Iowa Flood Study Precipitation Particle Measurements

Fourteen optical disdrometer sites collected detailed precipitation particle size and fall velocity data in eastern Iowa during the 2013 IFloodS field campaign. This dataset provides APU-calculated parameters and unfiltered drop spectrum data to support satellite validation for the Global Precipitation Measurement mission. The GHRC DAAC manages the data, which is available in ASCII text format.

Use Cases

• Validating GPM satellite precipitation retrievals using ground-based particle size and velocity measurements.
• Analyzing the microphysical structure of flood-producing storms in the Midwestern United States.
• Studying drop size distribution evolution across 14 sensor sites during the spring 2013 season.
• Correlating disdrometer-derived rainfall estimates with concurrent advanced weather radar data.

Strengths

• Data originates from a coordinated NASA field campaign with 14 simultaneous sensor sites.
• Provides unfiltered drop spectrum data, allowing for custom processing and analysis.
• Covers a critical pre-campaign period from April 1, 2013, offering extended context.

Limitations

• Specific column names and the total row count are not documented on any platform.
• Sources conflict on the license, listing it as 'other-license-specified' or 'None'.
• The dataset's file size is unknown across all sources.

Provenance

Source

GHRC_DAAC (Global Hydrology Resource Center Distributed Active Archive Center)

Collection Method

Collected by 14 Autonomous Parsivel Unit (APU) optical disdrometer sites.

Time Range

April 1 through May 24, 2013

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:00:15.633237

Geography

Eastern Iowa, United States