GCPEx

By Ellen Gray, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Original www.nasa.gov Press Release (published 1/12/12) Beginning Jan. 17, NASA will fly an airborne science laboratory above Canadian snowstorms to tackle a difficult challenge facing the upcoming Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite mission -- measuring snowfall from space. GPM is an international satellite mission that will set a new standard for precipitation measurements from space, providing next-generation observations of worldwide rain and snow every three hours. It is also the first mission designed to detect falling snow...

The GCPEx observing strategy framework is designed to use a combination of multi-frequency radar, particle imaging and water equivalent-measuring surface instrumentation in conjunction with airborne dual-frequency radar, high frequency radiometer and in situ microphysics observations arranged in stacked altitude patterns to provide the most complete coupled sampling of surface and in-cloud microphysical properties possible. The resulting 3D volumes will be combined to provide a fundamental description of snowfall physics at the ground and through the atmospheric column, and to create an...

The primary objectives of GCPEx are to obtain coordinated high quality in situ and remote sensing observations of falling snow events in a northern latitude climate. Such systems are prevalent in the Ontario region in the December- February timeframe where monthly mean snowfall amounts are approximately 40, 30 and 25 cm/month for December, January and February, respectively. Furthermore, the primary choice for DC-8 operations (Bangor, Maine) will allow potential sampling of Nor’Eastern Blizzards and heavy snow events over St. Johns Newfoundland (site of current NCAR snowfall measurements...