GPM GPROF: Global Satellite Precipitation Profiles from NOAA-19 MHS

Global precipitation and atmospheric water vapor data retrieved by the GPM GPROF algorithm from the NOAA-19 satellite's MHS radiometer. The dataset provides consistent precipitation profiles and related fields across a constellation of partner sensors, with products available in near-realtime, standard, and climate versions using different ancillary data. Version 07 is the current version, superseding older releases.

Use Cases

• Analyzing global precipitation distribution and intensity based on retrieved rain rates.
• Studying vertical cloud and precipitation structure based on the Bayesian retrieval of hydrometeor profiles.
• Comparing precipitation estimates across different satellite sensors (GMI, SSMI, SSMIS, etc.) mentioned in the constellation approach.
• Investigating atmospheric water vapor content based on the brightness temperature observations.
• Creating long-term climate records of precipitation using the ECMWF reanalysis-backed climate product.

Strengths

• Provides large spatial and temporal sampling, contributing to 3-hour global coverage as part of the GPM mission.
• Algorithm uses a consistent Bayesian method and a-priori database across multiple sensors, supporting a parametric constellation approach.
• Offers three product tiers (near-realtime, standard, climate) with varying latency and ancillary data for different use cases.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific analytical needs.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data retrieved via the GPROF Bayesian algorithm from brightness temperature observations by the MHS radiometer on the NOAA-19 satellite.

Time Range

Temporal coverage is not explicitly stated, but data is collected continuously with products available within 3 hours to 3 months of observation.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 02:17:42.406265; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage, as implied by the satellite-based constellation approach.