GPM GPROF: Global Monthly Satellite Precipitation Estimates at 0.25° Resolution

Global gridded monthly precipitation averages derived from microwave sensors on the Aqua satellite's AMSR-E instrument. The data is produced by NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission using the GPROF algorithm with climate-consistent ancillary data from ECMWF-Interim reanalysis. Version 07 is the current climate-reference product, last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term global precipitation patterns for climate studies based on climate-reference ancillary data.
• Validating and calibrating climate model precipitation outputs based on microwave sensor retrievals.
• Studiating atmospheric water vapor and hydrometeor distribution based on sensor sensitivity to liquid and ice-phase precipitation.
• Investigating regional precipitation variability and anomalies based on 0.25-degree gridded monthly averages.

Strengths

• Uses climate-homogeneous ancillary data (ECMWF-Interim) for consistent long-term time series analysis.
• Based on retrievals from high-quality microwave sensors sensitive to both liquid and ice-phase precipitation.
• Provides global coverage at a 0.25-degree spatial resolution.
• Maintained as a current version (V07) with older versions superseded.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Ancillary data has a 2-3 month lag behind regular production, which may affect near-real-time applications.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) via the GES DISC.

Collection Method

Retrievals from the AMSR-E microwave radiometer on the Aqua satellite, processed with the GPROF algorithm using ECMWF-Interim reanalysis as ancillary data.

Time Range

Monthly aggregates; specific temporal coverage is not provided in the input.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:10:03.486132; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global.