KWAJEX: The Kwajalein Experiment

Summary

The Kwajalein Experiment (KWAJEX), held 23 July - 15 September 1999, was a field observation campaign centered on Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands and sponsored by NASA in cooperation with the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll/Kwajalein Missile Range and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. The joint U.S.-Japan Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was launched in November 1997 and uses a Ku-band radar and a multi-channel passive microwave radiometer to map precipitation in the tropics. A number of physical assumptions are made within the TRMM satellite algorithms in order to obtain rain rates from the the satellite-measured radiances. The goals of KWAJEX were focused on making observations to reduce uncertainty in these physical assumptions by gathering a coordinated data set of airborne, shipborne, and ground-based measurements within tropical open ocean precipitating clouds. This site integrates information on the specific measurements made during the KWAJEX field campaign and on the ongoing data processing and analysis.