NASA GSFC Cloud Radar System (CRS) during CCVEX

The successful launch of CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) enables scientists to assess cloud coverage and cloud microphysics properties in global scale. The CALIPSO & CloudSat Validation EXperiment (CCVEX) provides the first opportunity for thorough validation of NASA A-train satellite sensors including CLoudSat and CALIPSO. There were two goals for CCVEX: to validate the sensitivity and calibration for the CloudSat radar and the CALIPSO lidar, and to validate the initial A-train microphysical algorithms. The NASA GSFC Cloud Radar System (CRS) is a 94 GHz Doppler radar, which operates at the same frequency as the CloudSat CPR. Flying CRS on a high altitude aircraft enables us to simulate the CloudSat radar and provide independent validation for the spaceborne radar. During CCVEX, CRS was deployed on a NASA ER-2 along with NASA GSFC Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) and NASA Ames MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS). A total of 12 flights were conducted under CloudSat/CALIPSO satellite overpasses between July 24 and August 14, 2006, observing a variety of thin and thick cirrus, mid-level clouds, precipitating clouds as well as ocean surface returns. This paper discusses the post CCVEX analysis on CRS measurement from clouds and ocean surface. The later is used as a calibration reference for both CRS and CPR. Preliminary results will be shown from the inter-comparison of CRS and CloudSat CPR measurements.