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Full catalog/SNPPATMSL1B
SNPPATMSL1B·v3·dataset

Microwave temperatures used to sound the atmosphere (Suomi-NPP)

Suomi NPP ATMS Sounder Science Investigator-led Processing System (SIPS) Level 1B Brightness Temperature V3 (SNPPATMSL1B) at GES DISC
land NASA GES_DISC Level 1B active
In plain English

What it measures. How much natural microwave energy the atmosphere gives off across 22 channels (brightness temperatures), which carry information about temperature and moisture at different heights.

How it's made. Measured by the ATMS microwave sounder on the Suomi-NPP satellite; this is the calibrated Level-1B stage with location and instrument details attached, at roughly 16-to-75-km detail depending on the channel.

How & where you'd use it. A foundational input, designed to work alongside the CrIS infrared sounder, used to derive atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles for weather forecasting and climate studies.

What's measured

SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › MICROWAVE › ANTENNA TEMPERATURESPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › MICROWAVE › BRIGHTNESS TEMPERATURE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2011-12-10 → ongoing
  • Measured bySuomi-NPP (ATMS)
  • Processing levelLevel 1B
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

The Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) Level 1B data files contain brightness temperature measurements along with ancillary spacecraft, instrument, and geolocation data of the ATMS instrument on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership Project (SNPP). The ATMS instrument is a cross-track scanner with 22 microwave channels in the range 23.8-183.31 Gigahertz (GHz). The beam width is 1.1 degrees for the channels in the 160-183 GHz range, 2.2 degrees for the 80 GHz and 50-60 GHz channels, and 5.2 degrees for the 23.8 and 31.4 GHz channels. Since the SNPP satellite is orbiting at an altitude of about 830 km, the instantaneous spatial resolution on the ground at nadir is about 16 km, 32 km, or 75 km depending upon the channel. The brightness temperature data are contained in an array with 135 rows in the along-track direction, 96 columns in the cross-track direction, and a 3rd dimension for each of the 22 channels. The ATMS cross-track scan interval is 0.018 seconds and the along-track scan period is 8/3 seconds. Data products are constructed on six minute boundaries. The ATMS (Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder) and CrIS (Crosstrack InfraRed Sounder) instruments are meant to operate together as a system, thus providing coverage of a much broader range of atmospheric conditions. The ATMS-CrIS system is referred to as CrIMSS (Cross-Track Infrared and Microwave Sounder Suite). If you were redirected to this page from a DOI from an older version, please note this is the current version of the product. Please contact the GES DISC user support if you need information about previous data collections.

Get the data

snppatmsl1b_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="SNPPATMSL1B",
    version="3",
    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.