SNDRSNIML3CMCCP: Monthly Atmospheric Profiles from Suomi NPP Satellite

CLIMCAPS algorithm analyzes data from the Suomi NPP satellite's CrIS/ATMS instruments, which include 2211 infrared channels and 22 microwave channels, to produce full atmospheric state profiles. These profiles include surface temperature, full atmosphere profiles of temperature, water vapor, ozone, and trace gases like carbon monoxide, methane, and sulfur dioxide. A known bias exists in the derived carbon monoxide product 'co_mmr_midtrop', requiring a correction factor of 28.01/44.01.

Use Cases

• Monitoring global carbon monoxide distribution based on retrieved column density values ('mol_lay/co_mol_lay')
• Analyzing cloud top characteristics for climate modeling based on infrared effective cloud data
• Studying atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles for weather and climate research
• Tracking methane and sulfur dioxide concentrations for air quality and pollution studies

Strengths

• Derived from high-resolution satellite instruments: CrIS has 2211 Full Spectral Resolution channels and ATMS has 22 microwave channels
• Produces a wide variety of geophysical parameters, including profiles for multiple trace gases (CO, CH4, CO2, SO2, N2O, HNO3)
• Algorithm uses Optimal Estimation methodology, a recognized atmospheric retrieval technique

Limitations

• Contains a significant, documented bias in the 'co_mmr_midtrop' variable due to a molecular weight conversion error
• Specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are not provided in the available metadata
• License is ambiguously specified as 'other-license-specified'

Provenance

Source

GES_DISC (from nasa_earthdata platform)

Collection Method

Data processed using the CLIMCAPS (Community Long-term Infrared Microwave Coupled Product System) algorithm on CrIS/ATMS instrument data.

Freshness

2026-04-09 20:30:06.684743

Geography

Global, gridded at one degree latitude by one degree longitude resolution.