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Full catalog/GPM_2AKuENV
GPM_2AKuENV·v07·dataset

Weather conditions around rainfall radar scans (GPM)

GPM DPR Ku Environment L2A 1.5 hours 5 km V07 (GPM_2AKuENV) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 2 active
In plain English

What it measures. Holds the atmospheric background conditions, the temperature and moisture profiles assumed when turning radar signals into rainfall estimates, rather than the rainfall itself.

How it's made. Generated alongside the Ku-band radar of the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar on the GPM core satellite, capturing the environmental assumptions used in its precipitation retrieval.

How & where you'd use it. A behind-the-scenes companion to GPM's rainfall products, mainly useful to researchers who want to understand or refine how the radar estimates precipitation.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPORATMOSPHERE › PRECIPITATION

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 Older versions will no longer be available and have been superseded by Version 07. . This is environmental data that includes the profiles of atmospheric parameters assumed in the L2 retrieval algorithm. The 2AKu algorithm provides precipitation estimates from the Ku radar of the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar on the core GPM spacecraft. The product contains one swath of data corresponding to the scans of the Ku radar. This is a single-frequency retrieval of precipitation; no information from the Ka radar is used. The retrievals are performed at each radar range bin along the slant path of the radar IFOV. This is a single-frequency retrieval that relies on Ku-band data only. While the 2ADPR dual-frequency retrieval should give better overall estimates, that algorithm requires co-aligned Ka-band data. This 2AKu product will be produced independently and would not be impacted by any operational issues with the Ka-band radar.

Get the data

gpm_2akuenv_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="GPM_2AKuENV",
    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.