Version 07 is the current version of the data set. Older versions are no longer available and have been superseded by Version 07. This product contains the calibrated received power from the Ku-band Radar of the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) aboard the core satellite of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. The Ku-radar scan pattern is simpler than that of the Ka-band Radar, and is similar to the TRMM PR. It only has "Normal Scan" (NS) swath consisting of 49 footprints cross-track in a scan and the footprint size is about 5 km in diameter. The scan swath is 245 km.

Version 07 is the current version of the data set. Older versions are no longer available and have been superseded by Version 07.

This product contains the calibrated received power from the Ku-band Radar of the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) aboard the core satellite of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission.

The Ku-radar scan pattern is simpler than that of the Ka-band Radar, and is similar to the TRMM PR. It only has "Normal Scan" (NS) swath consisting of 49 footprints cross-track in a scan and the footprint size is about 5 km in diameter. The scan swath is 245 km.

Version 07 is the current version of the data set. Older versions will no longer be available and have been superseded by Version 07. The 2AKu algorithm is a single-frequency retrieval that relies on Ku-band data only, and provides precipitation estimates from the Ku radar of the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar on the core GPM spacecraft. The Ku Level-2A product, 2AKu, ”Ku precipitation,” is written as a 1 swath structure. The swath is NS, normal scans. Since the Ku-band channel of the Dual-Frequency Precipitaiton Radar (DPR) is very similar to the TRMM PR, the principal challenge in the development of the DPR level 2 algorithms is to combine the new Ka-band data with the Ku-band data. It is important to note the difference between the single- and the dual-frequency (DF) algorithms. While this 2AKu dataset is a single-frequency retrieval, the DF algorithm employs both KuPR and KaPR L1B standard products as inputs. The DF algorithm cannot be executed unless both L1B products are available. Pixels observed by DPR can be categorized into three types: pixels in the inner swath of normal scans (observed both by KuPR and KaPR), pixels in the outer swath of normal scans (observed only by KuPR), and pixels in the interleaved scans (observed only by KaPR in the high-sensitivity mode). The KuPR algorithm is executed for pixels in both inner and outer swaths of normal scans. The KaPR algorithm is executed for pixels in the inner swath of normal scans and in the interleaved scans. The DF algorithm is executed for pixels of all the three kinds.

Version 07 is the current version of the data set. Older versions will no longer be available and have been superseded by Version 07. . This is environmental data that includes the profiles of atmospheric parameters assumed in the L2 retrieval algorithm. This GPM data type provides single- and dual-frequency-derived precipitation estimates from the Ku and Ka radars of the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) on the core GPM spacecraft. The output consists of three main classes of precipitation products derived from the: + the Ku-band frequency over a wide swath (245 km); + the Ka-band frequency over a narrow swath (125 km), and + the dual-frequency data over the narrow swath. The Ka-band results are further divided into the standard and high-sensitivity estimates. In the standard sensitivity mode, the fields of view within the inner swath are matched to those of the Ku-band. Data from these matched-beam Ku- and Ka-band fields of view are used to derive the dual-frequency precipitation products. The retrievals are performed at each radar range bin along the slant path of the radar instrument field of view (IFOV). The dual-frequency retrieval benefits from having co-aligned measurements at Ku- and Ka-bands. Data from these measurements are used to infer properties of the particle size distribution, which are expected to lead to improved estimates of rainfall rate and equivalent liquid water content. Dual-frequency data are expected to improve the capability to discriminate among water, ice, and mixed-phase hydrometeors as a function of height. This capability is particularly important in convective storms where a bright-band signature, associated with mixed-phase hydrometeors, is usually not detectable. In addition, the different attenuation rates of the Ku- and Ka-bands allow differential attenuation techniques to be used to estimate the path integrated attenuation. The high-sensitivity Ka-band channel is expected to have 6 dB greater sensitivity than the Ku- and standard Ka-band channels and to provide enhanced detection capabilities at the light rainfall rates.

