Global Precipitation Measurement Climate-Referenced Radiometer Data

Global satellite data provides precipitation profiles and related science fields from multiple passive microwave sensors, including AMSR-2, GMI, and SSMIS. The dataset is processed by the GPROF algorithm using climate-consistent ECMWF reanalysis ancillary data to ensure homogeneity for long-term studies. NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission produces this data, with Version 07 being the current operational version.

Use Cases

• Analyzing precipitation vertical structure and hydrometeor profiles from retrieved Bayesian algorithm outputs.
• Comparing climate-referenced rain rates from the 'CLIM' product with near-real-time retrievals using different ancillary data.
• Studying global 3-hour precipitation coverage by fusing retrievals from sensors like TMI, GMI, SSMIS, AMSR-2, and ATMS.
• Assessing uncertainty estimates provided with the mean rain rate retrieval for error propagation in climate studies.
• Investigating surface and atmospheric condition inputs derived from ECMWF reanalysis data used in the GPROF algorithm.

Strengths

• Provides consistent climate data records using homogeneous ECMWF reanalysis ancillary data over the time series.
• Large spatial sampling achieved by combining data from over 10 satellite-borne passive microwave sensors.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, file sizes, and temporal coverage for the dataset are not provided in the description.
• Ancillary data for the climate product has a 2-3 month lag behind regular production, limiting near-real-time analysis.

Provenance

Source

NASA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, processed and distributed by the GES DISC.

Collection Method

Retrievals from the GPROF Bayesian algorithm applied to brightness temperature observations from constellation satellite sensors.

Time Range

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Freshness

Version 07 is the current version; update frequency is tied to satellite data collection and reprocessing cycles.

Geography

Global coverage from satellite orbits.