GPM GV

The GPM Ground Validation NOAA Parsivel MC3E data collected during the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) experiment in central Oklahoma contains moment data (reflectivity and rain rate estimates) or raindrop number concentration estimates.  This data provided a reference reflectivity to calibrate the S-band profiler during the experiment. This dataset is available to the public.  The raw data files for this dataset were archived as GPM Ground Validation NOAA Parsivel Raw Data MC3E by request of the Principal Investigator.   Since the processed data is available as the GPM Ground Validation NOAA Parsivel MC3E dataset, the raw data will only be distributed by approval of the Principal Investigator.

GHRC published two radar datasets in support of NASA ER-2 instrumentation data for the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) held in Oklahoma in 2011.  The GPM Ground Validation Pawnee Radar MC3E  is a single polarization (V polarization) Doppler radar and the GPM Ground Validation CHILL Radar MC3E is a dual linear polarization Doppler Radar operated by Colorado State University.  Data from both radars were collected while the NASA ER-2 aircraft conducted a series of four legs along the 090 and 120 degree CHILL azimuths when widespread rain was in progress on May 24, 2011.  The aircraft flew a series of pre-defined ground tracks that coincided with radials from the CSU-CHILL radar. The CSU-Pawnee radar maintained volume coverage of the echo system while the radial flight legs were in progress. During aircraft course reversals at the ends of the radial legs, the CHILL and Pawnee radars started volume scans in synchronization to support dual Doppler wind syntheses. CHILL and Pawnee radar data are available as separate datasets.

GHRC has published the GPM Ground Validation Flight Summaries and Flight Tracks Imagery MC3E dataset which  provides processed summaries from University of North Dakota including sonde maps, a radar animation, parameter versus time charts, radar track graphs, as well as aircraft and instrument operational times for flights during the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) held in Oklahoma in 2011. The Flight Tracks imagery includes one animation for May 11, 2011 and five-minute snapshots of flight tracks from the Real Time Mission Monitor (RTMM). This dataset will be distributed with the MC3E ER-2 Navigation and the Citation Navigation datasets, which are also part of the GHRC collection of GPM Ground Validation data from MC3E.

GHRC has installed and configured a new data/web server for our field campaign datasets. Last week, GHRC staff completed migration of over a dozen field campaign web sites and collaboration portals as well as the online data archive for our GPM Ground Validation and Hurricane Science data collections. The new server, a Dell PowerEdge R510 with 19 TB storage capacity, replaces an aging Dell PowerEdge R710 with 4.5 TB storage capacity, providing much needed growth to support the GPM-GV Iowa Flood Studies (IFloodS) campaign this spring.

GHRC has started publishing data from the the GPM Cold-season Precipitation Experiment (GCPEx). The GPM Ground Validation DC-8 Navigation and Housekeeping Data GCPEX dataset is composed of two types of files. National Suborbital Education and Research Center (NSERC) of the University of North Dakota (UND) provided the geo-located housekeeping data containing the altitude, pressure, air speed, wind speed and other attributes. The NASA DC-8 Navigation data in comma delimited IWG1 format were collected and utilized in-flight during the GCPEx mission and retrieved from the Real-Time Mission Monitor.

GHRC has published the GPM Ground Validation  DC-8 Camera Nadir GCPEx dataset.  This  dataset contains geo-located visible-wavelength imagery of the ground obtained from the nadir camera aboard the NASA DC-8 in Canada during the Cold-season Precipitation experiment.  The data is available only  for February 20, 2012, a clear-air flight day.   DC-8 Camera nadir data may be useful for determining snow cover and lake ice cover for emissivity studies in conjunction with CoSMIR data, for example.   The dataset also includes, for convenience and reproducibility,  aircraft navigation information and ground temperatures to aid in emissivity retrievals.

The initial phase of the Iowa Flood Studies field campaign has begun.  IFloodS is the first of several hydrology-oriented field efforts that the GPM Ground Validation (GV) program is conducting.   GHRC is providing a collaboration portal for the field campaign team to exchange data and information including instrument status, mission science reports, weather forecasts and preliminary science data.  We have already begun collecting instrument data and model output for the region.  More instruments will come online throughout April in preparation for the official start of the campaign on May 1.  During the field campaign, access to the collaboration portal  and quicklook data is restricted to team members.  We expect to begin receiving and publishing quality controlled data products from the mission in approximately six months.

GHRC has released the GPM Ground Validation  Meteorological Tower Environment Canada GCPEx dataset as part of the GPM Cold-season Precipitation Experiment (GCPEx) where  data was gathered over the Ontario region of Canada in 2012 from Jan 15 through March 1.  This dataset  provides temperature, relative humidity, 10m winds, pressure and solar radiation data collected by a suite of standard meteorological instruments attached to a 10m met tower.  The observation station was assembled by Automated Transportable Meteorological Observation Station (ATMOS).  Browse images are available on-line.

The official start of the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) Ground Validation Iowa Flood Studies (IFloodS) Field Experiment begins on May 1, 2013.   See https://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/home/field-campaigns/ifloods for the experiment overview.  To support the scientists in the field, the GHRC has developed a Drupal-based collaboration portal complete with instrument status reports, weather forecasts, schedules, mission reports, documents, and links to external datasets.  Numerous datasets and browse images have been ingested and uploaded to a Public FTP server (registration required) and the majority of those native datasets have been loaded into either a THREDDS (Thematic Realtime Environmental Distributed Data Services) data server or GeoServer (an open source software server written in Java that allows users to share and edit geospatial data) for display on either a 2D Mercator or 3D Globe.  In addition, four of the NEXRAD (Next-Generation Radar) Level-2 datasets are being “animated” to show the last ten images in motion.

GHRC has published the GPM Ground Validation Compact Scanning Millimeter-wave Imaging Radiometer (CoSMIR) GCPEx dataset. The CoSMIR plays the role as an airborne high-frequency simulator for the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI), which will launch in 2014.  The CoSMIR was modified with a new scan mode to acquire both conical and cross-track scan data simultaneously in a given flight satisfying the requirements of the Precipitation Measurement Mission (PMM) algorithm development team.  This CoSMIR dataset provides well-calibrated radiometric data from 9 channels between 50-183GHz with the  accuracy on the order of +-1K.  All channels besides the 89 and 165.5 GHz are horizontally polarized.