DMSP Satellite Microwave Temperature Record from 1987

Nine Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites provide raw antenna temperature data from their SSM/I and SSMIS sensors. The collection spans from July 1987 to the present, with nearly global daily coverage from roughly 15 orbits per day. Colorado State University reformatted this data into single-orbit netCDF-4 files as input for creating a Fundamental Climate Data Record.

Use Cases

• Analyze long-term trends in raw antenna temperature across different sensor channels for climate monitoring.
• Use spacecraft position and velocity data added from TLEs for precise geolocation calculation of each observation.
• Compare temperature readings from the nine different satellites (F08-F18) for sensor inter-comparison studies.
• Leverage the ~50 km to ~15 km spatial resolution, which varies by sensor channel, for regional-scale microwave analysis.

Strengths

• Time series covers over 35 years, from July 1987 to present.
• Data consolidated from nine different satellites (F08, F10, F11, F13, F14, F15, F16, F17, F18).
• Provides nearly global daily coverage from approximately 15 orbits per day with a 1400 km swath width.

Limitations

• Data has a 7 to 10 day latency, not suitable for real-time applications.
• Spatial resolution is coarse, varying from ~50 km to ~15 km depending on the sensor channel.

Provenance

Source

Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites F08-F18, processed by Colorado State University.

Collection Method

Raw unprocessed antenna temperature data reorganized into single orbit granules with duplicate scans removed.

Time Range

July 1987 to present.

Freshness

Updated continuously with a 7 to 10 day latency.

Geography

Nearly global coverage.