GPM GROUND VALIDATION NCAR CLOUD MICROPHYSICS PARTICLE PROBES MC3E

The GPM Ground Validation NCAR Cloud Microphysics Particle Probes MC3E dataset was collected during the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E), which took place in central Oklahoma during the April-June 2011 period. The overarching goal was to provide the most complete characterization of convective cloud systems, precipitation, and the environment that has ever been obtained, providing constraints for model cumulus parameterization and space-based rainfall retrieval algorithms over land that had never before been available. The GPM Ground Validation NCAR Cloud Microphysics Particle Probes MC3E dataset was obtained from three instruments carried aboard the University of North Dakota (UND) Cessna Citation aircraft. These probes, the 2D-C, Cloud Imaging Probe (CIP) and High Volume Precipitation Spectrometer (HVPS-3), collected particle size distributions and particle images which were processed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Data were collected April 22, 2011 through June 2, 2011.