Version 07 is the current version of the data set. Older versions will no longer be available and have been superseded by Version 07..2ADPR provides single- and dual-frequency-derived precipitation estimates from the Ku and Ka radars of the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) on the core GPM spacecraft. The output consists of three main classes of precipitation products: those derived from the Ku-band frequency over a wide swath (245 km), those derived from the Ka-band frequency over a narrow swath (125 km), and those derived from the dual-frequency data over the narrow swath. The Ka-band results are further divided into the standard and high-sensitivity estimates. In the standard sensitivity mode, the fields of view within the inner swath are matched to those of the Ku-band. Data from these matched-beam Ku- and Ka-band fields of view are used to derive the dual-frequency precipitation products. The retrievals are performed at each radar range bin along the slant path of the radar instrument field of view (IFOV).

Version 07 is the current version of the data set. Older versions will no longer be available and have been superseded by Version 07. . This is environmental data that includes the profiles of atmospheric parameters assumed in the L2 retrieval algorithm. The 2AKu algorithm provides precipitation estimates from the Ku radar of the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar on the core GPM spacecraft. The product contains one swath of data corresponding to the scans of the Ku radar. This is a single-frequency retrieval of precipitation; no information from the Ka radar is used. The retrievals are performed at each radar range bin along the slant path of the radar IFOV. This is a single-frequency retrieval that relies on Ku-band data only. While the 2ADPR dual-frequency retrieval should give better overall estimates, that algorithm requires co-aligned Ka-band data. This 2AKu product will be produced independently and would not be impacted by any operational issues with the Ka-band radar.

GPM/DPR/KuPR L1B Received Power dataset is obtained from the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) sensor onboard Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Satellite and produced by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).GPM Core Satellite carries DPR and a GPM Microwave Imager (GMI). Main purposes of the GPM are "Comprehension of horizontal and vertical structure of precipitation systems", "Acquisition of precipitation particles information" and "Improvement of accuracy of precipitation by constellation satellites". GPM Core Satellite can observe the range from the south latitude about 65 degrees to the north latitude about 65 degrees, and flies Non-Sun-synchronous Circular Orbit at about the 407 km altitude. To keep the altitude, the Core Satellite does the orbit maintenance maneuver. The interval is about 7- 10 days. The swaths of DPR instrument are 125 and 245 km (78 and 152 mile) (245 km since May 21, 2018) for a Ka-band precipitation radar (KaPR) and a Ku-band precipitation radar (KuPR) respectively. In addition, simultaneous measurements are done at the overlapping of Ka/Ku-bands of the DPR. The GMI instrument is a conical-scanning multi-channel microwave radiometer covering a swath of 904 km (565 miles).In DPR level 1B standard processing, a level 1A product is read as input data and a product containing a received power profile and geometric information, such as observation positions, is outputted. During the course of processing, radiometric correction is carried out, missing data is processed based on missing data information, scan time is corrected and geometric calculation of the time, latitude, longitude, and height of each piece of scan data in each range bin is performed.The provided format is HDF5. The Sampling resolution are 5 km (horizontal) and 125 m (vertical). The current version of the product is Version 7. The Version 5 is also available. The generation unit is one orbit.

Version 07 is the current version of the data set. Older versions will no longer be available and have been superseded by Version 07. . 2ADPR provides single- and dual-frequency-derived precipitation estimates from the Ku and Ka radars of the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) on the core GPM spacecraft. The output consists of three main classes of precipitation products: those derived from the Ku-band frequency over a wide swath (245 km), those derived from the Ka-band frequency over a narrow swath (125 km), and those derived from the dual-frequency data over the narrow swath. The Ka-band results are further divided into the standard and high-sensitivity estimates. In the standard sensitivity mode, the fields of view within the inner swath are matched to those of the Ku-band. Data from these matched-beam Ku- and Ka-band fields of view are used to derive the dual-frequency precipitation products. The retrievals are performed at each radar range bin along the slant path of the radar instrument field of view (IFOV).

