NASA TROPICS: Precipitation Ice Water Path Over Oceans from Satellite Constellation

The TROPICS mission provides nearly all-weather observations from a constellation of five small satellites. This Level-2b dataset contains Precipitation Ice Water Path (PIWP) measurements, representing the total mass of falling ice-phase precipitation per unit area over oceans. Data is organized in netCDF granules, each containing approximately 2880 scans and 81 spots from an orbit.

Use Cases

• Modeling tropical cyclone intensity and structure based on high-temporal-resolution precipitation ice observations.
• Analyzing three-dimensional humidity and temperature profiles in storm systems using the described microwave spectrometer channels.
• Studying the horizontal structure of cloud ice and precipitation in near-all-weather conditions.
• Investigating the relationship between PIWP and storm development over ocean basins.

Strengths

• Data is collected by a dedicated constellation of five identical satellites, enabling high temporal resolution.
• The TROPICS Millimeter-wave Sounder (TMS) provides profiles across seven temperature channels near 118.75 GHz and three water vapor channels near 183 GHz.
• The dataset has a clear, specific focus on Precipitation Ice Water Path (PIWP), distinct from Cloud Ice Water Path.

Limitations

• The algorithm currently retrieves PIWP over oceans only; land retrievals are noted as a future possibility.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and total dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

NASA TROPICS mission

Collection Method

Collected via a constellation of five small satellites hosting passive microwave spectrometer payloads.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Geography

Global, with a focus on tropical regions and currently limited to retrievals over oceans.