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Full catalog/GPM_2ADPR
GPM_2ADPR·v07·dataset

Rainfall structure top to bottom by radar (GPM)

GPM DPR Precipitation Profile L2A 1.5 hours 5 km V07 (GPM_2ADPR) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 2 active
In plain English

What it measures. A vertical slice through precipitation, showing how rain and snow are structured from the cloud top down to the ground, along with estimated rain rates, sampled in 5 km footprints.

How it's made. Produced by the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar aboard the GPM Core satellite, which sends down two radar beams and reads the returns at each step along its path.

How & where you'd use it. Lets scientists see the inner workings of storms and verify rainfall estimates, improving how we measure and forecast precipitation worldwide.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPORATMOSPHERE › PRECIPITATIONSPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › RADAR

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2014-03-08 → ongoing
  • Measured byGPM (DPR)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -70, 180, 70
  • 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 Older versions will no longer be available and have been superseded by Version 07. . 2ADPR provides single- and dual-frequency-derived precipitation estimates from the Ku and Ka radars of the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) on the core GPM spacecraft. The output consists of three main classes of precipitation products: those derived from the Ku-band frequency over a wide swath (245 km), those derived from the Ka-band frequency over a narrow swath (125 km), and those derived from the dual-frequency data over the narrow swath. The Ka-band results are further divided into the standard and high-sensitivity estimates. In the standard sensitivity mode, the fields of view within the inner swath are matched to those of the Ku-band. Data from these matched-beam Ku- and Ka-band fields of view are used to derive the dual-frequency precipitation products. The retrievals are performed at each radar range bin along the slant path of the radar instrument field of view (IFOV).

Get the data

gpm_2adpr_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="GPM_2ADPR",
    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.