GPM_3GPROFF15SSMI_CLIM: Global Monthly Precipitation Grids from Satellite Radiometers

Global gridded monthly precipitation averages derived from microwave sensor retrievals by the NASA GPM mission. The data uses climate-consistent ancillary data from ECMWF-Interim reanalysis to ensure homogeneity for long-term climate studies. Version 07 is the current version, superseding all older releases.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term precipitation trends for climate studies based on the climate-reference product design.
• Validating climate model outputs against satellite-derived precipitation data based on the global gridded averages.
• Studying the sensitivity of microwave sensors to liquid and ice-phase hydrometeors based on the GPROF algorithm description.

Strengths

• Data is part of the NASA GPM mission, a major international satellite precipitation measurement project.
• Uses climate-homogeneous ancillary data from ECMWF-Interim reanalysis for consistent long-term analysis.
• Provides global coverage at a 0.25-degree x 0.25-degree spatial resolution.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific ML tasks.
• Ancillary data from 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) via the GES DISC.

Collection Method

Retrievals from the SSMI sensor on the F15 satellite processed by the GPROF algorithm.

Time Range

Monthly temporal resolution; specific date range is not provided in the input.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:16:02.653907; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global spatial coverage.