TROPESS: Global Deuterated Water Vapor Profiles from Suomi-NPP Satellite

NASA's TROPESS project provides a global dataset of deuterated water vapor (HDO) vertical profiles derived from the CrIS instrument on the Suomi-NPP satellite. The reanalysis stream summary product contains daily files from December 2015 to May 2021, with data reported at 17 vertical levels and a 14 km spatial resolution. The retrieval uses the MUSES optimal estimation algorithm to produce atmospheric state and uncertainty estimates in netCDF4 format.

Use Cases

• Studying the global hydrological cycle and water isotope fractionation based on HDO vertical profiles.
• Validating and improving atmospheric chemistry and transport models based on satellite-derived deuterium data.
• Investigating stratosphere-troposphere exchange processes based on vertical profiles from surface to 0.1 hPa.
• Conducting climate reanalysis and trend analysis based on the 2015-2021 global time series.

Strengths

• Provides a specific atmospheric trace gas (deuterated water vapor/HDO) not commonly measured from space.
• Offers vertical distribution at 17 levels from surface to 0.1 hPa, giving detailed atmospheric structure.
• Covers a continuous global time series of over five years (2015-12-01 to 2021-05-21).
• Data is processed using a sophisticated, documented retrieval algorithm (MUSES optimal estimation).

Limitations

• Data collection was discontinued in May 2021, limiting analysis of recent trends.
• Metadata completeness is low; specific column names, row counts, and exact file sizes are not provided.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026 vs 2021) across platforms create uncertainty about metadata freshness.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the CrIS instrument on Suomi-NPP, processed with the MUSES optimal estimation algorithm.

Time Range

2015-12-01 to 2021-05-21

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:22:10.545276

Geography

Global