Daily rainfall maps from microwave satellite (DMSP F18)
What it measures. Daily global maps of average precipitation on a quarter-degree grid, designed so the numbers stay consistent over many years for climate work.
How it's made. Built by the GPROF algorithm from the SSMIS microwave sensor on the DMSP F18 satellite, then averaged into daily gridded totals using steady reanalysis background data.
How & where you'd use it. Helpful for studying day-to-day and long-term rainfall patterns worldwide as part of climate research.
What's measured
Coverage & cadence
- Time span2010-03-08 → ongoing
- Measured byDMSP 5D-3/F18 (SSMIS)
- Processing levelLevel 3
- 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 Older versions will no longer be available and have been superseded by Version 07.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 'CLIM' products differ from their 'regular' counterparts (without the 'CLIM' in the name) by the ancillary data they use. They are Climate-Reference products, which requires homogeneous ancillary data over the climate time series. Hence, the ECMWF-Interim (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, 2-3 months lag behind the regular production) reanalysis is used as ancillary data to derive surface and atmospheric conditions required by the GPROF algorithm for the 'CLIM' output. The GPROF databases are also adjusted accordingly for these climate-referenced retrievals. 3GPROF products provide global gridded monthly/daily precipitation averages from multiple satellites that can be used for climate studies. The 3GPROF products are based on retrievals from high-quality microwave sensors, which are sensitive to liquid and ice-phase precipitation hydrometeors in the atmosphere.
Get the data
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc") # free Earthdata Login
results = earthaccess.search_data(
short_name="GPM_3GPROFF18SSMIS_DAY_CLIM",
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