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    • NCAR Particle Probes IMPACTS

    Metadata Updated: March 12, 2026

    The NCAR Particle Probes IMPACTS dataset consists of data collected from six instruments on the NASA P-3 aircraft, the SPEC Hawkeye Cloud Particle Imager (CPI), the Hawkeye Fast Cloud Droplet Probe (FastCDP), the Hawkeye Two-Dimensional Stereo Probe (Hawkeye2D-S), the SPEC Two-Dimensional Stereo probe (2D-S), and two SPEC High Volume Precipitation Spectrometers (HVPS3). The 2D-S and HVPS3 are two-dimensional optical array probes that record images of particles that travel through their sampling area. The recorded images are then analyzed to produce particle size distributions from 20 microns to 3 centimeters in diameter. The FastCDP is a forward scattering instrument designed to measure the size and concentration of cloud droplets between 2 and 50 microns in diameter. The CPI is a high-resolution imager with a 256-level color depth. No particle concentration estimates have been attempted with the CPI. These data were collected during the Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-Threatening Snowstorms (IMPACTS) field campaign, a three-year sequence of winter season deployments conducted to study snowstorms over the U.S. Atlantic coast. IMPACTS 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 advance prediction capabilities significantly. Data files are available in netCDF-4 format, as well as browse imagery available in PNG format, from January 18, 2020, through February 26, 2020, and January 14, 2022 through February 28, 2023.

    Access & Use Information

    Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: See this page for license information.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date March 12, 2026

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NASA Data.json

    Other Data Resources

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date March 12, 2026
    Publisher NASA/MSFC/GHRC
    Maintainer
    Identifier 10.5067/IMPACTS/PROBES/DATA101
    Data Last Modified 2026-03-10
    Category Earth Science
    Public Access Level public
    Bureau Code 026:00
    Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
    Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
    Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
    Harvest Object Id 801c4749-53fa-474b-9123-0143fb1cb385
    Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
    Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
    License https://www.usa.gov/government-works
    Old Spatial "CARTESIAN",{"NorthBoundingCoordinate":48.237,"WestBoundingCoordinate":-95.243,"EastBoundingCoordinate":-64.987,"SouthBoundingCoordinate":33.261}
    Program Code 026:000
    Source Datajson Identifier True
    Source Hash 4fc3a4a616b899e6b2c4f931272c4e33e95d94d0edacdb6af4e7190922ec3fc3
    Source Schema Version 1.1
    Spatial
    Temporal 2020-01-18/2023-02-28

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