DMSP F15 Satellite Monthly Ocean Grids for Wind, Vapor, Cloud, and Rain

Monthly average satellite data from the DMSP F15 platform provides a long-term time series of ocean surface wind speed, atmospheric water vapor, cloud liquid water, and rain rate. The dataset is produced by Remote Sensing Systems using a unified physical algorithm refined over 20 years, as part of NASA's MEaSUREs Program. Data from the SSM/I and SSMIS sensors are intercalibrated and reformatted into netCDF files by the Global Hydrology Resource Center.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term trends in ocean surface wind speeds for climate studies.
• Modeling global atmospheric water vapor content and its distribution.
• Studying the relationship between cloud liquid water and precipitation rates over oceans.
• Validating and calibrating other satellite or model-derived meteorological datasets.
• Investigating spatial and temporal patterns of rainfall over the global ocean.

Strengths

• Data is intercalibrated between SSM/I and SSMIS sensors, ensuring consistency for long-term time series analysis.
• Retrieval algorithm is the product of 20 years of refinements, improvements, and verifications.
• Provides four key ocean-atmosphere variables (wind speed, water vapor, cloud water, rain rate) simultaneously from a unified algorithm.
• Dataset is hosted by NASA and appears on multiple platforms, indicating recognized importance.

Limitations

• Specific temporal coverage, row count, and file size are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: one lists 2026-03-12, another lists 2011-12 31.
• Column names and detailed data structure within the netCDF files are unknown.

Provenance

Source

Remote Sensing Systems, generated for NASA's MEaSUREs Program.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the DMSP F15 platform's SSM/I and SSMIS sensors, with data processed using a unified physical retrieval algorithm and reformatted to netCDF.

Time Range

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Freshness

2026-03-12 21:54:02.121716

Geography

Global ocean coverage.