PolarWindsI_DAWN: Arctic Wind Profiles from Airborne Lidar

Twenty-four missions with over 80 flight hours collected wind data over Greenland and Iceland during October-November 2014. The dataset contains measurements from the DAWN Doppler wind lidar, a 2.05-micron instrument providing 250 mj per pulse, calibrated with nearly 100 dropsonde releases. It supports analysis of Arctic atmospheric dynamics from two NASA-sponsored field campaigns.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-based wind measurements using calibrated airborne lidar profiles.
• Analyzing vertical wind structure in the Arctic boundary layer from time-series lidar data.
• Studying atmospheric dynamics off the coasts of Greenland and Iceland during fall and spring campaigns.
• Calibrating newer wind lidar systems using dropsonde validation data.

Strengths

• Includes calibration/validation from nearly 100 high-resolution dropsonde profiles.
• Covers a significant operational scope with 24 missions and over 80 flight hours.
• Features data from DAWN, described as a powerful airborne Doppler wind lidar operating at 2.05 microns.

Limitations

• Column names and data structure are not specified in the available metadata.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026-04-09 on datagov vs. 2014-11-13 on nasa_earthdata) create uncertainty about metadata freshness.
• Dataset size and row counts are unknown, limiting assessment of scale.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Airborne sensing using the DAWN lidar instrument on a Beechcraft UC-12B Huron aircraft, supplemented by dropsonde releases.

Time Range

October-November 2014

Freshness

2026-04-09 23:07:13.994399

Geography

Arctic region near Greenland and Iceland, based in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.