GPM SSM/I F11: Climate-Referenced Satellite Precipitation Profiles

Global precipitation and atmospheric water vapor data retrieved by the GPROF algorithm from the SSM/I sensor on the DMSP F11 satellite. The dataset is a climate-reference product using ECMWF-Interim reanalysis for homogeneous ancillary data over the climate time series. It is produced by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center as part of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, with the current version being V07.

Use Cases

• Climate trend analysis based on the homogeneous, climate-referenced ancillary data used in the 'CLIM' product.
• Precipitation profile retrieval and uncertainty estimation based on the Bayesian algorithm methodology described.
• Inter-sensor calibration studies based on the use of a consistent a-priori database across the GPM constellation of passive microwave sensors.
• Validation of atmospheric models using retrieved vertical structures of cloud and precipitation hydrometeors.

Strengths

• Provides a consistent climate data record by using ECMWF-Interim reanalysis for ancillary data, as specified for the 'CLIM' product.
• Employs a parametric Bayesian retrieval method, described as well-suited for the multi-sensor GPM constellation approach.
• Offers data from a large sampling of the Earth's surface, as noted as the main strength of the product in the description.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing data from the SSM/I sensor on the DMSP F11 satellite, processed by the Goddard Profiling (GPROF) algorithm.

Time Range

Temporal coverage is not explicitly stated, but the dataset is part of a climate time series.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 02:16:03.957876; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage, as implied by the satellite-based nature of the GPM mission.