The GPM Ground Validation Airborne Precipitation Radar 3rd Generation (APR-3) OLYMPEX dataset was collected from November 12, 2015 to December 19, 2015 during the GPM Ground Validation Olympic Mountains Experiment (OLYMPEX) field campaign held in the Pacific Northwest. This first version of the dataset was published in June 2017. It was replaced by an updated version [DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5067/GPMGV/OLYMPEX/APR3/DATA201] in June 2018. The APR-3 is an updated version of the APR-2 instrument used in previous field campaigns, and contains an additional W-band measurement capability. APR-3 scans cross-track from +/- 25 to the right and left of nadir. During OLYMPEX, Ku-band, Ka-band and W-band frequency doppler measurements were made from the DC-8 aircraft at 10km altitude. The APR-3 dataset files are in HDF-4 format with PNG format browse images. This L1 APR-3 Version-1 dataset provided radar reflectivity, doppler velocity for all bands, linear depolarization ratio at Ku-band, and normalized radar cross section measurements at Ka and Ku-bands. For improved data now available in HDF5 format, we direct users to obtain the APR-3 Version-2 dataset [DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5067/GPMGV/OLYMPEX/APR3/DATA201]. This APR3 dataset was intended for research and users should contact the APR-3 team regarding data use, especially before publication or public presentation. This dataset has been superceeded by the APR-3 Version-2 dataset [DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5067/GPMGV/OLYMPEX/APR3/DATA201]. All users are invited to address questions and provide feedback to the Data Provider. Durden, Stephen L. and Simone Tanelli. 2017. GPM Ground Validation Airborne Precipitation Radar 3rd Generation (APR-3) OLYMPEX [indicate subset used]. Dataset available online from the NASA Global Hydrology Center DAAC, Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5067/GPMGV/OLYMPEX/APR3/DATA101 General Characteristics Publication date: 2017-06-20 Retirement date: 2018-07-20 Version: 2.3 Scientific release: 1 Collections: GPM Ground Validation Products Projects: OLYMPEX Platforms: NASA DC-8 Instruments: APR-3 Terms: Radar Processing level: 1B Format: HDF-4 Coverage Red dots or areas indicate coverage range. Location: Washington Spatial resolution: 800 m horizontal resolution at 10 km altitude, 60 m range resolution North boundary: 49.3347 West boundary: -129.048 East boundary: -122.134 South boundary: 45.9626 Temporal resolution: 1 minute -

Version 07 is the current version of the data set. Older versions will no longer be available and have been superseded by Version 07. The 2AKa algorithm provides precipitation estimates from the Ka radar of the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar on the core GPM spacecraft. The product contains two swaths of data corresponding to the scans of the Ka radar. The first swath contains matched scans (MS), which are intended to be co-aligned with the Ku-band instantaneous fields of view (IFOV). The second swath contains the high-sensitivity scans (HS), which are interleaved between the Ku/Ka-MS swaths. Both swaths are narrow and centered within the interior of the Ku swath. This is a single-frequency retrieval of precipitation; no information from the Ku radar is used. The retrievals are performed at each radar range bin along the slant path of the radar IFOV for each swath. This is a single-frequency retrieval that relies on Ka-band data only. While the dual-frequency retrieval should give better overall estimates, that algorithm requires co-aligned Ku-band data. This 2AKa product will be produced independently and would not be impacted by any operational issues with the Ku-band radar. The high sensitivity to smaller hydrometeors should result in precipitation estimates in lighter precipitation then the Ku-only data. It is important to note the difference between the single- and the dual-frequency (DF) algorithms. While this 2AKa dataset is a single-frequency retrieval, the DF algorithm employs both KuPR and KaPR L1B standard products as inputs. The DF algorithm cannot be executed unless both L1B products are available. Pixels observed by DPR can be categorized into three types: pixels in the inner swath of normal scans (observed both by KuPR and KaPR), pixels in the outer swath of normal scans (observed only by KuPR), and pixels in the interleaved scans (observed only by KaPR in the high-sensitivity mode). The KuPR algorithm is executed for pixels in both inner and outer swaths of normal scans. The KaPR algorithm is executed for pixels in the inner swath of normal scans and in the interleaved scans. The DF algorithm is executed for pixels of all the three kinds.

