GRIP HIWRAP Airborne Radar Data for Hurricane Genesis Study

NASA's GRIP HIWRAP dataset contains dual-frequency Ka- and Ku-band radar measurements collected from a Global Hawk Unmanned Airborne System during the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes experiment. The data, gathered from September 16 to 24, 2010, primarily over the Gulf of America, provides calibrated reflectivity and unfolded Doppler velocity to study tropical storm formation and hurricane development. It was produced by the GHRC DAAC as part of a multi-aircraft NASA campaign.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the relationship between radar reflectivity and storm structure during hurricane genesis.
• Studying wind field dynamics within developing tropical systems using unfolded Doppler velocity measurements.
• Comparing dual-frequency Ka- and Ku-band radar data with satellite-based observations from missions like GPM.
• Validating and improving numerical weather prediction models for tropical cyclone intensification.

Strengths

• Provides calibrated, dual-frequency radar measurements similar to the GPM satellite mission, enabling cross-platform validation.
• Data was collected during a focused, multi-aircraft NASA field campaign (GRIP) specifically designed to study hurricane lifecycle.
• Contains specific geophysical products like calibrated reflectivity and unfolded Doppler velocity, processed for scientific use.

Limitations

• Exact dataset size, row count, and specific column names are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the license, with one specifying 'other-license-specified' and another listing it as 'None'.
• Temporal coverage is limited to a short, 9-day campaign in September 2010.

Provenance

Source

GHRC_DAAC (Global Hydrology Resource Center Distributed Active Archive Center)

Collection Method

Collected by the HIWRAP instrument, a dual-frequency conical scan system on a NASA Global Hawk Unmanned Airborne System.

Time Range

2010-09-16 to 2010-09-24

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:38:14.508945

Geography

Primarily over the Gulf of America.