GPM GROUND VALIDATION TWO-DIMENSIONAL VIDEO DISDROMETER (2DVD) LPVEX V1

The GPM Ground Validation Two-Dimensional Video Disdrometer (2DVD) LPVEx dataset was collected during the Light Precipitation Evaluation Experiment (LPVEx), which took place in September and October 2010 in the Gulf of Finland. The experiment aimed to characterize the ability of CloudSat, the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR), and existing/planned passive microwave (PMW) sensors, such as the GPM microwave imager (GMI), to detect light rain and evaluate their estimates of rainfall intensity in high latitude, shallow freezing level environments.The experiment leveraged in situ microphysical property measurements, coordinated remote sensing observations, and cloud resolving model simulations of high latitude precipitation systems to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of precipitation algorithms for current and future satellite platforms. The campaign will use these measurements to better understand the process of light rainfall formation at high latitudes and augment the currently limited database of light rainfall microphysical properties that form the critical assumptions at the root of satellite retrieval algorithm.