Field Campaigns

OLYMPEX Scientists in the Field
From November 10 through December 21, NASA and university scientists are taking to the field to study wet winter weather near Seattle, Washington. With weather radars, weather balloons, specialized ground instruments, and NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory, the science team will be verifying rain and snowfall observations made by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite mission on a NASA-led field campaign, The Olympic Mountain Experiment, or OLYMPEX. Rachael Kroodsma is the instrument scientist for the CoSMIR on board NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory as part of the OLYMPEX field...

Researchers Gear Up for OLYMPEX

Submitted by JacobAdmin on Thu, 11/12/2015
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The Olympic Mountain Experiment, or OLYMPEX, is a NASA-led field campaign, which will take place on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State from November 2015 through February 2016. The goal of the campaign is to collect detailed atmospheric measurements that will be used to evaluate how well rain-observing satellites measure rainfall and snowfall from space.

Pacific NW Campaign to Measure Rain & Snow
From Nov. 10 through Dec. 21, NASA and university scientists are taking to the field to study wet winter weather near Seattle, Washington. With weather radars, weather balloons, specialized ground instruments, and NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory, the science team will be verifying rain and snowfall observations made by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite mission. Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center The Pacific Northwest was chosen because of its frequent and persistent winter rain and snowfall. On average 100 to 180 inches of precipitation fall a year, making it one of...
Media are invited to go behind the scenes of a comprehensive field campaign focused on yielding new insights into global precipitation at a special event on Nov. 11, 2015.  NASA's DC-8 deploys to Iceland on a mission to study Arctic polar winds. NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory will be featured as part of a special media event on Nov. 11, 2015 focused on the Olympic Mountain Experiment (OLYMPEX), an Earth science campaign aimed at validating Global Precipitation Measurement. Credits: NASA Photo / Carla Thomas
Media are invited to go behind the scenes of a comprehensive field campaign focused on yielding new insights into global precipitation at a special event on Nov. 11, 2015. NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory will be featured as part of a special media event on Nov. 11, 2015 focused on the Olympic Mountain Experiment (OLYMPEX), an Earth science campaign aimed at validating Global Precipitation Measurement. Credits: NASA Photo / Carla Thomas Held in collaboration with the University of Washington, NASA's Olympic Mountain Experiment (OLYMPEX) is an Earth science campaign aimed at validating Global...
OLYMPEX Field Campaign map
The Olympic Mountain Experiment (OLYMPEX) The Olympic Mountain Experiment, or OLYMPEX, was a NASA-led field campaign, which took place on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State from November 2015 through February 2016. The goal of the campaign was to collect detailed atmospheric measurements that will be used to evaluate how well rain-observing satellites measure rainfall and snowfall from space. In particular, OLYMPEX assessed satellite measurements made by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Core Observatory, a joint mission by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration...
GPM Launches Hands-On Field Campaign for Students
This spring, students worldwide are invited to grab rain gauges and learn how scientists use ground measurements to validate satellite precipitation data. NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement, or GPM, mission is partnering with the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program to conduct a field campaign where students will measure rain and snow in their hometowns from Feb. 1 through mid-April 2015 and then analyze the data. A webinar for teachers to learn more about the campaign and how to participate is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2015. GLOBE is a worldwide hands...
IPHEx Campaign Demonstrates Two New Instruments
Three Radars are Better than One Putting three radars on a plane to measure rainfall may seem like overkill. But for the Integrated Precipitation and Hydrology Experiment field campaign in North Carolina recently, more definitely was better. During the field campaign, NASA's ER-2 research aircraft flew out of Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. HIWRAP is under the wing in the black compartment; the Cloud Radar System is under the other wing and is not visible; and the EXRAD radar is in the extended nose cone. Image Credit: NASA / Gerry Heymsfield The three instruments, developed by the High...
NASA Begins IPHEx Field Campaign
Rain, ice, hail, severe winds, thunderstorms, and heavy fog – the Appalachian Mountains in the southeast United States have it all. On May 1, NASA begins a campaign in western North Carolina to better understand the difficult-to-predict weather patterns of mountain regions. The field campaign serves as ground truth for measurements made by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory. GPM is an international satellite mission to observe rain and snow around the world. The advanced instruments on the GPM Core Observatory satellite, launched Feb. 27, provide the next...