SNDRSNML2RMS: Suomi NPP ATMS Level 2 Geophysical State Profiles

RAMSES II algorithm generates Level-2 geophysical retrieval products from the Suomi NPP Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS). The dataset contains profiles of atmospheric temperature, water in all phases, and surface properties, produced in six-minute granules without cloud clearing. It provides all-weather atmospheric state data from a cross-track scanner with 22 channels spanning 23 GHz to 183 GHz.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature profiles for atmospheric stability studies.
• Monitoring total precipitable water and layered humidity for weather forecasting.
• Studying all-weather surface skin temperature over land and sea.
• Assimilating microwave-sounding atmospheric state data into numerical weather prediction models.
• Investigating liquid water equivalent precipitation estimates from passive microwave observations.

Strengths

• Provides all-weather retrievals without a cloud-clearing process, enabling data collection under varied conditions.
• Offers high temporal resolution with 240 six-minute data granules generated per day.
• Utilizes a cross-track scanner with 22 microwave channels for detailed atmospheric profiling.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided across sources.
• Sources conflict on license information, with one specifying 'other-license-specified' and another listing 'None'.
• The description of data columns is inferred from tags rather than explicitly documented.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Retrieved via the RAMSES II algorithm from Suomi NPP ATMS instrument observations.

Time Range

Orbit repeat cycle of approximately 16 days.

Freshness

2026-04-09 22:56:10.826898

Geography

Global coverage from the Suomi NPP satellite's polar orbit.