TROPESS CrIS-JPSS1 L2 Water: Atmospheric Water Vapor Profiles

The TROPESS CrIS-JPSS1 L2 Water for Forward Stream, Standard Product provides vertical profiles of atmospheric water vapor (H2O) measured by the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) on the NOAA-20 satellite. Each daily netCDF file contains retrieved concentrations, formal uncertainties, and diagnostic information across 17 vertical levels from the surface to 0.1 hPa, with a spatial resolution of 14 km at nadir. The dataset is generated by the NASA TROPESS project using the MUSES optimal estimation algorithm and covers the globe from April 2021 onward.

Use Cases

• Monitoring global atmospheric humidity trends based on daily vertical profiles.
• Validating climate and weather model outputs using satellite-derived water vapor concentrations and uncertainties.
• Studying tropospheric moisture transport and dynamics using the 17-level vertical resolution.
• Assessing satellite instrument performance via the included diagnostic information.

Strengths

• Provides a consistent global daily record from April 2021 to present.
• Offers detailed vertical structure with data reported at 17 discrete pressure levels.
• Includes formal uncertainty estimates for each retrieval, supporting quantitative analysis.

Limitations

• Specific column names and dataset size (row count) are not provided in any source metadata.
• License information is inconsistently reported ('other-license-specified' vs 'None').

Provenance

Source

NASA TROPESS project, GES DISC, with Principal Investigator Kevin W. Bowman.

Collection Method

Data retrieved via optimal estimation algorithm (MUSES) from the CrIS instrument on the JPSS-1 (NOAA-20) satellite.

Time Range

2021-04-01 to present

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:36:35.516050

Geography

Global