GPM SSMI Climate-based Radiometer Precipitation Profiling: Global Monthly Gridded Data

Global monthly gridded precipitation averages derived from satellite microwave sensors. The data is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration using the GPROF algorithm with climate-consistent ancillary data from ECMWF-Interim reanalysis. Version 7 is the current version, superseding older releases.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term global precipitation trends for climate studies based on the climate-reference product design.
• Validating climate models using homogeneous, satellite-derived precipitation data based on the use of consistent ECMWF-Interim ancillary data.
• Studying the distribution of liquid and ice-phase precipitation hydrometeors based on microwave sensor sensitivity mentioned in the description.

Strengths

• Uses climate-consistent ancillary data (ECMWF-Interim reanalysis) to ensure homogeneity for time-series analysis.
• Based on retrievals from high-quality microwave sensors sensitive to both liquid and ice-phase precipitation.
• Current version is V07, with older versions superseded.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Satellite retrievals from SSMI sensors processed with the GPROF algorithm using ECMWF-Interim reanalysis as ancillary data.

Time Range

Monthly averages; specific temporal coverage is not provided in the input.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 01:56:36.471586; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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