SNPP ATMS Level 1B: Microwave Brightness Temperatures

Suomi NPP ATMS Level 1B data provides calibrated brightness temperature measurements from a 22-channel microwave sounder aboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite. The instrument is a cross-track scanner with channels ranging from 23.8 to 183.31 GHz, offering spatial resolutions of 16, 32, or 75 km depending on the channel. Data files are produced on six-minute boundaries and include ancillary spacecraft, instrument, and geolocation information.

Use Cases

• Assessing atmospheric temperature profiles based on microwave brightness temperature measurements.
• Calibrating and validating numerical weather prediction models using global, cross-track scanned observations.
• Integrating microwave data with infrared sounder (CrIS) data for the CrIMSS system to analyze a broader range of atmospheric conditions.
• Studying surface and atmospheric phenomena across 22 specific frequency channels from 23.8 to 183.31 GHz.

Strengths

• Provides data from 22 distinct microwave channels, enabling detailed spectral analysis.
• Offers high temporal granularity with data products constructed on six-minute boundaries.
• Is part of a cross-platform operational system (CrIMSS) with the CrIS instrument, enhancing utility.

Limitations

• Column names and specific data structure details are not provided in the available metadata.
• Exact dataset size (rows, file size) and temporal coverage are unspecified.
• License information is inconsistently reported ('other-license-specified' vs 'None').

Provenance

Source

GES_DISC (NASA's Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center).

Collection Method

Data collected by the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite.

Freshness

Last updated metadata date is 2026-04-09 21:53:31.614071, though this may refer to catalog maintenance rather than data freshness.

Geography

Global coverage from a polar-orbiting satellite at approximately 830 km altitude.