GPM Ground Validation Conical Scanning Millimeter-wave Imaging Radiometer (CoSMIR) MC3E
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Conical Scanning Millimeter-wave Imaging Radiometer
(CoSMIR) data set for the Mid latitude Continental Convective Clouds
Experiment (MC3E) 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.
The data set provides well-calibrated radiometric data from 9 channels
between 50-183GHz. Campaign
The Mid latitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment
(MC3E) took place in central Oklahoma during the April-June 2011 period.
The experiment was a collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research
Facility and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA)
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Ground Validation (GV)
program. The field campaign leveraged the unprecedented observing
infrastructure currently available in the central United States, combined
with an extensive sounding array, remote sensing and in situ aircraft
observations, NASA GPM ground validation remote sensors, and new ARM
instrumentation purchased with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
funding. The over arching goal was to provide the most complete
characterization of convective cloud systems, precipitation, and the
environment that has ever been obtained, providing constraints for model
cumulus parameterization and space-based rainfall retrieval algorithms
over land that had never before been available.
Further details on GPM MC3E are available at http://gpm.nsstc.nasa.gov/mc3e/. Information on MC3E ARM
is available at http://campaign.arm.gov/mc3e/. Instrument Description
The airborne Conical Scanning Millimeter-wave Imaging
Radiometer (CoSMIR) has 9 channels at the following frequencies: 50.3,
52.6, 89, 165.5, 183.3+-1, 183.3+-3 and 183.3+-7 GHz. All channels are
horizontally polarized except 89 and 165.5 which are horizontal and
vertical. The channel signals are sampled at 0.01 second intervals. There
are two calibration targets: at ambient temperature and at ~328 degrees K.
The scan modes available are a conical scan at angles from 0 to 53.6
degrees, across scan or a combination. The radiometric data has an
accuracy on the order of +-1K. Further details on CoSMIR are available at
http://atmospheres.gsfc.nasa.gov/meso/index.php?section=121. Investigators
Gail Skofronick-Jackson
Deputy Project Scientist for
GPM
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Bryan Monosmith
NASA/Goddard Space Flight
Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
James R. Wang
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/
SSAI
(Science Systems and Applications, Inc.)
Lanham, Maryland
20706 File
Naming Convention
Data files are of the form:
MC3E_CoSMIR_yyyymmdd_[scan_mode].txt
where
MC3E = Mid latitude Continental Convective Clouds
Experiment
CoSMIR = Conical Scanning Millimeter-wave Imaging
Radiometer
yyyymmdd = year, month and day
scan_mode = conical
forward (CONFWD), conical aft (CONAFT), or cross-track
(CROSSTRCK)
txt = ASCII text Data Format
The GPM Ground Validation Conical
Scanning Millimeter-wave Imaging Radiometer (CoSMIR) MC3E data set consists
of daily ASCII files containing 10 second scans in both cross-track and
conical scan modes. Each file includes a header to identify the columns of
data. Citation
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
References
J. R. Wang, P. E. Racette, J. E. Piepmeier, B. Monosmith,
and W. Manning, "Airborne CoSMIR Observations Between 50 and 183 GHz over
Snow-Covered Sierra Mountains," IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 45(1),
55-61, 2007.
J. R. Wang, P. E. Racette, and J. R. Piepmeier, "A
comparison of Near Concurrent Measurements from the SSMIS and CoSMIR for
some Selected Channels over the Frequency Range of 50-183 GHz," IEEE
Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 46(4), 923-933, 2008. 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:
support-ghrc@earthdata.nasa.gov
Web:
http://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/
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