The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) CPEX dataset includes measurements gathered by MODIS during the Convective Processes Experiment (CPEX) field campaign. The CPEX field campaign took place in the North Atlantic-Gulf of America-Caribbean Sea region and conducted a total of sixteen DC-8 missions. The CPEX campaign collected data to help explain convective storm initiation, organization, growth, and dissipation in the North Atlantic-Gulf of America-Caribbean Oceanic region during the early summer of 2017. Data are available from May 9, 2017 through July 16, 2017 in netCDF-3 format.

During 25 May – 24 June 2017, NASA funded and conducted the Convective Processes Experiment (CPEX) which was based out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL and used a suite of instruments aboard a NASA DC-8 aircraft to investigate convective process and circulations over tropical waters. A main objective of CPEX was to obtain a comprehensive set of temperature, humidity and, particularly, wind observations in the vicinity of scattered and organized deep convection in all phases of the convective life cycle. The featured instrument of the airborne campaign was NASA’s Doppler Aerosol WiNd (DAWN) lidar but also included dropsondes, the Airborne Second Generation Precipitation Radar (APR-2), the High Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR), the Microwave Temperature and Humidity Profiler (MTHP), and the Microwave Atmospheric Sounder for Cubesat (MASC). In total, the CPEX campaign flew 16 missions over the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and included missions investigating undisturbed conditions, scattered convection, organized convection and the environment of a tropical storm. The DAWN (and Dropsonde) wind measurement collected during CPEX have provided a unique set of wind profiles to be used in analysis and model assimilation and prediction studies. CPEX also utilized the High Definition Sounding System (HDSS) dropsonde delivery system developed by Yankee Environmental Services to drop almost 300 dropsondes to obtain additional high-resolution vertical wind profiles during most missions. These dropsondes also provided needed calibration/validation for the much newer DAWN measurements.

The DC-8 Meteorological and Navigation Data CPEX-CV dataset is a subset of airborne measurements that include GPS positioning and trajectory data, aircraft orientation, and atmospheric state measurements of temperature, pressure, water vapor, and horizontal winds. These data were gathered during the Convective Processes Experiment – Cabo Verde (CPEX-CV) field campaign. The NASA CPEX-CV field campaign was based out of Sal Island, Cabo Verde from August through September 2022. The campaign is a continuation of CPEX – Aerosols and Winds (CPEX-AW) and will be conducted aboard the NASA DC-8 aircraft equipped with remote sensors and dropsonde-launch capability that will allow for the measurement of tropospheric aerosols, winds, temperature, water vapor, and precipitation. The overarching CPEX-CV goal was to investigate atmospheric dynamics, marine boundary layer properties, convection, the dust-laden Saharan Air Layer, and their interactions across various spatial scales to improve understanding and predictability of process-level lifecycles in the data-sparse tropical East Atlantic region. These data files are available from September 2, 2022, through October 3, 2022, in ASCII format.

The High Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR) CPEX dataset includes measurements gathered by the HAMSR instrument during the Convective Processes Experiment (CPEX) field campaign. The CPEX field campaign took place in the North Atlantic-Gulf of Mexico-Caribbean Sea region from 25 May-25 June 2017. CPEX conducted a total of sixteen DC-8 missions from 27 May-24 June. The CPEX campaign collected data to help explain convective storm initiation, organization, growth, and dissipation in the North Atlantic-Gulf of Mexico-Caribbean Oceanic region during the early summer of 2017. HAMSR has 25 spectral channels which are split into 3 bands to provide measurements that can be used to infer the 3-dimensional distribution of temperature, water vapor, and cloud liquid water profiles in the atmosphere, even in the presence of clouds. Data are available from May 24, 2017 through July 16, 2017 in netCDF-3 format.

The GOES CPEX dataset contains products obtained from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 13. These data were collected in support of the NASA Convective Processes Experiment (CPEX) field campaign. The CPEX field campaign took place in the North Atlantic-Gulf of America-Caribbean Sea region from 25 May-25 June 2017. CPEX conducted a total of sixteen DC-8 missions from 27 May-24 June. The CPEX campaign collected data to help explain convective storm initiation, organization, growth, and dissipation in the North Atlantic-Gulf of America-Caribbean Oceanic region during the early summer of 2017. These data are available from May 31, 2017 through July 25, 2017 and are available in netCDF-3 format.

