Satellite Simulated Orbits for Ground Validation Campaigns

Orbital simulations replicate satellite sensor observations for four major ground validation campaigns: C3VP (Canada 2007), TWP-ICE (Australia 2006), LPVEX (Finland 2010), and MC3E (Oklahoma, USA 2011). The dataset models the unique geometry and antenna patterns of GPM satellite instruments, including GMI and DPR, using atmospheric and cloud profiles from Cloud-Resolving Models. Data is provided in NetCDF3 format by NASA's GHRC DAAC.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite precipitation retrieval algorithms by comparing simulated brightness temperatures with ground-based observations.
• Analyzing sensor-specific performance by studying simulated Level 1B/Level 2-like parameters for instruments like the GMI imager and DPR Ku-band radar.
• Assessing the impact of atmospheric profiles and surface terrain on satellite measurements using the integrated Cloud-Resolving Model data.
• Studying the geolocation accuracy of satellite Field of View (FOV) using the provided orbit parameters and satellite location data.

Strengths

• Simulations incorporate detailed sensor-specific characteristics, including antenna gain patterns for five distinct GPM instruments.
• Data is derived from high-resolution Cloud-Resolving Model (CRM) inputs for atmospheric, cloud, rain, and surface terrain profiles.
• Covers four distinct international field campaigns spanning 2006 to 2011 across North America, Europe, and Australia.

Limitations

• Key metadata conflicts exist: the last update date is listed as both 2007-01-23 and 2026-03-13 across different sources.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column names are not provided by any source platform.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without further detail.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Simulated using the Orbital database, which ingests atmospheric and cloud profiles from Cloud-Resolving Models (CRM) and applies satellite sensor geometry.

Time Range

2006 to 2011

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:00:23.030339

Geography

Campaign locations in Canada, Australia, Finland, and Oklahoma, USA.