Iowa Flood Study Hourly Rainfall Estimates from Ground Radar

Hourly rainfall accumulation estimates for central and northeastern Iowa from 1 May to 16 June, 2013. This dataset was created by NASA for the Iowa Flood Studies (IFloodS) campaign, combining ground-based radar measurements with simultaneous satellite overpass data to validate satellite precipitation products. Data are provided in gzipped ASCII files.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived precipitation products from missions like GPM using ground-based radar estimates.
• Analyzing spatial and temporal patterns of rainfall during a specific flood study campaign in Iowa.
• Supporting hydrological modeling for flood forecasting and water resource management in the Midwest.
• Studying the relationship between ground-measured and satellite-observed precipitation for algorithm improvement.

Strengths

• Provides a focused 47-day time series (1 May - 16 June 2013) for detailed event analysis.
• Data originates from a coordinated NASA campaign (IFloodS) designed for detailed surface precipitation measurement.
• Combines ground instrument and advanced weather radar data with simultaneous satellite overpasses for cross-validation.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: datagov lists 2026-03-13, while nasa_earthdata lists 2013-06 16.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Combined ground-based radar estimates collected for the Iowa Flood Studies (IFloodS) campaign.

Time Range

1 May 2013 to 16 June 2013

Freshness

2026-03 13 02:19:40.740348

Geography

Central and northeastern Iowa