This is the processed dataset that corresponds with the paper titled: "A multi-frequency spaceborne radar perspective of deep convection" in AMS JAMC. The paper looks to evaluate the information content of shorter wavelengths of radar observed within deep convection collected by NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM) Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR). This dataset is the colocated and quality controlled radar profiles measured at Ku- (13 GHz) and Ka- (35 GHz) band within convection labeled by the GPM-DPR algorithms. These profiles occur globally from about -65 S and 65 N. The dataset is broken into yearly files, where each one contains radar profiles of shape n_samples, range_from_radar. Inside the files are also the original data (not-QCed), the temperature profile and a bunch of derived metrics from the profiles (e.g., echotops that were used in the paper). Overall, there are more than 39 million profiles in the dataset observed from March 2014 to November 2023. ..., These files are a combination of the 2A.DPR files and the 2B.CMB files from GPM-DPR (see this webpage for the raw files: https://gpm.nasa.gov/data/directory). They are acquired to enable the use of both the uncorrected measured radar reflectivities (2A.DPR) and the combined radar-radiometer retrievals of precipitation rate and water content (Grecu et al. 2016; Olson 2022). Data are sub-sampled to only convectively labeled profiles from the GPM algorithm (i.e., Awaka et al. 2021) and profiles that extend at least 5 km above the surface elevation, where the top was determined from the GPM storm top algorithm (heightStormTop). These criteria were used to isolate deep convection. Note that both the raw measured profiles as well as the quality controlled profiles (i.e., surface echo and noise above cloud top removed) are included in the dataset. , , # Processed GPM-DPR Convective Profiles (April 2014 - November 2023)

https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.g4f4qrg0w

Description of the data and file structure

The data here are quality controlled and extracted GPM-DPR profiles from within convection globally. Each File contains one calendar year of data. In total there are more than 30 million profiles included.Â

Files and variables

Common between files:

Dimensions: this varies depending on the variable, but in general there is the nsample dimension which are individual profiles of data. range is the vertical dimension, which is sampled to 250 m vertical bins. freq is the different frequencies of the DPR, 0 is the Ku-band, 1 is the Ka-band.Â

Variables:Â Here is the list of all variables in the files.Â

• R: Near surface precipitation rate from the 2A.DPR file. mm/hrÂ
• lon: longitude of the surface gate of the profile. degreesÂ
• lat: latitude of the surface gate of the...

GPM/DPR L3 Spectral Latent Heating (1-Month,0.5deg) dataset is obtained from the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) sensor onboard GPM and produced by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). GPM Core Satellite carries DPR and a GPM Microwave Imager (GMI). Main purposes of the GPM are 'Comprehension of horizontal and vertical structure of precipitation systems', 'Acquisition of precipitation particles information' and 'Improvement of accuracy of precipitation by constellation satellite'.GPM Core Satellite can observe the range from the south latitude about 65 degrees to the north latitude about 65 degrees, and flies Non-Sun-synchronous Circular Orbit at about the 407 km altitude. To keep the altitude, the Core Satellite does the orbit maintenance maneuver. The interval is about 7-10 days.The swaths of DPR instrument are 125 and 245 km (78 and 152 mile) (245 km since May 21, 2018) for a Ka-band precipitation radar (KaPR) and a Ku-band precipitation radar (KuPR) respectively. In addition, simultaneous measurements are done at the overlapping of Ka/Ku-bands of the DPR. The GMI instrument is a conical-scanning multi-channel microwave radiometer covering a swath of 904 km (565 miles).In the Monthly Spectral Latent Heating (3HSLH), latent heating of 0.5degree grid and vertical distribution of Q1-QR and Q2 are obtained from DPR rainfall products. The provided format is HDF5. The Sampling resolution are 0.5degree grid. The statistical period is 1 month. The generation unit is global. The current version of the product is Version 7A.

