GPM_3PRPSMT1SAPHIR_CLIM: Climate-Reference Satellite Precipitation Profiles

Climate-Reference products using homogeneous ancillary data from ECMWF-Interim reanalysis to ensure consistency over the climate time series. The dataset, produced by NASA's GES DISC, provides best estimates of instantaneous precipitation based on matched SAPHIR-DPR satellite radiances, independent of dynamic model data. It includes precipitation estimates, error assessments, fit measures, and quality flags at a 0.25 x 0.25 degree resolution.

Use Cases

• Generate climatological precipitation models based on the climate-reference ancillary data.
• Validate near real-time precipitation retrievals from passive microwave instruments using the core observatory calibration method.
• Analyze precipitation profiling errors and data fit based on the provided error assessment and fit measures.
• Study atmospheric water vapor and precipitation patterns independent of trends in weather model data.

Strengths

• Uses homogeneous ECMWF-Interim reanalysis ancillary data for consistent climate time series.
• Provides precipitation estimates, error assessments, and quality flags for each retrieval.
• Algorithm is independent of dynamic model data, suitable for both near real-time and climatological scales.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Limitations of the DPR instrument are transferred through the retrieval scheme to the resulting products.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Derived from satellite radiances (SAPHIR-DPR observations) using the Precipitation Retrieval and Profiling Scheme (PRPS) with static a priori databases.

Time Range

Monthly data (1 month product).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 01:56:58.074870; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage at 0.25 x 0.25 degree spatial resolution.