CLIMCAPS: Daily Atmospheric Profiles from Suomi NPP Satellite

CLIMCAPS uses an Optimal Estimation algorithm to analyze data from the Suomi NPP satellite's CrIS/ATMS instruments, which have 1305 infrared channels and 22 microwave channels. The algorithm produces daily, one-degree gridded profiles of atmospheric temperature, water vapor, ozone, and trace gases like carbon monoxide and methane. A specific quality control methodology accepts data from the top of the atmosphere down to a level determined to be good.

Use Cases

• Monitoring atmospheric carbon monoxide levels, despite a known bias in the 'co_mmr_midtrop' variable.
• Analyzing full vertical profiles of temperature and water vapor for weather and climate modeling.
• Studying infrared effective cloud top characteristics and their impact on radiative properties.
• Tracking spatial distributions of trace gases like methane, sulfur dioxide, and nitric acid.
• Assessing surface temperature and emissivity derived from coupled infrared and microwave soundings.

Strengths

• Derives a wide variety of geophysical parameters from a coupled infrared and microwave sounding system.
• Provides daily global coverage at a one-degree latitude/longitude grid resolution.
• Includes a specific quality control (QC) methodology with values (0,1,2) for each variable.

Limitations

• A specific derived variable ('co_mmr_midtrop') has a significant bias due to a conversion error.
• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and exact license are unspecified across all sources.
• Data availability and freshness details are incomplete; last update date is only noted on one platform.

Provenance

Source

GES_DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center)

Collection Method

Data processed from the Suomi NPP satellite's CrIS/ATMS instruments using the CLIMCAPS Optimal Estimation algorithm.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-04-09 according to nasa_earthdata and datagov platforms.

Geography

Global, one-degree latitude by one-degree longitude grid.