Snowstorm Raindrop Microphysics from 2DVD IMPACTS Campaign

January 15 to February 28, 2020 data from the IMPACTS field campaign, collected using Two-Dimensional Video Disdrometers (2DVD) to study Atlantic Coast snowstorms. The dataset provides detailed measurements of precipitation particles, including size, fall speed, and concentration. It was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to improve snowband prediction and remote sensing models.

Use Cases

• Analyzing relationships between raindrop equivalent diameter, fall speed, and oblateness to infer particle growth mechanisms.
• Calculating bulk precipitation properties like liquid water content and rain rate from particle concentration and size distributions.
• Validating radar reflectivity estimates for snowfall using measured particle cross-sectional areas and concentrations.
• Studying the temporal evolution of microphysical characteristics (e.g., total drop concentration) within snowbands.

Strengths

• Provides a focused 45-day observation period during the 2020 IMPACTS campaign, targeting specific meteorological events.
• Captures detailed, video-derived particle properties including size, shape (oblateness), and fall speed.
• Dataset presence across NASA Earthdata and Data.gov platforms indicates recognized scientific importance.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, file sizes, and complete column lists are not provided by any source.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' on Data.gov but is 'None' on NASA Earthdata, creating a conflict.
• Data is limited to ASCII format, which may require parsing for analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by Two-Dimensional Video Disdrometer (2DVD) instruments during the IMPACTS field campaign.

Time Range

2020-01-15 to 2020-02-28

Freshness

2026-03-12 20:46:35.927601

Geography

Atlantic Coast region of the United States (implied by campaign focus on 'Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms').