GPM_3GPROFNOAA20ATMS_CLIM: Monthly Global Satellite Precipitation Data for Climate Studies

GPM_3GPROFNOAA20ATMS_CLIM is a Level 3 climate-reference dataset providing global gridded monthly precipitation averages. The data is produced by NASA using the GPROF algorithm on microwave sensor retrievals from the NOAA-20 satellite's ATMS instrument. Version 07, last updated in March 2026, uses homogeneous ECMWF-Interim reanalysis data as ancillary input to ensure consistency for long-term climate studies.

Use Cases

• Conducting climate trend analysis based on global, gridded monthly precipitation averages.
• Validating climate models using climate-reference precipitation data derived from microwave sensors.
• Studying atmospheric water vapor and hydrometeor distribution based on microwave radiometer sensitivity.
• Performing inter-satellite data comparison for precipitation products within the GPM mission framework.

Strengths

• Data is Version 07, representing the current and superseding version of the product.
• Uses climate-homogeneous ancillary data (ECMWF-Interim) to ensure consistency over the time series.
• Based on retrievals from high-quality microwave sensors sensitive to liquid and ice-phase precipitation.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The ECMWF-Interim ancillary data has a 2-3 month lag behind regular production.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Retrievals from the ATMS microwave sensor on the NOAA-20 satellite, processed with the GPROF algorithm.

Time Range

Monthly temporal resolution; specific date range is not provided in the input.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:09:24.029719.

Geography

Global coverage at a 0.25 degree x 0.25 degree spatial resolution.