TROPESS CrIS-SNPP: Global Water Vapor Profiles

The TROPESS CrIS-SNPP L2 Water for Forward Stream, Standard Product provides retrieved vertical profiles of atmospheric water vapor from the Suomi-NPP satellite's CrIS instrument. Each daily netCDF file contains data at 17 vertical levels from the surface to 0.1 hPa, with a spatial resolution of 14 km. The dataset covers the global period from February 1, 2021 to May 21, 2021, using the MUSES optimal estimation algorithm developed by the NASA TROPESS project.

Use Cases

• Analyzing global water vapor transport based on vertical profiles from surface to 0.1 hPa.
• Validating atmospheric models using satellite-derived water vapor concentrations with formal uncertainties.
• Studying diurnal and seasonal water vapor variability using daily global coverage from February to May 2021.
• Assessing satellite instrument performance through diagnostic information included in the retrieval.

Strengths

• Provides vertical distribution at 17 specific levels, offering detailed atmospheric structure.
• Has a defined spatial resolution of 14 km at the CrIS nadir field of view.
• Data is processed using the NASA TROPESS project's MUSES optimal estimation algorithm.

Limitations

• Time coverage is limited to a short period from February 1 to May 21, 2021.
• Column names and exact row/file counts are not provided in the metadata.
• License information is inconsistently reported as 'other-license-specified' or null across sources.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Retrieved from the CrIS instrument on the Suomi-NPP satellite using the MUSES optimal estimation algorithm.

Time Range

2021-02-01 to 2021-05-21

Freshness

Last updated on April 9, 2026 according to two platform entries.

Geography

Global