GPM Ground Validation Vaisala Ceilometer IPHEx
Table of Contents
Introduction
The GPM Ground Validation Vaisala Ceilometer IPHEx dataset was gathered during the GPM Ground Validation Integrated Precipitation and Hydrology Experiment (IPHEx) in North Carolina from May 9, 2014 through June 14, 2014. The dataset includes data from the ceilometer instrument which is part of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) ACHIEVE ground-based mobile laboratory. It measures vertical profiles of aerosol backscatter and performs a retrieval of cloud base detection and boundary layer structure. Data files are available in the netCDF3 data format.
Citation
The following example shows how to cite the use of this dataset in a publication. For more information, please see our Citing GHRC DAAC and Data page.
Tsay S., A. Loftus and P. Pantina. 2015. GPM Ground Validation Vaisala CL51 910 nm High Range Ceilometer IPHEx [indicate subset used]. Dataset available online, [https://gpm.nsstc.nasa.gov/gpm_validation/iphex/ceilometer/] from the NASA EOSDIS Global Hydrology Resource Center Distributed Active Archive Center Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5067/GPMGV/IPHEX/CEILOMETER/DATA101.
Campaign
The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Ground Validation (GV) campaign used a variety of methods for validation of GPM satellite constellation measurements prior to launch of the GPM Core Satellite, which launched on February 27th, 2014. The validation effort included numerous GPM-specific and joint-agency/international external field campaigns, using state of the art cloud and precipitation observational infrastructure (polarimetric radars, profilers, rain gauges, disdrometers). Surface rainfall was measured by very dense rain gauge and disdrometer networks at various field campaign sites. These field campaigns accounted for the majority of the effort and resources expended by Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Ground Validation (GV). More information about the GPM mission is available at http://pmm.nasa.gov/GPM.
The GPM Integrated Precipitation and Hydrology Experiment (IPHEx) was held in North Carolina during the months of April-June 2014. The goal of IPHEx was to characterize warm season orographic precipitation regimes and the relationship between precipitation regimes and hydrologic processes in regions of complex terrain. The IPHEx campaign was part of the development, evaluation, and improvement of remote-sensing precipitation algorithms in support of the GPM mission through NASA GPM GV field campaign (IPHEX_GVFC) and the evaluation of Quantitative Precipitation Estimation (QPE) products for hydrologic forecasting and water resource applications in the Upper Tennessee, Catawba-Santee, Yadkin-Pee Dee, and Savannah river basins (IPHEX-HAP, H4SE). NOAA Hydrometeorology Testbed (HTM) has synergy with this project. More information about IPHEx is available at http://gpm.nsstc.nasa.gov/iphex/.
Instrument Description
The Vaisala CL51 910 nm High Range Ceilometer instrument was located near Maggie Valley, North Carolina, USA lat: 35.5198, lon:-83.0947 (lat: 35° 31' 11.2794" lon: 83° 5' 40.92") during the IPHEx campaign. It measures vertical profiles of aerosol backscatter, retrieval of cloud base detection and boundary layer structure to calculate boundary layer and cloud base heights. More information about the CL51 Ceilometer is available at http://www.vaisala.com/en/products/ceilometers/Pages/cl51.aspx.
Investigators
Dr. Si-Chee Tsay
Principal Investigator
Code 613
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
USA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
Dr. Adrian Loftus
Earth Science System Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC)
University of Maryland; NASA GSFC; Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)
Peter Pantina
Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI)
NASA GSFC
File Naming Convention
The IPHEx Ceilometer dataset files are named with the following convention:
IPHEx_CL51_YYYYMMDD.L1b.nc
where,
IPHEx = GPM Integrated Precipitation and Hydrology Experiment
CL51 = instrument model number
ceilometer = instrument (CL51 910 nm High Range Ceilometer)
YYYYMMDD = year, month, and day of data
L1b = data processing level (1b)
nc = data file format (netCDF)
Data Format
The GPM Ground Validation Vaisala Ceilometer IPHEx data is available in netCDF3 format (nc) with a data processing level of 1B.
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/
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