TRMM Satellite Database of Tropical Cyclone Precipitation Features

Six tropical cyclone-prone ocean basins are covered by this dataset, which provides a unified framework for hurricane science research. It aggregates observations from multiple TRMM satellite instruments for each orbit coincident with a tropical cyclone. Researchers at Florida International University and the University of Utah created the database by extracting precipitation features identified as tropical cyclones using official best-track data.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the relationship between lightning activity (atmosphere-lightning) and tropical cyclone intensity.
• Studying the vertical structure of storms using radar reflectivity and Doppler velocity columns.
• Comparing precipitation rates and brightness temperatures across different cyclone basins.
• Investigating the spatial extent of cyclone environments using the 20x20 degree geospatial bounding boxes.
• Validating numerical weather prediction models against observed microwave imagery and spectral engineering data.

Strengths

• Data is co-located from multiple TRMM instruments, providing a multi-sensor view of each cyclone.
• Observations are subset to a standardized 20-degree by 20-degree bounding box centered on each storm.
• Features are identified using authoritative best-track data from the National Hurricane Center and Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData indicates established use in the research community.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, file sizes, and a complete column list are not provided by any source.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' date: Data.gov lists 2026-03 12, while NASA EarthData lists 2011-12-30.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with creation by researchers at Florida International University and the University of Utah.

Collection Method

Extracted from the University of Utah TRMM Precipitation Feature database using TC best-track data for identification, with swath data co-located and subsetted.

Time Range

Coverage corresponds to the TRMM mission lifetime, but exact dates are not specified.

Freshness

2026-03-12 20:44:44.980382

Geography

Global coverage across six tropical cyclone-prone ocean basins.