NOAA-19 Satellite Microwave Radiometer Precipitation Profiles

GPM's 2AGPROF algorithm retrieves precipitation profiles and cloud hydrometeor data from passive microwave sensors, including the MHS instrument on NOAA-19. The product provides consistent 3-hour global coverage through near-realtime, standard, and climate data versions. Version 07 is the current and authoritative data release from NASA's GES DISC.

Use Cases

• Retrieve mean rain rate and vertical hydrometeor structure for regional precipitation analysis.
• Compare observed brightness temperature (Tb) fields with simulated Tb from the a-priori database for algorithm validation.
• Analyze precipitation uncertainty estimates provided with the retrieved profiles.
• Study cloud and precipitation hydrometeor data to understand storm structure and microphysics.
• Use the consistent sensor constellation data (GMI, SSMI, SSMIS, AMSR2, TMI, MHS, ATMS, SAPHIR) for multi-satellite precipitation climatology.

Strengths

• Provides consistent precipitation retrievals across a constellation of 10+ passive microwave sensors.
• Offers three processing levels (NRT, standard, climate) with different ancillary data (GANAL, ECMWF) for varied use cases.
• Algorithm uses a parametric Bayesian method suitable for a multi-sensor constellation approach.

Limitations

• Specific spatial resolution, temporal coverage, and row counts for the NOAA-19 MHS product are not provided in the description.
• The a-priori database for initial versions was constructed from various sources, potentially introducing early version inconsistencies.
• Ancillary data sources differ between product types (NRT vs. climate), which may affect cross-product analysis.

Provenance

Source

NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC).

Collection Method

Bayesian retrieval algorithm (2AGPROF/GPROF) applied to brightness temperature data from the MHS instrument on the NOAA-19 satellite.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Global coverage, achieving bulk 3-hour sampling via the GPM constellation.