The CAMEX-4 ER-2 Doppler Radar dataset was collected by the ER-2 Doppler radar (EDOP), which is an X-band (9.6 GHz) Doppler radar mounted in the nose of ER-2. The instrument has two fixed antennas, one pointing at nadir and the second pointing approximately 33 degrees ahead of nadir. The beam width of the antenna is 3 degrees in the vertical and horizontal directions which, for a 20 km altitude, yields a nadir footprint at the surface of 1 km.

CAMEX-4 ER-2 DOPpler radar (EDOP)

The ER-2 X-Band Doppler Radar (EXRAD) EPOCH dataset consists of radar reflectivity and Doppler velocity estimates collected by the EXRAD onboard the AV-6 Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle research aircraft, though traditionally this instrument is flown on the NASA ER-2 aircraft. These data were gathered during the East Pacific Origins and Characteristics of Hurricanes (EPOCH) project. EPOCH was a NASA program manager training opportunity directed at training NASA young scientists in conceiving, planning, and executing a major airborne science field program. The goals of the EPOCH project were to sample tropical cyclogenesis or intensification of an Eastern Pacific hurricane and to train the next generation of NASA Airborne Science Program leadership. The EXRAD EPOCH dataset files are available from August 9, 2017 through August 31, 2017 in HDF-5 format.

The TCSP ER-2 MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS) dataset was collected by a MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS), which is a multi-spectral line-scanner system that acquires image data in 50 spectral bands over wavelengths ranging from 0.46 to 14.3 microns. Flown on the ER-2 aircraft at an operating altitude of 19.8 km (65,000 ft.), it produces nominal pixel sizes of 50 meters. MAS includes nine spectral bands in the visible/near infrared, 16 bands in the shortwave infrared, 16 bands in the mid-wave infrared, and nine bands in the thermal infrared regions of the spectrum. The instrument field-of-view is 86 degrees, with an IFOV of 2.5 mrad. The MAS collected calibrated multi-spectral imagery from the ER-2 aircraft during the TCSP experiment. The MAS was developed by NASA primarily to validate L1B and L2 science products from the EOS satellite program. MAS data enables (1) the mapping of sub-pixel variation within the co-incident footprints of many orbital instruments (e.g. MODIS, AIRS, HIRS, AVHRR, GOES) in the visible and thermal infrared spectral regions and (2) the estimation of surface, aerosol, and cloud properties at 50 meter spatial resolution. The TCSP mission collected data for research and documentation of cyclogenesis, the interaction of temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind and air pressure that creates ideal birthing conditions for tropical storms, hurricanes and related phenomena. The goal of this mission was to help us better understand how hurricanes and other tropical storms are formed and intensify.