How much rain and snow fell (microwave, Suomi-NPP)
What it measures. Estimates of how much rain and snow fell and related precipitation details, gathered along the satellite's path. It reads how warm the atmosphere appears in microwave wavelengths to work out the precipitation beneath.
How it's made. Created by the GPROF algorithm using microwave measurements from the ATMS sensor on the Suomi-NPP satellite, comparing observed signals to a library of typical rain profiles.
How & where you'd use it. Adds to the frequent global rain and snow coverage used for weather and water monitoring. The product's strength is its large sampling across the globe.
What's measured
Coverage & cadence
- Time span2022-04-30 → ongoing
- Measured bySuomi-NPP (ATMS)
- Processing levelLevel 2
- 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 Older versions will no longer be available and have been superseded by Version 07. The 2AGPROF (Goddard Profiling) algorithm retrieves consistent precipitation and related science fields from the following GMI and partner passive microwave sensors: + TMI (TRMM) + GMI, (GPM) + SSMI (DMSP F15), SSMIS (DMSP F16, F17, F18, F19) + AMSR2 (GCOM-W1) + MHS (NOAA 18,19) + MHS (METOP A,B) + ATMS (NPP) + SAPHIR (MT1) This provides the bulk of the 3-hour coverage achieved by GPM. For each sensor, there are nearrealtime (NRT) products, standard products, and climate products. These differ only in the amount of data that are available within 3 hours, 48 hours, and 3 months of collection, as well as the ancillary data used. The NRT product uses GANAL forecast fields. Standard products use the GANAL analysis product, while the climate product uses ECMWF reanalysis in order to allow for consistent data records with earlier missions. These earlier data may be archived separately. The main strength of the product is the large sampling provided. The GPM radiometer algorithms are Bayesian-type algorithms. These algorithms search an apriori database of potential rain profiles and retrieve a weighted average of these entries based upon the proximity of the observed brightness temperature (Tb) to the simulated Tb corresponding to each rain profile. By using the same a-priori database of rain profiles, with appropriate simulated Tb for each constellation sensor, the Bayesian method is completely parametric and thus well suited for GPM's constellation approach. The a-priori information will be supplied by the combined algorithm supplied by GPM's core satellite as soon after launch as feasible. Databases for V0 of the algorithm had to be constructed from various sources as described in the ATBD. The solution provides a mean rain rate as well as the vertical structure of cloud and precipitation hydrometeors and their uncertainty.
Get the data
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc") # free Earthdata Login
results = earthaccess.search_data(
short_name="GPM_2AGPROFNPPATMS",
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
- Access the data via the OPeNDAP protocol USE SERVICE API
- Use the Earthdata Search to find and retrieve data sets across multiple data centers. GET DATA
- README Document VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD) VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- FILE SPECIFICATION DOCUMENT VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- GPM and partner sensors anomalous events VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- Instrument Description VIEW RELATED INFORMATION