GPM/DPR L3 Precipitation (1-Day,0.25deg) dataset is obtained from the DPR sensor onboard GPM and produced by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). GPM Core Satellite carries Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) and a microwave radiometer. Main purposes of the GPM are "Comprehension of horizontal and vertical structure of precipitation systems", "Acquisition of precipitation particles information" and "Improvement of accuracy of precipitation by constellation satellites". GPM Core Satellite can observe the range from the south latitude about 65 degrees to the north latitude about 65 degrees, and flies Non-Sun-synchronous Circular Orbit at about the 407 km altitude. To keep the altitude, the Core Satellite does the orbit maintenance maneuver. The interval is about 7-10 days.The swaths of DPR instrument are 125 and 245 km (78 and 152 mile) (245 km since May 21, 2018) for a Ka-band precipitation radar (KaPR) and a Ku-band precipitation radar (KuPR) respectively. In addition, simultaneous measurements are done at the overlapping of Ka/Ku-bands of the DPR. The GMI instrument is a conical-scanning multi-channel microwave radiometer covering a swath of 904 km (565 miles).The Level 3 DPR algorithm accumulates instantaneous precipitation estimates from the Level 2 retrieval algorithms into grids over a day and month time span. Unless otherwise specified, the means are conditioned on precipitation being present. For the daily product, the mean square statistic is saved rather than the standard deviation. In addition to the daily and monthly products is a simplified joint daily product that contains a subset of the fields from the full daily product. The Level 3 DPR products present the user with summary information over daily and monthly time periods. The provided format is HDF5. The Sampling resolution is 0.25 degree grid (Daily HDF5). The current version of the product is Version 7. The generation unit is global.

The GPM Ground Validation Dual-frequency Dual-polarized Doppler Radar (D3R) OLYMPEX dataset contains radar reflectivity, velocity, differential reflectivity, differential phase, spectrum width, and co-polar correlation products collected during the Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM) Ground Validation (GV) Olympic Mountains Experiment (OLYMPEX). The OLYMPEX field campaign took place between November 2015 and January 2016, with additional ground sampling continuing through February 2016, on the Olympic Peninsula in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The purpose of the campaign was to provide ground-validation data for the measurements taken by instrumentation aboard the GPM Core Observatory satellite. The Dual-frequency Dual-polarized Doppler Radar (D3R) was developed by a government-industry-academic consortium with funding from NASA’s GPM mission and was used in several ground validation projects. D3R operates at the Ku-band (13.91 GHz ± 25 MHz) and Ka-band (35.56 GHz ± 25 MHz) frequencies, similar to the frequencies used for the GPM satellite instruments, and covers a fixed range from 450 m to 40 km. For OLYMPEX, the D3R was co-located with the NASA S-band Dual Polarimetric (NPOL) Doppler Radar at a coastal Washington state location on the Olympic Peninsula. Due to blockage caused by NPOL, the D3R measurement area is limited to a 220 degree to 120 degree sector. The GPM GV D3R OLYMPEX dataset files are available from November 8, 2015 through January 15, 2016 in netCDF-4 format along with browse imagery of reflectivity in PNG format.

The GPM Ground Validation High Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) MC3E dataset was collected by the High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP), which is a dual-frequency (Ka- and Ku-band) conical scan system, configured with a nadir viewing antenna on the high-altitude (20 km) NASA ER-2 aircraft. It provides calibrated reflectivity and unfolded Doppler velocity. The GPM Ground Validation High Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) MC3E dataset consists of netCDF (.nc) files and images (.gif). Measurements included within the data files are merged pulse and chirp radar reflectivity profiles at 13.9 and 33.7 GHz.

