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Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System Dropsondes (AVAPS) IMPACTS

Published by NASA/MSFC/GHRC | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Metadata Last Checked: August 10, 2025 | Last Modified: 2025-08-06
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 28, 2023, in ASCII-ict format.

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