CPEXAW-DAWN_DC8_1 are the Doppler Aerosol WiNd lidar (DAWN) image and NetCDF data files collected during the Convective Processes Experiment - Aerosols & Winds (CPEX-AW) onboard the DC-8 aircraft. Data collection for this product is complete. The Convective Processes Experiment – Aerosols & Winds (CPEX-AW) campaign was a joint effort between the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) with the primary goal of conducting a post-launch calibration and validation activities of the Atmospheric Dynamics Mission-Aeolus (ADM-AEOLUS) Earth observation wind Lidar satellite in St. Croix. CPEX-AW is a follow-on to the Convective Processes Experiment (CPEX) field campaign which took place in the summer of 2017. In addition to joint calibration/validation of ADM-AEOLUS, CPEX-AW studied the dynamics related to the Saharan Air Layer, African Easterly Waves and Jets, Tropical Easterly Jet, and deep convection in the InterTropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). CPEX-AW science goals include: • Better understanding interactions of convective cloud systems and tropospheric winds as part of the joint NASA-ESA Aeolus Cal/Val effort over the tropical Atlantic; • Observing the vertical structure and variability of the marine boundary layer in relation to initiation and lifecycle of the convective cloud systems, convective processes (e.g., cold pools), and environmental conditions within and across the ITCZ; • Investigating how the African easterly waves and dry air and dust associated with Sahara Air Layer control the convectively suppressed and active periods of the ITCZ; • Investigating interactions of wind, aerosol, clouds, and precipitation and effects on long range dust transport and air quality over the western Atlantic. In order to successfully achieve the objectives of the campaign, NASA deployed its DC-8 aircraft equipped with an Airborne Third Generation Precipitation Radar (APR-3), Doppler Aerosol WiNd Lidar (DAWN), High Altitude Lidar Observatory (HALO), High Altitude Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR), and dropsondes. This campaign aims to provide useful material to atmospheric scientists, meteorologists, lidar experts, air quality experts, professors, and students. The Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) archives the dropsonde, HALO, and DAWN data products for CPEX-AW. For additional datasets please visit the Global Hydrometeorology Resource Center (GHRC).

The DC-8 Navigation Data CPEX dataset is a subset of airborne measurements that include GPS positioning and trajectory data, aircraft orientation, and atmospheric state measurements of temperature, pressure, water vapor, and horizontal winds. These measurements were taken from the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the Convective Processes Experiment (CPEX) field campaign. The CPEX campaign collected data to help explain convective storm initiation, organization, growth, and dissipation in the North Atlantic-Gulf of Mexico-Caribbean Oceanic region during the early summer of 2017. These data files are available from May 25, 2017 through June 28, 2017 in ASCII format.

CAPAC is a series of three instruments: the Forward Scattering Spectrometer Probe model 300 (FSSP-300), the Two Dimensional Optical Array Probes [Cloud and Precipitation Probes (2D-P)] and the CAPAC video. These instruments flew during CAMEX-3 upon the NASA DC-8 mounted on the left wing. Cloud and aerosol particles were exposed to laser light to measure particle size from 0.3 micrometer to 6.4 millimeter, and both size and shape between 40 micrometer and 6.4 millimeter particle diameter as function of particle size. The size distributions thus determined were integrated to yield particle surface area, and ice and liquid water contents in clouds and precipitation. The purpose of the CAMEX-3 mission was to study hurricanes over land and ocean in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Western Atlantic Ocean in coordination with multiple aircraft and research-quality radar, lightning, radiosonde and rain gauge sites.

