SNDRJ1ML2RMSSUP: NOAA-20 ATMS All-Weather Geophysical Profiles

Sounder SIPS: JPSS-1 ATMS Level 2 RAMSES2 Support V3 provides geophysical retrievals from the NOAA-20 satellite's Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder. The RAMSES II algorithm processes 22-channel microwave observations to generate profiles of temperature, water in all phases, and surface properties without cloud clearing, enabling all-weather data collection. Data is organized into 6-minute granules, with 240 produced daily on a 16-day orbit repeat cycle.

Use Cases

• Monitoring atmospheric temperature profiles for weather forecasting and climate models.
• Analyzing total precipitable water and humidity indicators for hydrological studies.
• Assessing sea surface temperature and land surface skin temperature for surface energy balance research.
• Studying liquid water equivalent precipitation in all-weather conditions.
• Validating microwave retrieval algorithms and satellite instrument performance.

Strengths

• Provides all-weather retrievals as the algorithm lacks a cloud clearing process.
• Offers high temporal granularity with data organized into 240 six-minute granules per day.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals established importance and curation.
• Utilizes a 22-channel cross-track scanner across a broad spectral range (23-183 GHz).

Limitations

• Column names and exact data structure are not provided in any source description.
• Metadata for size, row count, and author is consistently missing or listed as 'unknown'.
• The 'last updated' date of 2026-04-09 appears to be a placeholder or future date, casting doubt on metadata accuracy.

Provenance

Source

GES_DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center)

Collection Method

Retrieved from NOAA-20 (JPSS-1) satellite Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) observations using the RAMSES II algorithm.

Time Range

Orbit repeat cycle of approximately 16 days.

Freshness

2026-04-09 22:56:26.171531

Geography

Global coverage from a polar-orbiting satellite.