Numerical Model Generated Baja Test Scenes for EarthCARE Pre-launch Studies - Part 2: Hydrometeor and Aerosol Properties

This second part of the dataset contains the hydrometeor and aerosol properties of Baja test scene (39318D) used for pre-launch studies of EarthCARE’s retrieval algorithms and data management system. The effective radii of ice particles are modified based on the original data produced by Environment and Climate Change Canada's Global Environmental Multi-scale (GEM) NWP model (Côté et al., 1998, Girard et al., 2014). The aerosols data from CAMS interim re-analysis (Flemming et al. 2017) are also added into the test scene. Please refer to the first part of this dataset for the atmospheric and surface properties.

The Baja test frame is 6200 km long and 200 km wide with horizontal grid-spacing of 250 km and 57 vertical layers. The simulation is initialized at 12h00 UTC 02-Apr-2015 and saved at 21h00 UTC. This frame extends from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, over central North America’s Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, and ends near Baja California Sur. It includes conditions of blowing snow and largely cloudless in the north end of the frame, low scattered clouds over snow-covered surfaces through the Canadian Prairies, cloudy condition over the Rocky Mountains and clear sky with some cirrus in the south end of the frame.