Airborne Spectral Imagery for Weather Prediction Validation

THORPEX_ER2_MAS data consist of high-resolution airborne spectrometer imagery collected during the THORPEX international weather prediction experiment. The dataset, managed by NASA's LARC_ASDC, contains 50 spectral bands of imagery from 0.55 to 14.3 microns, captured by the MODIS Airborne Simulator aboard an ER-2 aircraft over Hawaii and the Pacific Ocean. It served as the primary over-water validation dataset for the GIFTS satellite instrument.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived atmospheric measurements from instruments like GIFTS using coincident high-resolution airborne spectral data.
• Analyzing cloud microphysical properties and surface features across 50 spectral bands in the visible to infrared range.
• Studying atmospheric phenomena over ocean regions to improve short-range weather forecasting models.
• Assessing scanner performance with a 2.5 mrad IFOV, providing 50-meter ground resolution from 20,000 meters altitude.

Strengths

• Provides 50 spectral bands of calibrated imagery from 0.55 to 14.3 microns.
• Offers high spatial resolution with a 50-meter ground pixel size from the ER-2 aircraft's altitude.
• Data was collected as part of a major, decade-long international research program (THORPEX) focused on weather prediction.

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts exist: the reported last update date differs significantly between 2003-04-10 and 2026-03 12 across sources.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column names are not provided by any source.
• The dataset is stored in HDF format, which may require specialized software for access and analysis.

Provenance

Source

NASA LARC_ASDC (Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center).

Collection Method

Data collected by the MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS), a 50-channel scanning spectrometer operating at 12-bit resolution, aboard a NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft.

Time Range

Collection occurred as part of the fifth ER-2 field experiment in the THORPEX program, with the digitizer operational since January 1995.

Freshness

2026-03-12 21:05:53.563892

Geography

Covers Hawaii and the Pacific Ocean region.