Microwave glow of Earth, calibrated (SSMIS on F17, 12 km)
What it measures. The microwave glow (brightness temperature) that Earth emits across several frequency channels, carefully recalibrated to a common standard so different sensors agree.
How it's made. Produced from the SSMIS microwave instrument on the DMSP F17 satellite as a Level-1C product, intercalibrated for consistency.
How & where you'd use it. A building-block input used to derive precipitation and other products, ensuring measurements from different microwave sensors line up.
What's measured
Coverage & cadence
- Time span2008-03-19 → ongoing
- Measured byDMSP 5D-3/F17 (SSMIS)
- Processing levelLevel 1
- Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
- StatusCOMPLETE
What you can do with it
- Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
- Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
- Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description
Version 07 is the current version of the data set. Older versions will no longer be available and have been superseded by Version 07. All 1C products have a common L1C data structure, simple and generic. Each L1C swath includes scan time, latitude and longitude, scan status, quality, incidence angle, Sun glint angle, and the intercalibrated brightness temperature (Tc). One or more swaths are included in a product. The radiometer data are recalibrated to a common basis so that precipitation products derived from them are consistent. 1CSSMIS contains common calibrated brightness temperature from the SSMIS passive microwave instruments flown on the DMSP satellites. Swath S1 has 3 low frequency channels (19V 19H 22V). Swath S2 has 2 low frequency channels (37V 37H). Swath S3 has 4 high frequency channels (150H 183+/-1H 183+/-3H 183+/-7H). S4 has 2 high frequency channels (91V 91H). All the above frequencies are in GHz. Earth observations for all four swaths are taken during a 144o segment of the instrument rotation when SSMIS scans in the direction of foreward satellite motion. We define the spacecraft vector (v) at the center of this segment.
Get the data
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc") # free Earthdata Login
results = earthaccess.search_data(
short_name="GPM_1CF17SSMIS",
version="07",
bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9), # your area (W,S,E,N)
temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"), # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results) # stream straight from GES_DISC Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package. Official links
- Access the data via HTTPS GET DATA
- Use the Earthdata Search to find and retrieve data sets across multiple data centers. GET DATA
- Access the data via the OPeNDAP protocol. USE SERVICE API
- README Document VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- Release Notes VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- GPM and partner sensors anomalous events VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- FILE SPECIFICATION DOCUMENT VIEW RELATED INFORMATION