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Stephanie M Wingo

Publications and source records attributed to Stephanie M Wingo.

GPM Ground Validation at NASA Wallops Precipitation Research Facility

The Wallops Precipitation Research Facility (WPRF) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Wallops Island, VA has been established as a semi-permanent super-site for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Ground Validation (GV) program. WPRF is home to research quality precipitation instruments, including NASA’s S-band dual-polarimetric radar (NPOL), and a network of profiling radars, disdrometers, and rain gauges. This study investigates the statistical agreement of the GPM Core Observatory Dual Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR), combined DPR-GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and GMI Level II precipitation retrievals compared to WPRF ground observations from a six-year collection of satellite overpasses. Multi-sensor observations are integrated using the System for Integrating Multiplatform Data to Build the Atmospheric Column (SIMBA) software package. SIMBA ensures measurements recorded in a variety of formats are synthesized into a common reference frame for ease in comparison and analysis. Given that instantaneous satellite measurements are observed above ground level, this study investigates the possibility of a time lag between satellite and surface mass-weighted mean diameter (D(sub m)), reflectivity (Z), and precipitation rate (R) observations. Results indicate that time lags vary up to 30 minutes after overpass time but are not consistent between cases. In addition, GPM Core D(sub m) retrievals are within Level I mission science requirements as compared to WPRF ground observations. Results also indicate GPM algorithms overestimate light rain (< 1.0 mm hr(exp -1)). Two very different stratiform rain vertical profiles show differing results when compared to ground reference data. A key finding of this study indicates multi-sensor DPR/GMI combined algorithms outperform single sensor DPR algorithm.

Charanjit S Pabla↗

New Ways of Facilitating Improved Data Discovery and Access for NASA's Suborbital Earth Science Observations

NASA conducts field research in various Earth Science disciplines utilizing airborne and other non-satellite platforms to acquire in situ and remotely sensed observations indicative of physical processes across a range of scales. Field efforts are key in the development and validation of instruments and satellite algorithm refinements. The heterogeneous data, with a range of file formats, scales, and acquisition methods, support research in several science areas. NASA’s archive process assigns data products to discipline-oriented Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) for stewardship. Over time, individual DAACs have developed tools for data browsing and serving disparate user bases. As science becomes more interdisciplinary, researchers need to incorporate observations from multiple campaigns, and multiple DAACs, into their work. Motivated in part by this shifting paradigm of needs, the Catalog of Archived Suborbital Earth Science Investigations (CASEI) was created. CASEI provides a single starting point to browse, search, and discover airborne and field data. Contextual metadata are organized and inter-linked allowing intuitive, integrated exploration across all NASA DAACs. Campaign science objectives, platform and instrument configurations, geographical details, geophysical concepts, and more are tracked in CASEI’s database, facilitating multi-parameter search, browse, and discovery of relevant data products. Researchers are able to directly access associated data products, via DOI links, regardless of the DAAC where they reside. Significant events, key time periods of high science interest within the longer-duration campaign effort, are also indicated and allow for a more efficient identification of critical data subsets. This presentation describes CASEI’s development, intensive metadata curation process, and demonstrates the web interface experience. Initial content metrics and plans for continued maintenance will also be discussed.

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