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Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System Dropsondes (AVAPS) IMPACTS V1

Published by NASA/MSFC/GHRC | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Catalog Last Checked: May 18, 2026 at 04:34 PM | Dataset Last Updated: July 17, 2025
The Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS) IMPACTS dataset consists of vertical atmospheric profile measurements collected by the Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS) dropsondes released from the NASA P-3 aircraft during the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) field campaign. IMPACTS was a three-year sequence of winter season deployments conducted to study snowstorms over the U.S Atlantic Coast (2020-2023). The campaign aimed to (1) Provide observations critical to understanding the mechanisms of snowband formation, organization, and evolution; (2) Examine how the microphysical characteristics and likely growth mechanisms of snow particles vary across snowbands; and (3) Improve snowfall remote sensing interpretation and modeling to significantly advance prediction capabilities. AVAPS uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) dropsonde to measure atmospheric state parameters (temperature, humidity, wind speed/direction, pressure) and location in 3-dimensional space during the dropsonde’s descent. The AVAPS dataset files are available from January 12, 2020 through February 25, 2022 in ASCII-ict format.

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Complete Metadata
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accessLevel public
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description The Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS) IMPACTS dataset consists of vertical atmospheric profile measurements collected by the Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS) dropsondes released from the NASA P-3 aircraft during the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) field campaign. IMPACTS was a three-year sequence of winter season deployments conducted to study snowstorms over the U.S Atlantic Coast (2020-2023). The campaign aimed to (1) Provide observations critical to understanding the mechanisms of snowband formation, organization, and evolution; (2) Examine how the microphysical characteristics and likely growth mechanisms of snow particles vary across snowbands; and (3) Improve snowfall remote sensing interpretation and modeling to significantly advance prediction capabilities. AVAPS uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) dropsonde to measure atmospheric state parameters (temperature, humidity, wind speed/direction, pressure) and location in 3-dimensional space during the dropsonde’s descent. The AVAPS dataset files are available from January 12, 2020 through February 25, 2022 in ASCII-ict format.
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identifier C2004708338-GHRC_DAAC
issued 2022-03-23
keyword 
[
  "atmosphere",
  "atmospheric-pressure",
  "atmospheric-temperature",
  "atmospheric-water-vapor",
  "atmospheric-winds",
  "earth-science"
]
landingPage https://doi.org/10.5067/IMPACTS/AVAPS/DATA101
language 
[
  "en-US"
]
modified 2025-07-17
programCode 
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spatial -77.8148 33.5415 -65.44 44.1677
temporal 2020-01-12T21:04:13Z/2022-02-25T18:43:40Z
theme 
[
  "IMPACTS",
  "geospatial"
]
title Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System Dropsondes (AVAPS) IMPACTS V1

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