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Full catalog/rssmif17d
rssmif17d·v7·dataset

Daily ocean wind, water vapor and rain (DMSP F17)

RSS SSMIS OCEAN PRODUCT GRIDS DAILY FROM DMSP F17 NETCDF V7
atmosphere NASA GHRC_DAAC Level 3 netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Daily ocean readings of wind speed, water vapor in the air, cloud water, and rain rate, on a global map grid.

How it's made. Retrieved from the SSMIS microwave sensor on the DMSP F17 satellite using a single physics-based algorithm, then reformatted into netCDF files.

How & where you'd use it. Extends a decades-long record of ocean winds and moisture used in weather and climate research.

What's measured

Atmosphere › Precipitation › Precipitation RateOceans › Ocean Winds › Surface WindsAtmosphere › Atmospheric Winds › Surface WindsAtmosphere › Atmospheric Water Vapor › Water Vapor Indicators › Water VaporAtmosphere › Clouds › Cloud Microphysics › Cloud Liquid Water/IceAtmosphere › Precipitation › Liquid Precipitation › Rain

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2006-12-14 → ongoing
  • Measured byDMSP 5D-3/F17 (SSMIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusACTIVE

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 RSS SSMIS Ocean Product Grids Daily from DMSP F17 netCDF dataset is part of the collection of Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS) data products produced as part of NASA's MEaSUREs Program. Remote Sensing Systems generates SSM/I and SSMIS binary data products using a unified, physically based algorithm to simultaneously retrieve ocean wind speed, water vapor, cloud water, and rain rate. The SSMIS data have been carefully intercalibrated to the brightness temperature level of the previous SSM/I and therefore extend this important time series of ocean winds, vapor, cloud and rain values. This algorithm is a product of 20 years of refinements, improvements, and verifications. The Global Hydrology Resource Center has reformatted the binary data into a netCDF data product for each temporal group for each satellite. The netCDF SSMI/SSMIS collection will be available for F17 daily.

Get the data

rssmif17d_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="rssmif17d",
    version="7",
    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 GHRC_DAAC
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.