CPEXCV-Dropsondes_1 is the dropsonde data files collected during the Convective Processes Experiment - Cabo Verde (CPEX-CV). Data collection for this product is complete. Seeking to better understand atmospheric processes in regions with little data, the Convective Processes Experiment – Cabo Verde (CPEX-CV) campaign conducted by NASA is a continuation of the CPEX – Aerosols & Winds (CPEX-AW) campaign that took place between August to September 2021. The campaign will take place between 1-30 September 2022 and will operate out of Sal Island, Cabo Verde with the primary goal of investigating atmospheric dynamics, marine boundary layer properties, convection, the dust-laden Saharan Air Layer, and their interactions across various spatial scales to improve understanding and predictability of process-level lifecycles in the data-sparse tropical East Atlantic region. CPEX-CV will work towards its goal by addressing four main science objectives. The first goal is to improve understanding of the interaction between large-scale environmental forcings such as the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), Saharan Air Layer, African easterly waves, and mid-level African easterly jet, and the lifecycle and properties of convective cloud systems, including tropical cyclone precursors, in the tropical East Atlantic region. Next, observations will be made about how local kinematic and thermodynamic conditions, including the vertical structure and variability of the marine boundary layer, relate to the initiation and lifecycle of convective cloud systems and their processes. Third, CPEX-CV will investigate how dynamical and convective processes affect size dependent Saharan dust vertical structure, long-range Saharan dust transport, and boundary layer exchange pathways. The last objective will be to assess the impact of CPEX-CV observations of atmospheric winds, thermodynamics, clouds, and aerosols on the prediction of tropical Atlantic weather systems and validate and interpret spaceborne remote sensors that provide similar measurements. To achieve these objectives, the NASA DC-8 aircraft will be deployed with remote sensing instruments and dropsondes that will allow for the measurement of tropospheric aerosols, winds, temperature, water vapor, and precipitation. Instruments onboard the aircraft include the Airborne Third Generation Precipitation Radar (APR-3), lidars such as the Doppler Aerosol WiNd Lidar (DAWN), High Altitude Lidar Observatory (HALO), High Altitude Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR), Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS) dropsonde system, Cloud Aerosol and Precipitation Spectrometer (CAPS), and the Airborne In-situ and Radio Occultation (AIRO) instrument. Measurements taken by CPEX-CV will assist in moving science forward from previous CPEX and CPEX-AW missions, the calibration and validation of satellite measurements, and the development of airborne sensors, especially those with potential for satellite deployment.

CPEXCV_Cloud_AircraftInSitu_DC8_Data is the in-situ cloud data collected during the Convective Processes Experiment - Cabo Verde (CPEX-CV) onboard the DC-8 aircraft. Data from the Cloud and Aerosol Spectrometer (CAS) instrument is featured in this collection. Data collection for this product is complete. Seeking to better understand atmospheric processes in regions with little data, the Convective Processes Experiment – Cabo Verde (CPEX-CV) campaign conducted by NASA is a continuation of the CPEX – Aerosols & Winds (CPEX-AW) campaign that took place between August to September 2021. The campaign will take place between 1-30 September 2022 and will operate out of Sal Island, Cabo Verde with the primary goal of investigating atmospheric dynamics, marine boundary layer properties, convection, the dust-laden Saharan Air Layer, and their interactions across various spatial scales to improve understanding and predictability of process-level lifecycles in the data-sparse tropical East Atlantic region. CPEX-CV will work towards its goal by addressing four main science objectives. The first goal is to improve understanding of the interaction between large-scale environmental forcings such as the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), Saharan Air Layer, African easterly waves, and mid-level African easterly jet, and the lifecycle and properties of convective cloud systems, including tropical cyclone precursors, in the tropical East Atlantic region. Next, observations will be made about how local kinematic and thermodynamic conditions, including the vertical structure and variability of the marine boundary layer, relate to the initiation and lifecycle of convective cloud systems and their processes. Third, CPEX-CV will investigate how dynamical and convective processes affect size dependent Saharan dust vertical structure, long-range Saharan dust transport, and boundary layer exchange pathways. The last objective will be to assess the impact of CPEX-CV observations of atmospheric winds, thermodynamics, clouds, and aerosols on the prediction of tropical Atlantic weather systems and validate and interpret spaceborne remote sensors that provide similar measurements. To achieve these objectives, the NASA DC-8 aircraft will be deployed with remote sensing instruments and dropsondes that will allow for the measurement of tropospheric aerosols, winds, temperature, water vapor, and precipitation. Instruments onboard the aircraft include the Airborne Third Generation Precipitation Radar (APR-3), lidars such as the Doppler Aerosol WiNd Lidar (DAWN), High Altitude Lidar Observatory (HALO), High Altitude Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR), Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS) dropsonde system, Cloud Aerosol and Precipitation Spectrometer (CAPS), and the Airborne In-situ and Radio Occultation (AIRO) instrument. Measurements taken by CPEX-CV will assist in moving science forward from previous CPEX and CPEX-AW missions, the calibration and validation of satellite measurements, and the development of airborne sensors, especially those with potential for satellite deployment.