Ocean Wind, Vapor, Cloud, and Rain Grids from DMSP F17 Satellite

NASA's MEaSUREs Program provides a 3-day averaged dataset of ocean surface wind speed, atmospheric water vapor, cloud liquid water, and rain rate. The data is derived from the DMSP F17 satellite's SSMIS instrument using a unified algorithm refined over 20 years. Remote Sensing Systems produced the original retrievals, which the Global Hydrology Resource Center reformatted into netCDF files.

Use Cases

• Analyzing ocean surface wind patterns for weather forecasting and climate modeling using wind speed grids.
• Studying atmospheric moisture transport and the hydrological cycle via water vapor concentration data.
• Investigating cloud microphysics and precipitation processes using cloud liquid water and rain rate measurements.
• Validating and calibrating other satellite or model-derived ocean and atmosphere data products.
• Examining long-term trends in marine meteorological variables due to the intercalibrated time series extending previous SSM/I records.

Strengths

• Data is produced using a physically based algorithm representing 20 years of refinements and verifications.
• SSMIS brightness temperatures are intercalibrated with previous SSM/I data, extending a critical climate data record.
• The dataset provides simultaneous retrievals of four key ocean-atmosphere variables from a single sensor.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, file sizes, and precise temporal coverage are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on license details: Data.gov specifies 'other-license-specified' while NASA Earthdata lists no license.
• Column names and the exact data structure within the netCDF files are unknown.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) MEaSUREs Program, with retrievals by Remote Sensing Systems.

Collection Method

Microwave brightness temperatures from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS) on the DMSP F17 satellite are processed with a unified retrieval algorithm.

Time Range

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Freshness

2026-03-12 21:53:17.525712

Geography

Global ocean coverage.