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Full catalog/PRECIP_SSMI_F14
PRECIP_SSMI_F14·v1·dataset

How much it rained, microwave estimate (DMSP F14)

NASA MEASURES Precipitation Ensemble based on SSM/I DMSP F14 NASA PPS L1C V06 Tbs 1-orbit L2 Swath 12x12km V1 (PRECIP_SSMI_F14) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 2
In plain English

What it measures. How hard it was raining, in millimeters per hour, estimated for each orbit from microwave readings of the atmosphere over the years 1997 to 2008.

How it's made. Derived from the SSM/I microwave imager on the U.S. military's DMSP F14 satellite, using rainfall algorithms developed for an international precipitation project, with one file per orbit.

How & where you'd use it. Supports studies of past rainfall patterns and longer climate records of precipitation, especially over the late 1990s and 2000s.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › PRECIPITATION › PRECIPITATION RATE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span1997-05-07 → 2008-08-24
  • Measured byDMSP 5D-2/F14 (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) F14 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 1997 to 2008 with one file per orbit.

Get the data

precip_ssmi_f14_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="PRECIP_SSMI_F14",
    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.