IMPACTS: NASA P-3 Aircraft Meteorological and Navigation Data

From January 12, 2020, through February 28, 2023, the NASA P-3 aircraft collected this data during the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) campaign. The dataset includes GPS positioning, aircraft orientation, and atmospheric state measurements of temperature, pressure, water vapor, and horizontal winds. It supports the first comprehensive study of East Coast snowstorms in 30 years, funded by NASA's Earth Venture program.

Use Cases

• Analyzing snowband formation mechanisms based on in-situ atmospheric state measurements.
• Studying microphysical characteristics of snow particles across storm bands using temperature and humidity data.
• Improving snowfall remote sensing interpretation by correlating aircraft GPS trajectory with atmospheric observations.
• Validating numerical weather prediction models for East Coast snowstorms with airborne wind and pressure data.

Strengths

• Covers a multi-year campaign from 2020 to 2023, providing longitudinal data on snowstorm events.
• Funded by NASA's Earth Venture program, indicating a structured, scientific mission.
• Includes direct measurements from a dedicated research aircraft (NASA P-3), ensuring controlled data collection.

Limitations

• Column names and dataset size (rows, file size) are unspecified across all sources, limiting assessment of scope.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' on Data.gov, requiring further investigation for reuse.
• Last update dates conflict between platforms (2026-04-09 on Data.gov vs. 2023-02-28 on NASA Earthdata).

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Airborne measurements collected by the NASA P-3 aircraft.

Time Range

January 12, 2020, through February 28, 2023

Freshness

2026-04-09 23:24:27.634779

Geography

Atlantic Coast of the United States (implied by focus on East Coast snowstorms)