RAMSES II: All-Weather Atmospheric Profiles from JPSS-1 ATMS

RAMSES II is a microwave-only retrieval algorithm that produces atmospheric profiles without a cloud-clearing process, enabling observations in all weather conditions. This Level 3 daily product provides a one-degree gridded synthesis of geophysical parameters from the NOAA-20 satellite's ATMS instrument, which scans across 22 channels from 23 to 183 GHz. The dataset includes profiles of temperature, water in all phases, and surface properties, with quality control flags provided for each variable.

Use Cases

• Analyzing global temperature and humidity profiles for weather forecasting models based on the retrieved atmospheric profiles.
• Studying precipitation and cloud liquid water in all-weather conditions, enabled by the microwave-only, non-cloud-cleared algorithm.
• Validating satellite retrieval algorithms by comparing the RAMSES II geophysical parameters with other observational datasets.
• Monitoring sea surface temperature and land surface skin temperature from the included surface property retrievals.

Strengths

• Provides all-weather atmospheric retrievals due to the microwave-only algorithm that does not require cloud clearing.
• Includes quality control values (0=best, 1=good, 2=don't use) for each retrieved variable, aiding data filtering.
• Data is gridded at a consistent one-degree latitude by one-degree longitude resolution for global analysis.

Limitations

• Specific column names and the total row count are not provided in the available metadata, limiting precise understanding of the data structure.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.
• Metadata completeness varies across platforms, with some lacking size, row count, and author information.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

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

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-04-09 according to datagov.

Geography

Global, based on the satellite's cross-track scanning.