ER-2 X-band Radar (EXRAD) 3D Winds IMPACTS

Abstract

The ER-2 X-band Radar (EXRAD) 3D Winds IMPACTS dataset consists of horizontal wind components, uncertainties in the horizontal wind components, and radar reflectivity collected by the EXRAD instrument onboard the NASA ER-2 aircraft. These data were gathered during the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic CoastThreatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) field campaign. IMPACTS was a three-year sequence of winter season deployments conducted to study snowstorms over the U.S Atlantic Coast (2020-2023, No deployments occurred in 2021 due to COVID-19). The campaign aimed to (1) Provide observations critical to understanding the mechanisms of snowband formation, organization, and evolution; (2) Examine how the microphysical characteristics and likely growth mechanisms of snow particles vary across snowbands; and (3) Improve snowfall remote sensing interpretation and modeling to significantly advance prediction capabilities. The EXRAD 3D Winds IMPACTS dataset files are available from January 25 through February 7, 2020 in netCDF-3 format.