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Full catalog/TRMM_3A25
TRMM_3A25·v7·dataset

Monthly rainfall statistics from space radar (TRMM)

TRMM Radar Rainfall Statistics L3 1 month (5 x 5) and (0.5 x 0.5) degree V7 (TRMM_3A25) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 3
In plain English

What it measures. Monthly statistics of rainfall from space-based radar, including average rain rate, its variability, storm height, and histograms, at both coarse (5 degree) and finer (0.5 degree) map resolutions.

How it's made. Compiled from radar measurements made by the TRMM satellite, summarized into monthly grids; note that newer data is now offered in a GPM-compatible format.

How & where you'd use it. Lets researchers study rainfall patterns and storm characteristics over time, and compare satellite rain estimates with ground and other satellite data.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › PRECIPITATION › DROPLET SIZEATMOSPHERE › PRECIPITATION › PRECIPITATION RATESPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › RADAR › RADAR REFLECTIVITY

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span1997-12-01 → 2015-04-01
  • Measured byTRMM (PR)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-180, -40, 180, 40
  • 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 new version of these data is in GPM-like format (consistent with the GPM Dual-frequency Radar data format), and can be found under the name GPM_3PR. This product consists of monthly statistics of the PR measurements at both a low (5 degrees x 5 degrees) and a high (0.5 degrees x 0.5 degrees) horizontal resolution. The low resolution grids are in the Planetary Grid 1 structure and include 1) mean and standard deviation of the rain rate, reflectivity, path-integrated attenuation (PIA), storm height, Xi, bright band height and the NUBF (Non-Uniform Beam Filling) correction; 2) rain fractions; 3) histograms of the storm height, bright-band height, snow-ice layer, reflectivity, rain rate, path-attenuation and NUBF correction; 4) correlation coefficients. The high resolution grids are in the Planetary Grid 2 structure and contain mean rain rate along with standard deviation and rain fractions.

Get the data

trmm_3a25_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="TRMM_3A25",
    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 GES_DISC
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.