The reprocessed ER-2 Doppler Radar (EDOP) data were collected during the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, Large-scale Biosphere-Atmosphere (TRMM-LBA) field campaign, also known as TRMM Brazil. The campaign took place in from November 1998 and February 1999. TRMM-LBA/TRMM Brazil focused on improving our understanding of the dynamical, microphysical, electrical, and thermodynamical aspects of the intense deep convection that occurs over Amazonia. The field campaign collected observations using both the NASA ER-2 and University of North Dakota Citation aircraft as well as multiple ground observation sites. The goal of the TRMM-LBA mission was to study convection over humid tropical land regions within the
range of research-quality radar, lightning, radiosonde, and rain gauge sites. The EDOP dataset is an X-band (9.6 GHz) Doppler radar mounted in the nose of ER-2. The instrument has two fixed antennas, one pointing at nadir and the second pointing approximately 33 degree ahead of nadir. The beam width of the antenna is 3 degrees in the vertical and horizontal directions which, for a 20 km altitude, yields a nadir footprint at the surface of 1
km. The ER-2 ground speed is nominally 210 m/s and the integration period used by the data system is 0.5 second. The transmit pulse is 0.5 second and the gate spacing is over sampled at 37.5 meter interval. Minimum detectable reflectivity is about -10 dBZ at an altitude of 15 km with a 0.375 meters range gate spacing. These data are available in netCDF-4 format from December 18, 1998 to February 25, 1999.