GPM GROUND VALIDATION PAWNEE RADAR MC3E

The GPM Ground Validation Pawnee Radar MC3E dataset was collected by the Pawnee radar data for the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) held in Oklahoma were collected on May 24, 2011 to support the CHILL radar and the NASA ER-2 instrumentation data. The Pawnee is a single polarization (V polarization) Doppler radar. During the ER2 flight, the Pawnee conducted a wide azimuth opening PPI sector volume scan oriented towards the east designed to provide general 3D coverage of the ER2 flight area. When the ER2 reported starting a course reversal, the CHILL and Pawnee radars attempted to start sector scans at the same time to support dual Doppler wind analyses. In an effort to expand the MC3E sampling to a wider geographical area, the NASA ER2 aircraft was directed to Northeastern Colorado while widespread rain was in progress on May 24, 2011. The aircraft flew a series of pre-defined ground tracks that coincided with radials from the CHILL radar. This aided in keeping the aircraft in the plane of a series of RHI scans done by CHILL. The single polarization Pawnee radar maintained volume coverage of the echo system while the radial flight legs were in progress. During aircraft course reversals at the ends of the radial legs, the CHILL and Pawnee radars started volume scans in synchronization to support dual Doppler wind syntheses. CHILL and Pawnee radar data are available as separate datasets.