TCSP CLOUD RADAR SYSTEM (CRS) V1

The TCSP Cloud Radar System (CRS) datasets consists of vertically profiled reflectivity and Doppler velocity at aircraft nadir along the flight track. The CRS is a 94 GHz (W-band; 3 mm wavelength) Doppler radar developed for autonomous operation in the NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft and for ground-based operation. It provided high-resolution profiles of reflectivity and Doppler velocity in clouds and it has important applications to atmospheric remote sensing studies. The CRS was designed to fly with the Cloud Lidar System (CLS), in the tail cone of an ER-2 superpod. There are two basic modes of operation of the CRS: 1) ER-2 with reflectivity, Doppler, and linear-depolarization measurements, and 2) ground-based with full polarimetric capability. The Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes (TCSP) mission used the ER-2 mode. 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.