TRMM_2A55: Ground Radar 3D Reflectivity Profiles

Four primary ground validation sites in Darwin, Houston, Kwajalein, and Melbourne provide 3D radar reflectivity data for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) project. The dataset contains three fields: arrays of 3D reflectivities in Cartesian coordinates, derived vertical profiles, and Contoured Frequency by Altitude Diagram (CFAD) data. This quality-controlled data is used to validate precipitation estimates from the TRMM satellite.

Use Cases

• Validating TRMM satellite precipitation estimates based on ground-based radar reflectivity.
• Analyzing vertical structure of precipitation via derived vertical profile arrays.
• Studying precipitation frequency distributions with altitude using CFAD data.
• Comparing precipitation characteristics across different tropical climate regions (e.g., Darwin vs. Kwajalein).
• Calibrating radar algorithms using high-resolution (2 km horizontal, 1.5 km vertical) 3D reflectivity grids.

Strengths

• Data is quality-controlled as part of the TRMM Ground Validation (GV) effort.
• Provides high spatial resolution: 2 km horizontal and 1.5 km vertical resolution up to 19.5 km height.
• Includes data from multiple instrument types (radar, rain gauges, disdrometers) at four primary sites.

Limitations

• Key metadata (row count, column names, exact file size) is unknown across all sources.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date (2026-04-09 vs. 2014-12-31), suggesting potential metadata inconsistency.
• Dataset structure (three fields) is described, but the specific data format and access details are sparse.

Provenance

Source

GES_DISC (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected from ground-based radar, rain gauges, and disdrometers at validation sites, then processed into validation products.

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:40:13.087129

Geography

Primary sites: Darwin, Australia; Houston, Texas; Kwajalein, Republic of the Marshall Islands; Melbourne, Florida. Additional measurements at NASA Wallops Flight Facility (WFF).