TCSP ER-2 MTP: Atmospheric Temperature Profiles for Hurricane Research

A passive microwave radiometer operating at 55.5, 56.6, and 58.8 GHz measures thermal emission from atmospheric oxygen across ten elevation angles. The instrument produces an altitude temperature profile every 13 seconds, or roughly every 3 km along the ER-2 aircraft flight path. These profiles support research into tropical cyclogenesis, tropopause identification, and the formation conditions for polar stratospheric clouds.

Use Cases

• Generating color-coded temperature curtains of the atmosphere traversed by the ER-2 aircraft based on altitude temperature profiles.
• Identifying the altitude of the tropopause from retrieved vertical temperature data.
• Locating altitudes cold enough for polar stratospheric cloud formation by analyzing temperature profiles.
• Researching the interaction of temperature, humidity, and pressure in tropical cyclogenesis.

Strengths

• Provides high-resolution vertical temperature profiles generated every 13 seconds.
• Data is collected via a specialized passive microwave radiometer with three specific observing frequencies.
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and NASA EarthData indicates established scientific use.

Limitations

• Column names and dataset size (rows, file size) are not provided by any source, limiting structural understanding.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2005 vs. 2026) create uncertainty about data currency and maintenance.
• License is ambiguously specified as 'other-license-specified' without clear terms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the ER-2 Microwave Temperature Profiler (MTP) instrument during the TCSP (Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes) mission.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated dates conflict: 2005-07-27 (nasa_earthdata) and 2026-04-09 (datagov).

Geography

Flight paths of the ER-2 aircraft during the TCSP mission, likely over tropical regions.