) for focused analysis.
• Provides two key precipitation metrics: instantaneous rate and storm total accumulation.

Limitations

• Column names and dataset size/row counts are unspecified across all sources.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date (2013-06 18 vs. 2026-03-13), suggesting potential metadata inconsistency.
• Data format is proprietary NIDS binary, which may require specialized software for access and processing.

Provenance

Source

GHRC DAAC (Global Hydrology Resource Center Distributed Active Archive Center).

Collection Method

Derived from selected NEXRAD radar stations during the IFloodS field campaign.

Time Range

March 29, 2013 through June 18, 2013.

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:20:45.746806

Geography

Vicinity of the Iowa Flood Studies campaign, from four NEXRAD stations in the United States.