WISPER IMPACTS Water Isotope and Microphysics Measurements for Snowstorms

U.S. Atlantic Coast snowstorms are documented by the WISPER IMPACTS dataset, which contains condensed water contents, water vapor measurements, and isotope ratios. The data originates from the NASA-led Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) field campaign, a three-year sequence of winter season deployments. Measurements were collected from January 18, 2020, through February 28, 2023.

Use Cases

• Analyzing snowband organization and evolution using time-series measurements of condensed water content.
• Studying snow particle growth mechanisms by examining isotope ratio data alongside microphysical characteristics.
• Improving remote sensing algorithms for snowfall by correlating in-situ water vapor and condensed water measurements.
• Validating atmospheric models of winter storms over the U.S. Atlantic Coast with field campaign observations.

Strengths

• Data is sourced from a dedicated, multi-year NASA field campaign (IMPACTS) with a clear scientific focus.
• Covers a specific three-year time range (2020-2023) across multiple winter seasons for temporal consistency.
• Includes multiple measurement types (condensed water, water vapor, isotope ratios) for integrated analysis.

Limitations

• Key structural details like column names, row counts, and exact file sizes are unavailable across all platforms.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' on Data.gov but is 'None' on NASA Earthdata, creating a conflict.
• Data is provided in ASCII format, which may require parsing for direct analytical use.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Field campaign measurements from the Water Isotope System for Precipitation and Entrainment Research (WISPER) instrument.

Time Range

2020-01-18 to 2023-02-28

Freshness

2026-03-12 20:06:30.839122

Geography

U.S. Atlantic Coast region