D3R
D3R Radar Arrives at Wallops
NASA's D3R radar at Wallops Flight Facility. Shown, NASA engineer Manuel Vega NASA's Dual-frequency, Dual-polarization, Doppler Radar (D3R) was transferred from Goddard Space Flight Center to Wallops Flight Facility this week. D3R's dual frequencies match those of the GPM Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar ( DPR ). Some work to the D3R computing infrastructure will be performed at Wallops, and then the radar will be collocated with NASA's NPOL radar in Newark, MD. Ku (large) and Ka (small) antennas being readied for installation on radar pedestal. NASA technicians preparing for installation of
D3R Radar Arrives at Wallops
D3R's dual frequencies match those of the GPM DPR radar. Some work to the D3R computing infrastructure will be performed at Wallops, and then the radar will be collocated with NASA's NPOL radar in Newark, MD.
Waiting for Snow
In the CARE operations trailer monitoring weather conditions during the DC-8 flights on 6 February 2012 at approximately 9pm EST. Gail Skofronick-Jackson is the Deputy Project Scientist for GPM at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. She specializes in the remote sensing of snow, and is currently the mission scientist for the campaign at the CARE ground site in Ontario, Canada. She writes to us about a night flight on February 6 and the snow that didn't show. Models showed quickly developing snow from 9-10pm EST tonight (6 Feb 2012). We are at 9:22 and we don't yet see snow in the
GCPEx Ground Instruments
Note the low snow amounts on the ground. Sensors left to right are: ADMIRARI (radiometer; U. Bonn), D3R (radar; NASA), DPR (radar; U. Koln). [This dual-precipitation radar (DRR) is not the same as to be on the GPM spacecraft.]
Three Days, Two Snowstorms
Joe Munchak is a scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center who specializes in remote sensing of snow. This week he is at the CARE site in Ontario as one of the operations scientists for the GCPEx ground validation. It’s been a relatively eventful few days here in Barrie, Ontario, with two coordinated air-ground campaigns over the past three days. I was actually driving to Barrie from my home in Maryland during the first event (January 28th), and got to experience some lake effect snow bands first-hand in northern Pennsylvania on my way up. These were very narrow, only a few miles wide, but