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Full catalog/SNEX23_CRREL_GPR
SNEX23_CRREL_GPR·v1·dataset

Ground radar probing the snowpack (SnowEx 2023)

SnowEx23 CRREL Ground Penetrating Radar V001
cryosphere NASA NSIDC_CPRD Level 2 CSV
In plain English

What it measures. Ground-based radar readings of the snowpack, giving how long the radar signal takes to travel through the snow, the calculated snow depth, and the snow water equivalent (how much water the snow holds).

How it's made. Collected by 1 GHz ground-penetrating radar dragged across snow at a site in northern Alaska during the NASA SnowEx 2023 field campaign in March 2023.

How & where you'd use it. Helps scientists measure and validate snowpack depth and water content, useful for water-supply estimates and for checking satellite and airborne snow data.

What's measured

CRYOSPHERE › SNOW/ICE › ICE DEPTH/THICKNESSCRYOSPHERE › SNOW/ICE › SNOW DEPTHCRYOSPHERE › SNOW/ICE › SNOW WATER EQUIVALENTSPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › RADAR › RADAR REFLECTIVITY › Two-Way Travel Time

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2023-03-08 → 2023-03-15
  • Measured byGROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS (GPR)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-149.598, 68.5257, -149.2186, 68.64
  • FormatsCSV
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Measure sea ice, snow cover and glaciers
  • Watch ice-sheet elevation change
  • Track freeze/thaw and permafrost
Official description

This data set contains the results of 1 GHz ground-penetrating radar surveys conducted at the Upper Kuparuk/Toolik (UKT) site in northern Alaska, USA as part of the NASA SnowEx 2023 field campaign. Data were collected between 08 Mar 2023 to 15 Mar 2023, spatially coinciding with snow pit locations and along transects between snow pits. Data include two-way travel (TWT) time, calculated snow depth, and calculated snow water equivalent (SWE). Raw GPR data are available as <a href="https://nsidc.org/data/SNEX23_CRREL_GPR_Raw/versions/1">SnowEx23 CRREL Ground Penetrating Radar Raw, Version 1</a>.

Get the data

snex23_crrel_gpr_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="SNEX23_CRREL_GPR",
    version="1",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from NSIDC_CPRD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.