GPM Ground Validation Environment Canada (EC) Web Camera Images GCPEx

Table of Contents

Introduction

The GPM Ground Validation Environment Canada (EC) Web Camera Images GCPEx were taken at 5 site locations in Ontario, Canada during the GPM Cold-season Precipitation Experiment (GCPEx) which occurred January 15 through March 1, 2012. Mounted as a fixed outdoor camera, the AXIS P1343-E network camera has day/night functionality with an automatically controlled IR filter, adapting to both daylight and dark lighting conditions. The EC Web Camera Images provided visual records of the daily weather conditions at each GCPEx site.

The GPM Cold-season Precipitation Experiment (GCPEx) occurred in Ontario, Canada during the winter season of 2011-2012. GCPEx addressed shortcomings in the GPM snowfall retrieval algorithm by collecting microphysical properties, associated remote sensing observations, and coordinated model simulations of precipitating snow. These data sets were collected to aid in the achievement of the over arching goal of GCPEx which is to characterize the ability of multi-frequency active and passive microwave sensors to detect and estimate falling snow.

During GCPEx, cameras were installed at five sites in Ontario. The site names and locations are:

Bob Morton: Lat: 44 degrees 10'35.29"N; Lon: 79 degrees 55'9.13"W
SteamShow: Lat: 44 degrees 10'50.27"N; Lon: 79 degrees 43'4.63"W
SkyDive: Lat: 44 degrees 14'16.30"N; Lon: 79 degrees 38'25.02"W
CARE: Lat: 44 degrees 13'59.45"N; Lon: 79 degrees 46'50.11"W
Huronia: Lat: 44 degrees 41'10.25"N; Lon: 79 degrees 55'40.60"W

Further details on GCPEx are available at http://gpm.nsstc.nasa.gov/gcpex. Information on the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is available at http://pmm.nasa.gov/GPM.

The AXIS P1343-E is a fixed outdoor camera with day/night functionality and an automatically controlled IR filter, adapting to both daylight and dark lighting conditions. More information on the AXIS P1343 camera can be found at http://www.axis.com/.

David Hudak
Research Scientist, Cloud Physics and Severe Weather Research Section
Environment Canada
King City, Ontario

The EC Web Camera Images are named with the following convention:

gcpex_cam1_[YYYYMMDD]_[HHMM]_EC_[site].jpg

where,

gcpex = GPM Cold-season Precipitation Experiment
cam1 = AXIS P1343 camera
YYYYMMDD = the year, month and day of the data
HHMM = hours and minutes of the data in UTC time
EC = Environment Canada
site = site name
jpg = image format

The GPM Ground Validation Environment Canada (EC) Web Camera Images GCPEx data set consists of JPG image files. Images were taken every 5 minutes starting on January 15, 2012 and ending on March 1, 2012.

Our data sets are provided through the NASA Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project and the Global Hydrology Resource Center (GHRC) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). GHRC DAAC is one of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) data centers that are part of the ESDIS project. ESDIS data are not copyrighted; however, in the event that you publish our data or results derived by using our data, we request that you include an acknowledgment within the text of the article and a citation on your reference list. Examples for general acknowledgments, data set citation in a reference listing, and crediting online web images and information can be found at: http://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/uso/citation.html

Contact Information

To order these data or for further information, please contact:

Global Hydrology Resource Center
User Services
320 Sparkman Drive
Huntsville, AL 35805
Phone: 256-961-7932
E-mail: ghrcdaac@itsc.uah.edu
Web: http://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/