SNDRSNIML3SMCCPN: Monthly Atmospheric Profiles from Suomi NPP

Suomi NPP satellite data processed by the CLIMCAPS algorithm provides monthly, one-degree gridded profiles of the full atmospheric state. The dataset includes surface temperature, emissivity, and vertical profiles of temperature, water vapor, ozone, and trace gases like carbon monoxide, methane, and sulfur dioxide. A specific warning notes a conversion error in the derived carbon monoxide mass mixing ratio variable, requiring a correction factor.

Use Cases

• Monitoring global carbon monoxide distribution based on retrieved column density values.
• Analyzing full atmospheric profiles of temperature and water vapor for climate modeling.
• Studying infrared effective cloud top characteristics derived from CrIS/ATMS data.
• Investigating surface temperature and emissivity for land surface energy balance studies.
• Tracking sulfur dioxide and nitric acid concentrations for atmospheric chemistry research.

Strengths

• Derived from high-resolution satellite instruments: CrIS has 1305 infrared channels and ATMS has 22 microwave channels.
• Provides a wide variety of geophysical parameters characterizing the full atmospheric state.
• Algorithm uses Optimal Estimation methodology, a standard approach for atmospheric retrievals.

Limitations

• Contains a significant, documented bias in the 'co_mmr_midtrop' variable due to a molecular weight conversion error.
• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and exact spatial resolution are unspecified across all sources.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without further details.

Provenance

Source

GES_DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center)

Collection Method

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

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-04-09 according to two platforms.

Geography

Global coverage with a one-degree latitude grid.