The GPM Ground Validation High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) IPHEx dataset was collected during the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Ground Validation Integrated Precipitation and Hydrology Experiment (IPHEx) field campaign in North Carolina. The goal of IPHEx was to evaluate the accuracy of satellite precipitation measurements and use the collected data for hydrology models in the region. The NASA ER-2 aircraft flew during the IPHEx field campaign to aid in GPM validation. The science instruments, including the HIWRAP, onboard the aircraft acted as a proxy for GPM satellite instruments. HIWRAP is a Doppler radar that combines conical scan mode measurements at two different frequency bands (Ka- and Ku-band) and two different incidence angles (30 and 40 degrees). Twenty-one ER-2 flights occurred from May 1, 2014 through June 14, 2014. The HIWRAP dataset includes netCDF-4 files containing radar reflectivity and Doppler velocity profiles along with aircraft altitude and other navigation information.

The GPM Ground Validation High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) OLYMPEX dataset consists of Doppler velocity and reflectivity profiles collected by the High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) onboard the NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft during the Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM) Ground Validation Olympic Mountains Experiment (OLYMPEX). The OLYMPEX field campaign took place between November 2015 and January 2016, with additional ground sampling continuing through February 2016, on the Olympic Peninsula in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The purpose of the campaign was to provide ground-validation data for the measurements taken by instrumentation aboard the GPM Core Observatory satellite. HIWRAP is a Doppler radar that combines conical scan mode measurements at two different frequency bands (Ka- and Ku-band) and two different incidence angles (30 and 40 degrees) to obtain profiles of wind and rain. These Level 1B HIWRAP data files are available from November 10 through December 12, 2015 in netCDF-3 format.

The GRIP High Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) dataset was collected by the High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP), which is a dual-frequency (Ka- and Ku-band) conical scan system, configured with a nadir viewing antenna on the Global Hawk aircraft. The HIWRAP instrument provides calibrated reflectivity and unfolded Doppler velocity. These dual-frequency radar measurements have frequencies similar to that of the GPM. These data are from the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment from September 16, 2010 through September 24, 2010. The major goal was to better understand how tropical storms form and develop into major hurricanes. NASA used the DC-8 aircraft, the WB-57 aircraft and the Global Hawk Unmanned Airborne System (UAS), configured with a suite of in situ and remote sensing instruments that were used to observe and characterize the lifecycle of hurricanes. HIWRAP flew on the Global Hawk aircraft mainly over the Gulf of America.

Version 5 is the current version of the data set. Version 4 is no longer available and has been superseded by Version 5.

This product contains the calibrated received power from the Ka-band of the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) aboard the core satellite of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission.

One of the reasons for adding the Ka-band frequency (35.5 GHz) channel to the DPR is to provide information on the drop-size distribution that can be obtained from non-Rayleigh scattering effects at the higher frequency. Another reason for the new Ka-band channel is to provide more accurate estimates of the phase-transition height in precipitating systems. This information is very important not only in increasing the accuracy of rain rate estimation by the DPR itself, but in improving rain estimation by passive microwave radiometers.

The Ka-band Radar has a more complex scanning geometry, defined by two modes: Matched (MS) and High-sensitivity (HS). In the first type of scan (MS), the Ka Radar beams are matched to the central 25 beams of the Ku Radar, providing a swath of 120 km (within the 245km swath of the Ku Radar). In the second type of scan (HS), the Ka is operated in the high-sensitivity mode to detect light rain and snow. In this case, its beams are interlaced within the matched scan pattern, resulting in 49 cross-track beams which, however, still cover the 120-km swath.

The GRIP High Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) dataset was collected by the High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP), which is a dual-frequency (Ka- and Ku-band) conical scan system, configured with a nadir viewing antenna on the Global Hawk aircraft. The HIWRAP instrument provides calibrated reflectivity and unfolded Doppler velocity. These dual-frequency radar measurements have frequencies similar to that of the GPM. These data are from the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment from September 16, 2010 through September 24, 2010. The major goal was to better understand how tropical storms form and develop into major hurricanes. NASA used the DC-8 aircraft, the WB-57 aircraft and the Global Hawk Unmanned Airborne System (UAS), configured with a suite of in situ and remote sensing instruments that were used to observe and characterize the lifecycle of hurricanes. HIWRAP flew on the Global Hawk aircraft mainly over the Gulf of America.