TOVSB5NG: Satellite-Derived Atmospheric Profiles

NOAA-10 satellite data provides five-day averaged atmospheric parameters on a one-degree global grid. The Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique processed HIRS/2 and MSU radiances using the Improved Initialization Inversion retrieval scheme for the NASA TOVS Pathfinder project. This dataset likely contains derived geophysical variables including skin temperature, humidity, and water vapor profiles.

Use Cases

• Analyzing global water vapor distribution patterns based on atmospheric water vapor indicators
• Studying upper-air temperature trends from satellite-derived temperature profiles
• Validating climate model outputs against historical geospatial atmospheric data
• Investigating cloud-atmosphere interactions using multi-parameter satellite retrievals

Strengths

• Data is part of the NASA TOVS Pathfinder project, indicating a standardized, research-grade processing lineage
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and nasa_earthdata signals its importance and enduring use

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts exist: the last updated date differs by 35 years between platforms (1991 vs. 2026)
• Column names and precise data size are unknown, limiting detailed understanding of the data structure
• The license is ambiguously specified as 'other-license-specified' without clear terms

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), data from NOAA-10 satellite

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing radiances from HIRS/2 and MSU instruments, processed with the Improved Initialization Inversion (3I) retrieval scheme

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:30:29.109912

Geography

Global, mapped onto a 1x1 degree grid