Full catalog/GPM_3GCSH
GPM_3GCSH·v07·dataset

How storms heat the air at different altitudes (GPM)

GPM DPR (Gridded Convective Stratiform Heating) L3 1.5 hours 0.5 degree x 0.5 degree V07 (GPM_3GCSH) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 3 active
In plain English

What it measures. This estimates how much heat storms release into the air at different altitudes as rain forms and falls, mapped onto a global grid. It captures the warming and moisture changes tied to convective and widespread (stratiform) rain.

How it's made. It is derived from rainfall data measured by the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar on the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite, then gridded into regular time and space bins.

How & where you'd use it. Helps weather and climate scientists understand how storms move heat through the atmosphere, which drives larger-scale circulation patterns.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPORATMOSPHERE › PRECIPITATION

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2014-03-08 → ongoing
  • Measured byGPM (DPR)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-180, -67, 180, 67
  • 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

The Gridded Convective Stratiform Heating (3GCSH) products contain latent heating, Q1-QR and Q2 profiles from DPR raindata. Version 07 is the current version of the data set. Older versions will no longer be available and are superseded by Version 07.

Get the data

gpm_3gcsh_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="GPM_3GCSH",
    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.