Olympic Mountains Cloud Microphysics Data from Citation Aircraft

Aircraft measurements of cloud microphysics, atmospheric state, winds, and turbulence were collected during the OLYMPEX campaign. The University of North Dakota's Cessna Citation II aircraft conducted 20 flights totaling approximately 60 hours from November 12 to December 19, 2015. Data is provided in primary files with direct and derived parameters, alongside raw instrument files for custom processing.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived precipitation estimates from the GPM mission using in-situ cloud microphysics measurements.
• Analyzing relationships between cloud droplet concentration, particle size distribution, and atmospheric state parameters.
• Studying three-dimensional wind patterns and turbulence within cloud systems over the Olympic Mountains.
• Investigating cloud liquid water and ice content for model parameterization and improvement.

Strengths

• Data originates from a controlled, instrumented aircraft campaign with 20 dedicated research flights.
• Provides both processed primary data files and raw instrument data, enabling custom analysis.
• Covers a focused 38-day period during a major field campaign (OLYMPEX) designed for ground validation.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and total dataset size are not documented on any platform.
• Conflicting last update dates: datagov lists 2026-03 13 (likely administrative), while nasa_earthdata lists 2015-12-19 (data collection end).
• License is specified as 'other-license-specified' on datagov but is 'None' on nasa_earthdata, requiring user verification.

Provenance

Source

University of North Dakota (UND), National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

In-situ measurements collected by instruments aboard the UND Cessna Citation II aircraft.

Time Range

2015-11 12 to 2015-12-19

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:18:57.514556

Geography

Olympic Mountains region (inferred from OLYMPEX campaign name).