The Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) is a NASA field campaign that studies snowstorms along the eastern seaboard of the United States. Atmospheric phenomena of narrow strips of heavy snow, called snow bands, impose great impact to this area of the country. In order to better understand the formation of these snow bands and improve forecasts of these extreme weather events, IMPACTS will fly the ER-2 and P-3 aircraft carrying a full suite of remote sensing and in-situ instruments in three 6-week deployments. In addition, IMPACTS will utilize ground-based radar and rawinsonde data; multiple NASA and NOAA satellites, including GPM, GOES-16, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS); and computer simulations. IMPACTS is the first mission to specifically focus on East Coast US snowfall and winter storms with a full suite of modern instruments. The three objectives of IMPACTS are:
- Characterize the spatial and temporal scales and structures of snowbands in Northeast US winter storms
- Understand the dynamical, thermodynamical, and microphysical processes that produce the observed structures
- Apply this understanding of the structures and underlying processes to improve remote sensing and modeling of snowfall
IMPACTS DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.5067/IMPACTS/DATA101
IMPACTS-Related Publications:
https://www.eol.ucar.edu/node/15190/publications?_ga=2.3619568.1372455051.1699281084-281825729.1615488478
