The WINter EXperiment (WINTEX) was a NASA field campaign that collected measurements of cloud properties over snow and ice for satellite validation. WINTEX included one deployment during the boreal spring of 1999, based out of Madison, Wisconsin. The NASA ER-2 aircraft was equipped with several remote sensors, such as the MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS), Scanning High Resolution Interferometer Sounder (S-HIS), NPOESS Aircraft Sounder Testbed - Interferometer (NAST-I), and NPOESS Aircraft Sounder Testbed - Microwave Radiometer (NAST-M), to measure clouds across the northern Midwest and Canada. Ground-based observations were also conducted using lidars, interferometers, and radiosondes. WINTEX was carried out in support of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Satellite System (NPOESS) mission.
Radiosondes are balloon-borne instrument packages that collect profiles of pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind. These sensors are connected to a radio transmitter that sends the measurements to a ground receiver, typically operating in the 400-406 MHz range. They typically provide measurements every 1-6 seconds, depending on the radiosonde type and manufacturer. Radiosondes are used for weather forecasting, ground-truthing satellite data, atmospheric research, and as input for weather prediction models.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Profiles
The NPOESS Aircraft Sounder Testbed - Microwave (NAST-M) is an airborne microwave radiometer operated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It measures brightness temperature, which can be used to retrieve atmospheric water vapor profiles. It consists of two radiometers: one operating across eight channels between 50 and 57 GHz and the other across nine at 118 GHz. In 2003, NAST-M was upgraded with two additional radiometers at 183 and 425 GHz to enhance water vapor retrievals and detect small hydrometeors. NAST-M has a spatial resolution of 2.6 km and a cross-track swath width of 100 km at a flight altitude of 20 km. Its typical integration time is 100 ms.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Indicators > Water Vapor
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Profiles
Earth Science > Spectral/engineering > Microwave > Brightness Temperature
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature
The NPOESS Aircraft Sounder Testbed - Interferometer (NAST-I) is an airborne infrared interferometer operated and maintained by NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). It uses Fourier transform spectroscopy to measure brightness temperature and radiance. NAST-I operates in the 3.7-16.1 µm spectral range with a spectral resolution of 0.25 cm-1. It has a spatial resolution of 2.6 km and a cross-track swath width of 46 km at a flight altitude of 20 km. A complete scan cycle for NAST-I takes approximately 12.2 seconds.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Atmospheric Temperature Indices
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature
The RC-10 Mapping Camera was an airborne imaging system built by Wild Heerburg. It was a metric mapping camera with a shutter intervalometer for capturing stereo imagery. It operated across the 510 to 900 nm spectral range and had a typical resolution of 1.5 to 4 meters. The camera featured a 9x9 image format and was mounted in the Q-bay, nose pod, and both left and right wing pods of NASA’s ER-2 aircraft.
The MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS) is an airborne multispectral spectrometer that simulates the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) satellite instrument. MAS operates over 50 spectral channels spanning 0.55 to 14.2 μm, producing high-resolution images of clouds and surface features. It has a horizontal spatial resolution of 50 meters and a swath width of about 36 kilometers at an altitude of 20 km at nadir. Its scan rate is 6.25 Hz, with each scan line containing 716 pixels.
The Scanning High-resolution Interferometer Sounder (S-HIS) is an airborne cross-track scanning interferometer developed by the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It measures emitted thermal radiation between 3.3 and 18 microns with high spectral resolution. These measurements are used to derive atmospheric profiles of temperature and water vapor under clear-sky conditions. S-HIS has a spatial resolution of 2 km and a swath width of 40 km at an altitude of 20 km at nadir. It operates at a sampling frequency of 0.5 seconds and has an absolute radiance accuracy of 0.2 K.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Profiles
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor
Video cameras capture footage of various phenomena for research. They are used on aircraft to provide continuous views of weather and terrain below the flight path. Video cameras are also employed to verify the aircraft's flight track. Additionally, they are deployed at field sites to monitor changes in vegetation, land cover, clouds, air quality, glaciers, and other Earth science phenomena.
The Volume Imaging Lidar (VIL) is a ground-based lidar system operated by the University of Wisconsin. It is an elastic backscatter lidar operating at 1064 nm. It provides aerosol backscatter profiles with a range resolution of 7.5 m or 15 m. VIL has a maximum range of 18 km and a repetition rate of 30 Hz. The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) also operates a VIL with similar specifications.
Generic-Atmospheric State (Gen-AtmsState) refers to non-specific instruments on a platform that measure atmospheric state parameters. These are typically in situ sensors that measure temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind speed and direction. Types of atmospheric state instruments include thermometers, hygrometers, barometers, and anemometers.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Indicators > Humidity
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Air Temperature
The Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI) is a ground-based passive interferometer developed by the University of Wisconsin Space Science and Engineering Center (UW-SSEC) for the Department of Energy (DoE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program. It uses Fourier transform spectroscopy to measure downwelling thermal infrared emissions from the atmosphere. These measurements provide profiles of atmospheric temperature and water vapor and help detect trace gases. AERI operates across the 3.3-19 μm spectral range and up to 25 μm for the extended-range version of the instrument. It has an optimal vertical resolution of 100 meters and completes a full-sky scan about every 20 seconds.
The High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) is an airborne lidar system developed at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). It uses the HSRL technique at 532 nm and the standard backscatter technique at 1064 nm to provide profiles of aerosol backscatter, extinction, and depolarization. Aerosol backscatter and depolarization profiles typically have a vertical resolution of 30 m and a horizontal resolution of about 1 km. Extinction profiles have a vertical resolution of 300 m and a horizontal resolution of approximately 6 km. HSRL is usually flown during investigations to validate observations from the CALIPSO spaceborne lidar.
Rain gauges are ground-based instruments that directly measure the amount of liquid precipitation over a specified period. Different types of rain gauges, such as tipping buckets and weighing gauges, collect and record data in various ways. Because of their small size and easy setup, rain gauges can be placed in different locations and are often used alongside other precipitation instruments, such as disdrometers, to gather additional details, such as precipitation rate and size distribution.
Generic-Atmospheric State (Gen-AtmsState) refers to non-specific instruments on a platform that measure atmospheric state parameters. These are typically in situ sensors that measure temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind speed and direction. Types of atmospheric state instruments include thermometers, hygrometers, barometers, and anemometers.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Indicators > Humidity
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Air Temperature
The Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) is a network of high-resolution, S-band radars operated by the National Weather Service (NWS), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the United States Air Force. NEXRAD measures the magnitude of returned energy to provide reflectivity, velocity, and spectrum width observations, which can be processed into mosaic maps of precipitation. NEXRAD radars typically operate with a 0.9-degree beamwidth, 0.25 to 1 km spatial resolution, and a maximum range of 230 to 460 km. Currently, over 160 NEXRAD radars operate across the United States and in some overseas locations.
