TCSP ER-2 Doppler Radar Data for Hurricane Formation Study

Data from the 2005 Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes (TCSP) mission, collected by the ER-2 aircraft's X-band Doppler radar (EDOP). The dataset provides vertically profiled reflectivity, Doppler velocity, and spectral width from nadir and forward-pointing beams to study cyclogenesis. It is hosted and maintained by the NASA GHRC DAAC.

Use Cases

• Estimating along-track winds by combining measurements from the nadir and forward-pointing radar beams.
• Calculating vertical air motion by removing hydrometeor fallspeed from nadir beam Doppler velocity.
• Analyzing hydrometeor type and orientation using the linear depolarization ratio from the forward beam.
• Profiling storm structure and precipitation intensity using reflectivity factor measurements along the flight track.
• Studying pulse volume-weighted hydrometeor motion through Doppler velocity and spectral width data.

Strengths

• Provides high-resolution vertical profiles with a 1 km surface footprint from a 20 km altitude.
• Contains dual-beam measurements (nadir and forward) enabling wind estimation and depolarization analysis.
• Dataset is curated and hosted by NASA's authoritative GHRC DAAC, indicating institutional oversight.

Limitations

• Key quantitative details like row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, listing both 2005-07-27 and 2026-03 12.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified', requiring further investigation for use.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Collected by the ER-2 Doppler radar (EDOP), an X-band (9.6 GHz) instrument mounted on the ER-2 high-altitude aircraft.

Time Range

2005 (TCSP mission timeframe).

Freshness

2026-03-12 21:12:02.640370

Geography

Flight tracks over regions studied during the TCSP mission, focused on tropical cyclone formation areas.