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Full catalog/PRECIP_SSMI_F13
PRECIP_SSMI_F13·v1·dataset

Rainfall estimates from a defense weather satellite (F13)

NASA MEASURES Precipitation Ensemble based on SSM/I DMSP F13 NASA PPS L1C V06 Tbs 1-orbit L2 Swath 12x12km V1 (PRECIP_SSMI_F13) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 2
In plain English

What it measures. Rain-rate estimates in millimeters per hour for each satellite orbit, showing how hard it was raining across the areas the sensor swept. The record covers 1995 to 2009.

How it's made. Derived from how warm the atmosphere looked to the SSM/I microwave sensor aboard the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's F13 satellite, converted to rainfall using established algorithms with confidence scores attached.

How & where you'd use it. Provides a long historical record of rainfall for climate studies and for comparing different rain-estimation methods.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › PRECIPITATION › PRECIPITATION RATE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span1995-05-03 → 2009-11-20
  • Measured byDMSP 5D-2/F13 (SSM/I)
  • 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

The data presented in this level 2 orbital product are rain rate estimates expressed as mm/hour determined from brightness temperatures (Tbs) obtained from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) flown on the US Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F13 mission. Most of the products generated in this data set are based upon the algorithms developed for the 3rd Algorithm Intercomparison Project (AIP-3) of the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP). Details of these 15 algorithms and development of a quality score which is a measure of confidence in the estimate, along with processing and algorithmic flags, can be found in the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD). The data in this product cover the period from 1995 to 2009 with one file per orbit.

Get the data

precip_ssmi_f13_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="PRECIP_SSMI_F13",
    version="1",
    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.